Republic of DRC — Country Profile
The Democratic Republic of Congo: a nation of extraordinary natural wealth, cultural richness, and a people of remarkable resilience.
Heart of Africa
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), formerly Zaire and also known as Congo-Kinshasa, is a Central African nation bordered by the South Atlantic Ocean to the west. It is Africa's second-largest country by area and the eleventh largest in the world, covering 2,345,410 km² — roughly two-thirds of the European Union, or four times the size of France. The country is semi-landlocked, with a narrow 39 km maritime opening at Kongo Central. It borders nine countries: the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, and Angola.
The territory is organised into three geographic zones: a central basin covering a third of the country with equatorial forests and marshland, surrounding plateaus of savanna, and the eastern mountain massifs of North and South Kivu. Elevation ranges from the coast at Moanda to the Ruwenzori peaks at 5,109 metres.
The Congo River — 4,700 km long, with a basin of 3.8 million km² and 14,166 km of navigable waterways — is Africa's second-longest river after the Nile and the world's second-largest by discharge after the Amazon. With around 112 million inhabitants, the DRC is the most populous French-speaking country in the world; the capital and largest city, Kinshasa, is its economic centre.
Congo River
4,700 km long, with a discharge of 50,000 m³/s — the second-longest river in Africa.
Equatorial Forest
The world's largest tropical forest after the Amazon, home to immense biodiversity.
Eastern Highlands
Mountain massifs of North and South Kivu, including the Ruwenzori at 5,109 m.
Great Lakes
Lakes Edouard, Albert, Kivu, Tanganyika, Moero in the east; Mai-Ndombe and Ntumba in the west.
A Nation's Journey
Bantu populations and Pygmies organise into kingdoms — Kongo (15th c.), Luba (15th c.), Lunda (16th c.), Kazembe (18th c.) — and Mangbetu/Azandé chiefdoms.
Diego Cão finds the Congo River mouth (1482); Stanley locates Livingstone at Lake Tanganyika (1871); King Leopold II of Belgium founds the International Congo Association (1882); the Berlin Conference recognises the Congo Free State as Leopold II's personal property (1885).
The Congo Free State becomes the Belgian Congo. Lovanium University (Kinshasa) and the Official University of Congo (Elisabethville) are founded in 1954. Independence is proclaimed on 30 June 1960 after four years of nationalist activity.
First Republic: Joseph Kasa-Vubu as President, Patrice Emery Lumumba as Prime Minister. Katanga secedes under Moïse Tshombe; Lumumba is assassinated in 1961; UN peacekeepers intervene (1961–63).
Mobutu Sese Seko seizes power (24 Nov 1965), renames the country Zaïre (1971), and rules under one-party authoritarian government until multipartism is introduced in the 1990s.
Laurent-Désiré Kabila restores the name "Democratic Republic of the Congo" (17 May 1997). Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi launch military action against the DRC (1998). Kabila is assassinated (16 Jan 2001); Joseph Kabila becomes President ten days later.
The Inter-Congolese Dialogue Final Act is adopted and the Transition Constitution promulgated (2003). The Third Republic Constitution is promulgated after a referendum (Feb 2006); Joseph Kabila is elected President in the country's first universal-suffrage elections (Nov 2006).
Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo is elected President on 30 December 2018 — the first peaceful transfer of executive power in the DRC's history.
Political System
The DRC is a unitary semi-presidential republic. The President is both head of state and head of government. The legislature is bicameral: the National Assembly (lower house) and the Senate (upper house).
The country is divided into 26 provinces. The capital city, Kinshasa, is one of Africa's largest cities and a major cultural and economic hub.
Economic Overview
The DRC has one of the world's most resource-rich economies. It holds the world's largest cobalt reserves (critical for electric vehicle batteries), significant copper, gold, diamonds, and coltan deposits, and the hydroelectric potential to power the entire continent.
Agriculture employs the majority of the population, and the informal economy is large. GDP growth has averaged around 6% annually in recent years, supported by strong mining exports.