Virunga National Park (1979), The Kongo people are the largest ethnic group in the Democratic Republic of Congo.[180]. "DR Congo: UN peacekeepers killed in attack in North Kivu". On 17 January 1961, he was handed over to Katangan authorities and executed by Belgian-led Katangese troops. [91], The rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo contain great biodiversity, including many rare and endemic species, such as the common chimpanzee and the bonobo, the African forest elephant, the mountain gorilla, the okapi and the white rhino. [101], Although located in the Central African UN subregion, the nation is also economically and regionally affiliated with Southern Africa as a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). An election-result dispute between Kabila and Jean-Pierre Bemba turned into an all-out battle between their supporters in the streets of Kinshasa. Instances of child labor and forced labor have been observed and reported in the U.S. Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor in the DRC in 2013[111] and six goods produced by the country's mining industry appear on the department's December 2014 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor. Other parties that emerged included the Parti Solidaire Africain (PSA) led by Antoine Gizenga, and the Parti National du Peuple (PNP) led by Albert Delvaux and Laurent Mbariko.[35]. To mitigate this aid agencies have tried to promote agro-forestry with fast growing trees to avoid over exploitation of the rainforests. ", "The geopolitics of renewable energy: Debunking four emerging myths", "GIs retrain Congo troops known for being violent", "An April 2009 report to Congress by the National Defense Stockpile Center", "Which Countries Are For or Against China's Xinjiang Policies? Portuguese is taught in the Congolese schools as a foreign language. Congolese troops have been fighting the Kivu conflict in the eastern North Kivu region, the Ituri conflict in the Ituri region, and other rebellions since the Second Congo War. The country possesses 80% of the world's cobalt reserves. Cobalt is also used in magnetic alloys and in cutting and wear-resistant materials such as cemented carbides. Data are also lacking on irregular immigrants, however given neighbouring countries' ethnic links to DRC nationals, irregular migration is assumed to be a significant phenomenon. BBC. In 2007, Tremalt was owned by Prairie International Ltd, of which Dan Gertler's family trust was a major shareholder. [205] Other African nations produce music genres derived from Congolese soukous. [79], A tribal conflict erupted on 16–17 December 2018 at Yumbi in Mai-Ndombe Province, 400 km (250 miles) north of Kinshasa. Matadi to Lubumbashi, 2,700 km (1,700 mi) by road). [127], In 2015, figures both inside and outside of the country, such as Filimbi and Emmanuel Weyi, spoke out about the need to curb violence and instability as the 2016 elections approached. Conservationists have particularly worried about primates. In July 2019, UN ambassadors of 37 countries, including DRC, have signed a joint letter to the UNHRC defending China's treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities.[133]. [230] The reason conflict is so damaging to wildlife is the increased use of bush meat to feed soldiers, the prevalence of weapons, the lucrative industry of selling exotic animals and ivory as well as the general failure of law and order. The armed groups are after gold, diamonds, oil, and cobalt to line the pockets of rich men both in the region and internationally. [80], On 30 December the Democratic Republic of the Congo general election, 2018 was held. info) French: République démocratique du Congo), also known as Congo-Kinshasa, Zaire, DR Congo, DRC (the official acronym), the DROC, or simply the Congo, is a country located in Central Africa.It was formerly called Zaire (1971–1997). [151] In February 2007, 22% of the Nikanor Mining company was owned by the Gertner Family Trust and 14% by Dan Gertler. According to American writer Samuel Henry Nelson: "It is probable that the word 'Kongo' itself implies a public gathering and that it is based on the root konga, 'to gather' (trans[itive]). The DRC has the world's second largest contiguous rain forest after the Amazon as well as other ecosystems including Savanna, swamps and flood plains. Mobutu continued in power until armed forces forced him to flee in 1997. [49] International aid, most often in the form of loans, enriched Mobutu while he allowed national infrastructure such as roads to deteriorate to as little as one-quarter of what had existed in 1960. [149], In September 2004, state-owned Gécamines signed an agreement with Global Enterprises Corporate (GEC), a company formed by the merger of Dan Gertler International (DGI) with Beny Steinmetz Global, to rehabilitate and operate the Kananga and Tilwezembe copper mines. DR Congo has twice won the African Cup of Nations football tournament. This discrepancy is due to a lack of official, reliable data. [201], French is the official language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its findings confirmed Casement's report of abuses, concluding that the population of the Congo had been "reduced by half" during this period. In 1926 the colonial capital moved from Boma to Léopoldville, some 300 kilometres (190 mi) further upstream into the interior. Several Congolese players and players of Congolese descent—including strikers Romelu Lukaku, Yannick Bolasie, and Dieumerci Mbokani—have gained prominence in world football. Another significant issue is environmental damage from the mining of minerals, especially diamonds, gold, and coltan – a mineral used to manufacture capacitors. [114][115] Mass rapes, sexual violence and sexual slavery are used as a weapon of war by the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and armed groups in the eastern part of the country. Since the late 19th century, traditional ways of life have undergone changes brought about by colonialism, the struggle for independence, the stagnation of the Mobutu era, and most recently, the First and Second Congo Wars. [166] Since the end of the civil war, the situation has improved tremendously, with the number of children enrolled in primary schools rising from 5.5 million in 2002 to 13.8 million in 2015, and the number of children enrolled in secondary schools rising from 2.8 million in 2007 to 4.6 million in 2015 according to UNESCO. It is, by area, the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa, the second-largest in all of Africa (after Algeria), and the 11th-largest in the world. [185], Since 2003, more than 400,000 Congolese migrants have been expelled from Angola. As a result of its equatorial location, the DRC experiences high precipitation and has the highest frequency of thunderstorms in the world. World Wide Fund for Nature ecoregions located in the Congo include: World Heritage Sites located in Democratic Republic of Congo are: The figure of 2,250 km (1,400 mi) converts to 35 km (22 mi) of paved road per 1,000,000 of population. Belgian exploration and administration took place from the 1870s until the 1920s. The size of Congo, 2,345,408 square kilometres (905,567 sq mi), is slightly greater than the combined areas of Spain, France, Germany, Sweden, and Norway. In a campaign to identify himself with African nationalism, starting on 1 June 1966, Mobutu renamed the nation's cities: Léopoldville became Kinshasa (the country was now Congo-Kinshasa), Stanleyville became Kisangani, Elisabethville became Lubumbashi, and Coquilhatville became Mbandaka. 9 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons", "World Bank Pledges $1 Billion to Democratic Republic of Congo", "OHADA.com: The business law portal in Africa", "Congo with $24 Trillion in Mineral Wealth BUT still Poor", "Mining Companies Could See Big Profits in Congo", "The Dark Side of Globalization. The river also has the second-largest flow and the second-largest watershed of any river in the world (trailing the Amazon in both respects). In 2007, The World Bank decided to grant the Democratic Republic of Congo up to $1.3 billion in assistance funds over the following three years. He traveled frequently across the continent while the government became more vocal about African issues, particularly those relating to the southern region. Four hundred thousand people were evacuated from the city during the eruption. A coalition of Rwandan and Ugandan armies invaded Zaire to overthrow the government of Mobutu, and ultimately to control the mineral resources of Zaire,[citation needed] launching the First Congo War. It is often simply referred to as the Protestant Church, since it covers most of the DRC Protestants. [126] In June 2014, Freedom from Torture published reported rape and sexual violence being used routinely by state officials in Congolese prisons as punishment for politically active women. "[51], By 1996, following the Rwandan Civil War and genocide and the ascension of a Tutsi-led government in Rwanda, Rwandan Hutu militia forces (Interahamwe) fled to eastern Zaire and used refugee camps as a base for incursions against Rwanda. We'd go to an intermediary and tell him to get five million. [87], A major measles outbreak in the country left nearly 5,000 dead in 2019.[88]. [155] Later in 2013, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative suspended the country's candidacy for membership due to insufficient reporting, monitoring and independent audits, but in July 2013 the country improved its accounting and transparency practices to the point where the EITI gave the country full membership. [224], Bush meat is an important source of protein for millions in the DRC, especially in rural areas where it makes up 50-70% of meals. [54] In 2012 Bosco Ntaganda, the leader of the CNDP, and troops loyal to him, mutinied and formed the rebel military March 23 Movement, claiming the government violated the treaty. The United Nations mission in the DRC is its largest and most expensive peacekeeping effort, but it shut down five UN bases near Masisi in 2017, after the US led a push to cut costs. [70] On 8 December 2017, fourteen UN soldiers and five Congolese regular soldiers were killed in a rebel attack at Semuliki in Beni territory. Colonialism In The Congo Basin, 1880–1940. Its capital is Kinshasa. Before 2015, the country had 11 provinces. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is located in central sub-Saharan Africa, bordered to the northwest by the Republic of the Congo, to the north by the Central African Republic, to the northeast by South Sudan, to the east by Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, and by Tanzania (across Lake Tanganyika), to the south and southeast by Zambia, to the southwest by Angola, and to the west by the South Atlantic Ocean and the Cabinda Province exclave of Angola. [14] The sovereign state is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, African Union, and COMESA. [226] Another study showed that the species of bush meat in the meat markets of the DRC's third largest city Kisangani were primarily Artiodactyla at 40.06% of the carcasses sold then primates at 37.79% of carcasses sold. The Belgian population of the colony increased from 1,928 in 1910 to nearly 89,000 in 1959. All of these parks have been put on the World Heritage in Danger List. [2] The provinces are subdivided into 145 territories and 32 cities. The rise of female authors began in the 1970s introducing diversity to Congolese literature and support for gender empowerment. MONUC took control of the city. In the centre and east, the kingdoms of Luba and Lunda ruled from the 16th and 17th centuries to the 19th century. [226] This is a huge amount compared to the Amazon where bush meat is hunted at only 3% the rate of the Congo. "Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo)", Adherents.com – Religion by Location. A dense tropical rainforest in the DRC's central river basin and eastern highlands is bordered on the east by the Albertine Rift (the western branch of Africa's Great Rift System). The President was also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. [130] The largest use of cobalt is in superalloys, used to make jet engine parts. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was invited to visit the United States on several occasions, meeting with U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. [208] Radio Télévision Nationale Congolaise (RTNC) is the national broadcaster of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. [187] Other recent estimates have found Christianity the majority religion, followed by 95.8% of the population according to a 2010 Pew Research Center[188] estimate, while the CIA World Factbook reports this figure to be 95.9%. The river basin (meaning the Congo River and all of its myriad tributaries) occupies nearly the entire country and an area of nearly 1,000,000 km2 (390,000 sq mi). Child soldiers have been used on a large scale in DRC, and in 2011 it was estimated that 30,000 children were still operating with armed groups.[110]. Some say it's a strategy to keep the president in power", "Katanda Bone Harpoon Point | The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program", The Cambridge history of Africa: From the earliest times to c. 500 BC, "Patrice Lumumba: 50 Years Later, Remembering the U.S.-Backed Assassination of Congo's First Democratically Elected Leader", "Belgians accused of war crimes in killing of Congo leader Lumumba", "The 2006 Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Congo", "Congo-Zaire's 1996–97 civil war in the context of evolving patterns of military conflict in Africa in the era of independence", "ICC Convicts Bemba of War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity", "DR Congo government, CNDP rebels 'sign peace deal, "Congo-Kinshasa: General Ntaganda and Loyalists Desert Armed Forces", "Rwanda defence chief leads DR Congo rebels, UN report says", "Rwanda military aiding DRC mutiny, report says", "Tanzanian troops arrive in eastern DR Congo as part of UN intervention brigade", "Katanga: Fighting for DR Congo's cash cow to secede", "A New Study Finds Death Toll in Congo War too High", "Congo's Death Rate Unchanged Since War Ended", "1,900 killed, over 3,300 abducted in DR Congo's eastern Kivu provinces", "The Democratic Republic of the Congo: Hurdle After Hurdle", "No elections in DR Congo before April 2018: minister", "DR Congo: Rebels Were Recruited to Crush Protests", "Fear and trauma haunt Congolese massacre survivors", "Surprise Winner Of Congolese Election Is An Opposition Leader", "REFILE-Opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi sworn in as Congo president", "DR Congo presidential election: Outcry as Tshisekedi named winner", DR Congo election board delays vote in three cities, DR Congo: Nearly 900 killed in ethnic clashes last month, UN says, Nearly 900 killed in ethnic violence in Congo in mid-December -UN, "DR Congo announces new govt 7 months after president inaugurated", https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50506743, "Nyamuragira Volcano, Democratic Republic of Congo | John Seach", The National Assembly adopts the laws regarding the limits of the provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, "Lambertini, A Naturalist's Guide to the Tropics, excerpt", "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species", "Elephant Poaching on Rise in Resistance Army Stronghold in Democratic Republic of Congo", "Devastating Decline of Forest Elephants in Central Africa", "Mountain gorilla population rises above 1,000", "Interim Constitution - Democratic Republic of the Congo (2003-2006)", "Congo (Democratic Republic of the) 2005 (rev. His son Joseph Kabila succeeded him and called for multilateral peace talks. The DRC has Africa’s largest rainforest, which is under the threat of deforestation through mining operations, agriculture, infrastructure and wood fuel. [83] The government had also "delayed" the vote until March in some areas, citing the Ebola outbreak in Kivu as well as the ongoing military conflict. [61], Additionally, in northern Katanga, the Mai-Mai created by Laurent Kabila slipped out of the control of Kinshasa with Gédéon Kyungu Mutanga's Mai Mai Kata Katanga briefly invading the provincial capital of Lubumbashi in 2013 and 400,000 persons displaced in the province as of 2013[update]. Dikembe Mutombo is one of the best African basketball players to ever play the game. Congo (Kinshasa) (native name: République démocratique du Congo) is a country located in Middle Africa. [77], Human Rights Watch said in 2017 that Joseph Kabila recruited former M23 fighters to put down country-wide protests over his refusal to step down from office at the end of his term. Mobutu got one, and we took the other nine. The country's 81 million inhabitants (2016) are mainly rural. [199] The Congo Children Trust's flagship project is Kimbilio,[200] which works to reunite street children in Lubumbashi. [185], Figures for Congolese nationals abroad vary greatly depending on the source, from three to six million. "[103] Mobutu institutionalized corruption to prevent political rivals from challenging his control, leading to an economic collapse in 1996. Due to the presence of undisciplined and poorly trained ex-rebels, as well as a lack of funding and having spent years fighting against different militias, the FARDC suffers from rampant corruption and inefficiency. In 1970 the National Spiritual Assembly (national administrative council) was first elected. On 17 May 1997, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, a leader of Tutsi forces from the province of South Kivu, became President after Mobutu fled to Morocco, reverting the country's name to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. [197][clarification needed][198] There are charities supporting street children such as the Congo Children Trust. Although, data on bush meat use is not extensive, studies estimate 6 million tonnes of animals are taken for bush meat globally each year. [170] Malaria is also a problem. COD Alpha-3. The environmental problems associated with The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) affect its many endemic species of flora and fauna. [113], The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in 2006 expressed concern that in the post-war transition period, the promotion of women's human rights and gender equality is not seen as a priority. Besides the capital Kinshasa, the two next largest cities, Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi are both mining communities. Mutombo is well known for humanitarian projects in his home country. Amidst widespread confusion and chaos, a temporary government was led by technicians (the Collège des commissaires généraux). [50] Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union U.S. relations with Mobutu cooled, as he was no longer deemed necessary as a Cold War ally. [173], Maternal health is poor in DRC. There is also considerable migration for commercial activities from other African countries and the rest of the world, but these movements are not well studied. [148] Smuggling of conflict minerals such as coltan and cassiterite, ores of tantalum and tin, respectively, helped to fuel the war in the Eastern Congo. High, glaciated mountains (Rwenzori Mountains) are found in the extreme eastern region. In April 2013, anti-corruption NGOs revealed that Congolese tax authorities had failed to account for $88 million from the mining sector, despite booming production and positive industrial performance. (9 October 2013). [26], Leopold had designs on what was to become the Congo as a colony. The tropical climate also produced the Congo River system which dominates the region topographically along with the rainforest it flows through, though they are not mutually exclusive. Ultimately, nine African countries and around twenty armed groups became involved in the war,[7] which resulted in the deaths of 5.4 million people. [21], In 1992, the Sovereign National Conference voted to change the name of the country to the "Democratic Republic of the Congo", but the change was not made. Though the religion was banned in the 1970s and 1980s, due to misrepresentations of foreign governments, the ban was lifted by the end of the 1980s. Newspapers of the DRC include L'Avenir, Radion Télévision Mwangaza, La Conscience [fr], L'Observateur [fr], Le Phare, Le Potentiel, Le Soft and LeCongolais.CD,[207] a web-based daily. CD Alpha-2. In 1908, Leopold, despite his initial reluctance, ceded the so-called Free State to Belgium, thus it became known as the Belgian Congo. Lumumba declared Kasavubu's action unconstitutional and a crisis between the two leaders developed. Appel inconnu ou manqué de l'République du Congo? The last Governor-general of the Congo Free State, Baron Théophile Wahis, remained in office in the Belgian Congo and the majority of Leopold II's administration with him. As the neighboring French colony of Middle Congo (Moyen Congo) also chose the name "Republic of Congo" upon achieving its independence, the two countries were more commonly known as "Congo-Léopoldville" and "Congo-Brazzaville", after their capital cities. [63][64], In 2009, The New York Times reported that people in the Congo continued to die at a rate of an estimated 45,000 per month[65] – estimates of the number who have died from the long conflict range from 900,000 to 5,400,000. Lingala was the official language of the colonial army, the "Force Publique", under Belgian colonial rule, and remains to this day the predominant language in the armed forces. One study found that more than 400,000 women are raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo every year. [98] However, the study indicated that poaching is still an existing problem, with researchers finding 380 snares and park guards continually being ambushed and killed by poachers.[98]. [164] The education system in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is governed by three government ministries: the Ministère de l'Enseignement Primaire, Secondaire et Professionnel (MEPSP), the Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et Universitaire (MESU) and the Ministère des Affaires Sociales (MAS). These are SAPP (Southern African Power Pool), EAPP (East African Power Pool), CAPP (Central African Power Pool). This massive expanse of lush jungle covers most of the vast, low-lying central basin of the river, which slopes toward the Atlantic Ocean in the west. Under the new constitution, the legislature remained bicameral; the executive was concomitantly undertaken by a President and the government, led by a Prime Minister, appointed from the party able to secure a majority in the National Assembly. Military-style tactics were employed in the bloodbath, and some assailants were clothed in army uniforms. [168], The hospitals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo include the General Hospital of Kinshasa. On 10 January 2019, the electoral commission announced opposition candidate Félix Tshisekedi as the winner of the presidential vote. Since the recent rebellions, a good part of the army in the East also uses Swahili where it is prevalent. Renton, David; Seddon, David; Zeilig, Leo. [218] Poor governance and low economic conditions have reduced the effectiveness of these protections, especially during war times. The 2003 transitional constitution[99] had established a parliament with a bicameral legislature, consisting of a Senate and a National Assembly. According to the International Organization for Migration, the number of immigrants in the DRC has fallen from just over one million in 1960, to 754,000 in 1990, to 480,000 in 2005, to an estimated 445,000 in 2010. This atmosphere contributed to Mobutu's declaring the Third Republic in 1990, whose constitution was supposed to pave the way for democratic reform. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most biodiverse African country.[92]. Nearly 900 Banunu people from four villages were slaughtered by members of the Batende community in a deep-rooted rivalry over monthly tribal duties, land, fields and water resources. It also provided for the creation of a Conseil Superieur de la Defense (Superior Defence Council) which would declare states of siege or war and give advice on security sector reform, disarmament/demobilisation, and national defence policy. The government – not the President – is responsible to the Parliament. DR Congo consistently has the lowest, or nearly the lowest, nominal GDP per capita in the world. The same Congolese soukous, under the guidance of "le sapeur", Papa Wemba, have set the tone for a generation of young men always dressed up in expensive designer clothes. In 2002 and 2003 Bemba intervened in the Central African Republic on behalf of its former president, Ange-Félix Patassé. For some who cannot afford farmed produce it is a free meal. In the northeast, Joseph Kony's LRA moved from their original bases in Uganda and South Sudan to DR Congo in 2005 and set up camps in the Garamba National Park. The transitional constitution also established a relatively independent judiciary, headed by a Supreme Court with constitutional interpretation powers.[100]. Poaching for the exotic animal or ivory trade has been a persistent problem for species loss in the DRC, it has been made a necessity for some trying to escape poverty and a means of continuing the civil war for some rebel groups including the Lords Resistance army (LRA). It is the second-largest country in Africa by area, after Algeria. [19], The word Zaire is from a Portuguese adaptation of a Kikongo word nzere ("river"), a truncation of nzadi o nzere ("river swallowing rivers"). Garamba National Park (1980), A constitution was approved by voters, and on 30 July 2006 DRC held its first multi-party elections.