Background: Since 1994 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 of refugees from the fighting in
Rwanda and Burundi. The government of former president MOBUTU Sese Seko
was toppled by a rebellion led by Laurent 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. A cease-fire was signed on 10
July 1999, but sporadic fighting continued. 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.
Government type:
dictatorship; presumably undergoing a transition to representative government
Capital: Kinshasa
Currency: Congolese franc (CF)
Geography of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Location: Central Africa, northeast of Angola
Geographic coordinates: 0 00 N, 25 00 E
Area:
total: 2,345,410 sq km
land: 2,267,600 sq km
water: 77,810 sq km
Land boundaries:
total: 10,744 km
border countries: Angola 2,511 km, Burundi 233 km, Central African Republic 1,577
km, Republic of the Congo 2,410 km, Rwanda 217 km, Sudan 628 km, Tanzania 473 km, Uganda
765 km, Zambia 1,930 km
Coastline: 37 km
Maritime claims:
exclusive economic zone: boundaries with neighbors
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; hot and humid in equatorial river basin; cooler and drier in
southern highlands; cooler and wetter in eastern highlands; north of Equator - wet season
April to October, dry season December to February; south of Equator - wet season November
to March, dry season April to October
Terrain: vast central basin is a low-lying plateau; mountains in east
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pic Marguerite on Mont Ngaliema (Mount Stanley) 5,110 m
Natural resources: cobalt, copper, cadmium, petroleum, industrial and gem
diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, germanium, uranium, radium, bauxite, iron
ore, coal, hydropower, timber
Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 7%
forests and woodland: 77%
other: 13% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 100 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: periodic droughts in south; volcanic activity
Environment - current issues: poaching threatens wildlife populations; water
pollution; deforestation; refugees who arrived in mid-1994 were responsible for
significant deforestation, soil erosion, and wildlife poaching in the eastern part of the
country (most of those refugees were repatriated in November and December 1996).
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical
Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification
Geography - note: straddles Equator; very narrow strip of land that controls the
lower Congo river and is only outlet to South Atlantic Ocean; dense tropical rain forest
in central river basin and eastern highlands.
People of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The population of DROC 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
Lingala.
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. In 1969, it was the first independent
African church admitted to the World Council of Churches.
Before independence, education was largely in the hands of religious
groups. The primary school system was well-developed at independence;
however, the secondary school system was limited, and higher education was
almost nonexistent in most regions of the country. The principal objective
of this system was to train low-level administrators and clerks. Since
independence, efforts have been made to increase access to education, and
secondary and higher education have been made available to many more
Congolese. Despite the deterioration of the state-run educational system
in recent years, about 80% of the males and 65% of females, ages 6-11,
were enrolled in a mixture of state- and church-run primary schools in
1996. At higher levels of education, males greatly outnumber females. The
elite continues to send their children abroad to be educated, primarily in
Western Europe.
Population: 60,085,804 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 48.24%
15-64 years: 49.21%
65 years and over: 2.55%
Population growth rate: 3.1%
Birth rate: 46.02 births/1,000 population
Death rate: 15.15 deaths/1,000 population
Net migration rate: 0.14 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: one million refugees fled into Zaire (now called the
Democratic Republic of the Congo or DROC) in 1994 to escape the fighting
between the Hutus and the Tutsis; fighting in the DROC between rebels and
government forces in October 1996 caused 875,000 refugees to return to
Rwanda in late 1996 and early 1997; an additional 173,000 Rwandan refugees
disappeared in early 1997 and are assumed to have been killed by Zairian
forces; fighting between the Congolese government and Uganda- and
Rwanda-backed Congolese rebels spawned a regional war in DROC in August
1998, which left 1.8 million Congolese displaced in DROC and caused 300,000
Congolese refugees to flee to surrounding countries.
Infant mortality rate: 99.88 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 48.94 years
male: 46.96 years
female: 50.98 years
Total fertility rate: 6.84 children born/woman
Nationality:
noun: Congolese (singular and plural)
adjective: Congolese or Congo
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.
Religions: Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%,
Muslim 10%, other syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs 10%
Languages: French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana
(a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write French, Lingala, Kingwana, or
Tshiluba
total population: 77.3%
male: 86.6%
female: 67.7% (1995 est.)
SOURCES: The World Factbook, U.S. Department of State |