Kalemi

Kalemi, also spelled Kalemie, also called Lukuga, formerly (1915–66) Albertville, town, southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, central Africa. It is a port on the west bank of Lake Tanganyika where the Lukuga River exits, and it has an airport and rail links to Lubumbashi and Kananga. In 1915 Kalemi, then the site of a British-Belgian military base, was chosen as the terminus of the Chemin de Fer des Grands Lacs (Great Lakes Railway), and the name Albertville was transferred to the town from a nearby abandoned settlement. Kalemi’s harbour handles most of Congo’s imports coming from Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), on the Indian Ocean, to Lubumbashi. There is some commercial fishing in addition to the manufacture of textiles and cement. The Bendera hydroelectric centre is nearby. Pop. (2004 est.) 92,971.