Bushi (region) in the context of "Shi language"

South Kivu (Swahili: Jimbo la Kivu Kusini; French: Sud-Kivu) is one of 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Bukavu. Located within the East African Rift's western branch Albertine Rift, it is bordered to the east by Lake Kivu, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania; to the west by Maniema Province; to the north by North Kivu Province; and the south by Tanganyika Province. The province covers an area of approximately 69,130 square kilometers and has an estimated population of 8,147,400 as of 2024.

The region has historically been inhabited by various Bantu-speaking ethnic groups, including the Bamushi, Bafuliiru, Bahavu, Banyindu, Babembe, Babuyu, Balega, Babwari, Baholoholo, Banyanga, Bavira, Bakusu, Batembo, Barongeronge, and Baswaga, as well as Pygmy communities. During the colonial period, the borders of the Congo Free State were established by the 1885 Berlin Conference, placing all of Lake Kivu and both banks of the Ruzizi River within the Free State. The region's boundaries were later subject to disputes, including the Kivu frontier incident of 1909, which was resolved in 1910 when the eastern portion of Kivu was allocated to Uganda Protectorate and German East Africa. Kivu District was formally created in 1912 and later divided into Sud-Kivu and Nord-Kivu Districts in 1951. After a series of administrative reorganizations, South Kivu became a separate province in 1988, alongside North Kivu and Maniema.

The Bukumu Chiefdom (French: Chefferie de Bukumu) is a chiefdom located in the Nyiragongo Territory of the North Kivu Province in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is bounded to the north by Bwisha Chiefdom in Rutshuru Territory, to the south by Goma, to the east by Rwanda, and to the west by Masisi Territory. As the sole chiefdom in Nyiragongo Territory, Bukumu Chiefdom spans 333 km, with more than half of its land (170 km) incorporated into Virunga National Park, while the remaining 163 km is inhabited by a population estimated at 338,966 as of the 2022 census.

Bukumu Chiefdom's political and economic landscape is shaped by its proximity to the Rwandan border, rapid urbanization, and complex identity and governance dynamics. The chiefdom is administratively structured into seven groupements, further subdivided into 58 villages. However, since 2006, the former groupements of Kibumba and Buhumba have been reclassified as rural communes by presidential decree, placing them outside the authority of customary rule. The Bakumu people traditionally govern the chiefdom, but its population also includes Shi, Nande, Hunde, Hutu, Tutsi, and other ethnic groups.

Nyiragongo Territory is a territory in North Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Covering an area of 333 square kilometers, it had a population of 338,966 as of 2022. The territory is bordered to the north by the Bwisha Chiefdom in Rutshuru Territory, to the south by Karisimbi commune in the city of Goma, to the east by Rwanda, and to the west by the Virunga National Park, which separates it from the Bahunde Chiefdom in Masisi Territory.

Established by presidential ordinance on 20 August 1998, with administrative foundations dating back to District Commissioner's Order No. 58 of 22 June 1929, Nyiragongo Territory is composed solely of Bukumu Chiefdom. This chiefdom is further divided into seven groupements, which are subdivided into 58 villages. The territory is historically governed by the Kumu people, but its population is ethnically diverse, including the native Shi, Nande, Hunde and the Congolese Banyarwanda as well as other ethnic groups.