a city in southeastern Congo near the border with Zambia; a copper mining center; former name (until 1966) was Elisabethville

Lubumbashi (formerly Elisabethville or Elisabethstad) is ranked as the second largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (capital Kinshasa, formerly Zaire) and the hub of the southeastern part of the country. The copper-mining city serves as the capital of the relatively prosperous Katanga (formerly Shaba) province, lying near the Zambian border. Population estimates vary wildly but average around 1.2 million.