The Democratic Republic of Congo -DR Congo (DRC), is a country in Central Africa. By land, the second largest in Africa and the 11th largest in the world. With 105 million people the DRC is the most populous Francophone( French is the main or official country) country in the world. The national capital and largest city is Kinshasa. The DRC is bordered by the Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, the Cabinda enclave of Angola, and the South Atlantic Ocean.
The Congo Basin, the territory of the DRC was first inhabited by Central African foragers around 90,000 years ago. The Bantu expansion later reached this country about 3000 years ago. In the west the Kingdom of Kongo ruled around the mouth of the Congo River,( named by European sailors after the Kingdom of Congo) from the 14th to the 19th centuries. In the northeast, center, and east, the Kingdom of Azande, Luba, and Lunda ruled from the 16th and 17th centuries to the 19th centuries. King Leopold II of Belgium formally acquired rights to the Congo territory from the colonial nations of Europe in 1855 and declared the land as his private property, naming it the Congo Free State. From 1885 to 1908 the king's colonial military forced the population to produce rubber and committed widespread atrocities. In 1908, Leopold ceded the territory which thus became a Belgium colony.
The Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960 and was immediately confronted by a series of secessionist movements. There was the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the seizure of power by Mobutu Sese Seko in 1965 and renamed the country Zaire in 1971 until his overthrow in 1997 by the First Congo War. The country then had its name changed back and was confronted by the Second Congo War from 1998 to 2003. In 2018 the DRC had its first peaceful transition of power since independence and now has a president as head of state.
The government of the DRC is classified as a Unitary semi- presidential republic. There is a president and a prime minister. Then there is the Upper House and Lower House. Christianity is the dominant religion with 94.5% of the population identifying with this faith, and 2.6% are traditional worshippers, Islam account for 1.5% of the population and the remaining 0.5% as others.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is extremely rich in natural resources namely: copper, gold, cobalt, lithium, silver, manganese, and oil. But political instability, and centuries of both commercial and colonial extraction and exploitation have hindered its development. The major buyers of the DRC's resources are, China, South Africa, Mozambique, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The country's GDP stands at 55.35 billion USD.
The Congo Basin, the territory of the DRC was first inhabited by Central African foragers around 90,000 years ago. The Bantu expansion later reached this country about 3000 years ago. In the west the Kingdom of Kongo ruled around the mouth of the Congo River,( named by European sailors after the Kingdom of Congo) from the 14th to the 19th centuries. In the northeast, center, and east, the Kingdom of Azande, Luba, and Lunda ruled from the 16th and 17th centuries to the 19th centuries. King Leopold II of Belgium formally acquired rights to the Congo territory from the colonial nations of Europe in 1855 and declared the land as his private property, naming it the Congo Free State. From 1885 to 1908 the king's colonial military forced the population to produce rubber and committed widespread atrocities. In 1908, Leopold ceded the territory which thus became a Belgium colony.
The Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960 and was immediately confronted by a series of secessionist movements. There was the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the seizure of power by Mobutu Sese Seko in 1965 and renamed the country Zaire in 1971 until his overthrow in 1997 by the First Congo War. The country then had its name changed back and was confronted by the Second Congo War from 1998 to 2003. In 2018 the DRC had its first peaceful transition of power since independence and now has a president as head of state.
The government of the DRC is classified as a Unitary semi- presidential republic. There is a president and a prime minister. Then there is the Upper House and Lower House. Christianity is the dominant religion with 94.5% of the population identifying with this faith, and 2.6% are traditional worshippers, Islam account for 1.5% of the population and the remaining 0.5% as others.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is extremely rich in natural resources namely: copper, gold, cobalt, lithium, silver, manganese, and oil. But political instability, and centuries of both commercial and colonial extraction and exploitation have hindered its development. The major buyers of the DRC's resources are, China, South Africa, Mozambique, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The country's GDP stands at 55.35 billion USD.