b41_0492 - 500 Francs KATANGA 1960 P.09a

KATANGA

The province of Katanga is located in the southeast of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Two weeks after the independence of the Belgian Congo on July 11, 1960, the province seceded. The secessionists were supported by the powerful Union Minière du Haut Katanga and received military assistance from Belgium, a Belgian mining company that exploited the province's mineral resources. Congolese government forces and UN troops responded, forcing Katangese President Moïse Tshombe to negotiate a ceasefire..