Editing Kitwe (section)

==History==
Kitwe was founded in 1936 in north-central Zambia as the railway was being built by [[Cecil Rhodes]]' company. It was first established as an adjunct, non-mining-related but supportive part of an expanding copper-mining centre at [[Nkana]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}} The expanding copper mines at Nkana made it the dominant centre in the region and Kitwe started building up its size and significance over the years, finally surpassing Nkana as the main centre. The [[Rhodesia Railways]] main line reached the town in 1937, providing passenger services as far south as [[Bulawayo]] in today's Zimbabwe, with connections to [[Cape Town]] in today's South Africa. The line was extended into [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|DR Congo]], and from there eventually linked to the [[Benguela Railway]] to the Atlantic port of [[Lobito]] in Angola, which used to take some of Zambia's copper exports.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

With the upsurge of copper prices in the 1950s Kitwe developed from a small township to the second largest city in Zambia, obtaining city status in 1966. It then developed as an industrial and commercial area and later an important agricultural area. The good central position of the city in the Copperbelt area made it the most popular choice for industrial developers even today in the 2020s.{{Cn|date=February 2024}}