Lodja
Town
Lodja
Coordinates: 3°31′21.91″S 23°35′49.52″E / 3.5227528°S 23.5970889°E / -3.5227528; 23.5970889
Population  (2016)
• Total	68,244[1]

Lodja is a remote town in the Sankuru (formerly Kasaï-Oriental) province in central Democratic Republic of the Congo.^[1] It is serviced by the Lodja Airport which is about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) from town.^[2] Lodja is a hub for both rice production in the province and diamond mining in the country.^[3][4][5] Lodja is and has been home to many Tetela.^[6]

Lodja Hospital was built in the 1950s by Belgian colonizers but was abandoned unfinished when the Republic of the Congo declared independence in 1960.^[7] The town was captured by rebel forces during the Second Congo War in April 1999 but returned to Congolese rule by January 2000.^[7][8]

According to censuses, Lodja had 28,671 residents in 1984; 52,798 in 2004; 64,147 in 2012; and 68,244 in 2016.^[1]

The Sankuru province consists mainly of the Otetela Bantu, often shortened to Tetela, language tribal areas, with 98% speaking the language and 50-60% speaking it exclusively. Thirty to forty percent of Lodja speak Lingala, a military and trade language, with those from the Kinshasa and Équateur provinces. French is used mainly by government officials and those who are well-educated; about 20-30% of Lodja residents speak it at least conversationally. English and neighboring tribal languages, such as Tshiluba and Swahili are spoken by about 1-2%.^{[citation needed]}