Kitwe, city, north central Zambia, in Copperbelt Province, near the Kafue River and the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, formerly Zaire). It is one of the nation's largest urban communities and a leading copper-mining and processing center. Other manufacturing industries, some using hydroelectricity from the Kariba power project to the south, include the production of processed food, plastics, and clothing. The Zambia Institute of Technology (1970) is here. Founded in 1936 as a European copper-mining center, Kitwe grew rapidly after World War II and in 1961 annexed Nkana. Population (1990) 338,207.
