Congo, Democratic Republic of (Zaire)
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) originally emerged on February 23, 1885, three days before the end of the Berlin Conference, as the International Association of Congo. The country was renamed the Congo Free State (CFS) on July 1, 1885. The CFS subsequently became Belgian Congo in November 1908, and it remained a Belgian colony until June 1960, when it achieved political independence. It was known as the (Democratic) Republic of Congo from 1960 to 1971 and as Zaire from 1971 to 1996. President Laurent Kabila (1939–2001) renamed it the DRC in May 1997.
Geography and People
The DRC has jurisdiction over a territory covering approximately 2,350,000 square kilometers (907,100 square miles) in central Africa, making it the twelfth largest country in the world. It has 37 kilometers (23 miles) of coastline on the Atlantic Ocean and shares borders with Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, and Angola. Most of the country lies within the hollow of the Congo River basin, except the eastern region, which is the highest elevated and the most rugged area of Congo.
The DRC had an estimated population of 58 million in July 2004, divided among more than 230 ethnic groups.
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