Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, between 1971 and 1999 called Zaire, is
a nation in central Africa.

                                       Official language  French
                                       Capital            Kinshasa
                                       President          Joseph Kabila
                                       Area               Ranked 12th
                                       Ê- Total           2,345,410
History                                Ê- % water         km²
                                                          3.3%
                                       Population         Ranked 23rd
                                       Ê- Total           55,225,478
                                       Ê- Density         24/km²
The area now known as the Democratic
Republic of the Congo was populated as Independence       From Belgium
early as 10,000 years ago, and settled Ê- Date            June 30, 1960
in the 7th and 8th centuries by Bantus Currency           Congolese franc
from present-day Nigeria.              Time zone          UTC +1 to UTC +2
European exploration and exploitation  National anthem    Debout Kongolaise
took place from the 1870s until the    Internet TLD       .CD
1920s. The rape of the Congo Free      Calling Code       243
State stands alone as the single most
brutal and greedy episode of colonisation in modern history.

Since 1994, DR Congo has been rent by ethnic strife and civil war, touched
off by a massive inflow of refugees from fighting in Rwanda and Burundi. The
government of former president Mobutu Sese Seko was toppled by a rebellion
led by Laurent-Desire Kabila in May 1997; his regime was subsequently
challenged by a Rwanda- and Uganda-backed rebellion in August 1998. Troops
from Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Chad, and Sudan intervened to support the
Kinshasa regime. See Foreign relations of Congo.

A cease-fire was signed on 10 July 1999; nevertheless, fighting continues
apace especially in the eastern part of the country, financed by revenues
from the illegal extraction of minerals such as coltan. Kabila was
assassinated in January 2001 and his son Joseph Kabila was named head of
state. The new president quickly began overtures to end the war, to little
avail for the present.

Politics

Despite President Kabila's claims that his was a transitional government
leading to a new constitution and full elections by April 1999, these
elections have not yet been held, and a 1998 draft constitution has not been
finalized. All executive, legislative, and military powers are vested in the
president. The judiciary is nominally independent, but the president has the
power to dismiss and appoint. The president is head of a 26-member cabinet
dominated by the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire.

Political divisions

Main article: Political divisions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Congo is devided into 10 provinces, and 1 independent city (Kinshasa):

   * Bandundu
   * Bas-Congo
   * Equateur
   * Kasai-Occidental
   * Kasai-Oriental
   * Katanga
   * Maniema
   * Nord-Kivu
   * Congo
   * Sud-Kivu

Geography

The Congo includes the greater part of the Congo River Basin, which covers
an area of almost a million square kilometers. The country's only outlet to
the Atlantic Ocean is a narrow strip of land on the north bank of the Congo River.

The vast, low-lying central area is a basin-shaped plateau sloping toward
the west and covered by tropical rainforest. This area is surrounded by
mountainous terraces in the west, plateaus merging into savannas in the
south and southwest, and dense grasslands extending beyond the Congo River
in the north.

The country lies on the Equator, with one-third to the north and two-thirds
to the south.

Economy

Sparsely populated in relation to its area, the Democratic Republic of the
Congo is home to a vast potential of natural resources and mineral wealth,
yet the economy of the country has declined drastically since the mid-1980s.
Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, accounting for 57.9% of GDP in 1997.

Demographics

The population was estimated at 46.7 million in 1997. As many as 250 ethnic
groups have been distinguished and named. The most numerous people are the
Kongo, Luba, and Mongo. Although 700 local languages and dialects are
spoken, the linguistic variety is bridged both by the use of French and the
intermediary languages Kikongo, Tshiluba, Swahili, and Ligala.

About 80% of the Congolese population are Christian, predominantly Roman
Catholic. Most of the non-Christians adhere to either traditional religions
or syncretic sects. Traditional religions embody such concepts as
monotheism, animism, vitalism, spirit and ancestor worship, witchcraft, and
sorcery and vary widely among ethnic groups; none is formalized. The
syncretic sects often merge Christianity with traditional beliefs and
rituals. The most popular of these sects, Kimbanguism, was seen as a threat
to the colonial regime and was banned by the Belgians. Kimbanguism,
officially "the church of Christ on Earth by the prophet Simon Kimbangu,"
now has about 3 million members, primarily among the Bakongo of Bas-Congo
and Kinshasa.

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