Democratic Republic of the Congo
POPULATION 55,225,478
ROMAN CATHOLIC 43 percent
PROTESTANT 22 percent
INDEPENDENT CHRISTIAN (INCLUDING KIMBANGUIST CHURCH) 30 percent
MUSLIM 1.5 percent
TRADITIONAL 3.5 percent
Country Overview
Introduction
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a large, diversely populated country in central Africa. It is bordered by the Central African Republic and The Sudan to the north; Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania to the east; Zambia to the southeast; Angola to the southwest; and the Republic of the Congo and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. A dense forest covers almost half of its territory. The Congo, the most powerful river in Africa, runs though the country and is endowed with an exceptional network of dams and ports.
With 359 ethnic groups and nearly 400 languages and dialects, the DRC is a complex cultural mosaic. Even so, the country has developed a distinct national identity, shaped in part by religion, education, and colonization. The current borders were established in 1884–85, when Belgium's King Leopold II formed the Congo Free State, making it his personal possession and designating himself as sovereign. Subsequent abuse of forced laborers, however, especially in the state's rubber plantations, led to outrage in Europe, and in 1908 the territory, renamed the Belgium Congo, was removed from Leopold's rule and became an official colony of Belgium.
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