Democratic Republic of the Congo Flag

Brief History. Established as a Belgian colony in 1908, the Republic of the Congo gained its independence in 1960. Since 1997 the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DROC; formerly called Zaire) has been rent by ethnic strife and civil war, touched off by a massive inflow in 1994 of refugees from the fighting in Rwanda and Burundi. Troops from Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Chad, and Sudan intervened to support the Kinshasa regime. A cease-fire was signed on 10 July 1999 by the DROC, Zimbabwe, Angola, Uganda, Namibia, Rwanda, and Congolese armed rebel groups RCD-G and MLC, but sporadic fighting continued. Kabila was assassinated on 16 January 2001 and his son Joseph Kabila was named head of state on 26 January 2001. Despite taking a radically different approach than his father, the new president has been equally unsuccessful in ending the war.

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Country Information

Local name: Congo

Capital: Kinshasa

Population: 62,660,551

Government: transitional government

Currency: Congolese franc (CDF)

Land size: 2,345,410 sq km

Topography: vast central basin is a low-lying plateau; mountains in east

Typical foods:

Major exports: diamonds, copper, crude oil, coffee, cobalt
Information on the People

Official language: French

Other languages spoken: Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba

Religions: Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%, Muslim 10%, other syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs 10%

Literacy rate: 65.5%

Male/Female Ratio: 0.99 male(s) to every 1 female

Life expectancy: 51.46 years

Ethnic groups: over 200 African ethnic groups of which the majority are Bantu; the four largest tribes - Mongo, Luba, Kongo (all Bantu), and the Mangbetu-Azande (Hamitic) make up about 45% of the population

Internet users: 50,000

Famous people:

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