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| Flag | |
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| Short | |
| Capital | Kinshasa |
| Government | Republic, after a long dictatorship there is an elected government |
| Coin | Congolese Franc (CDF) |
| Surface | total: 2,345,410 km² water: 77,810 km² country: 2,267,600 km² |
| Population | 62,660,551 (July 2006 estimate) |
| Language | French (official), Lingala (a commercial language derived from French), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba |
| Religion | Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbangist 10%, Muslim 10%, other sects indigenous beliefs 10% |
| Electricity | 220V/50Hz (European plug) |
| Call code | 243 |
| Internet TLD | .CD |
| Time zone | UTC 1 - UTC 2 |
Congo-Kinshasa, formal Democratic Republic of the Congo or in short Congo, is a country in Central Africa.
The equator runs through the north of the country, with most of it in the Southern Hemisphere and the far north in the Northern Hemisphere.
Congo-Kinshasa borders in the southwest Angola (Cabinda is an exclave of Angola northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo) , in the south to Zambia, in the east on Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, in the northeast on Sudan, in the north on the Central-African Republic and in the northwest on Congo Brazzaville.
The former names of Congo-Kinshasa are Congo Free State, Belgian Congo and Zaire.
Regions
| Western Congo Kinshasa The region where the capital Kinshasa and the only seaport, the landscape consists mainly of tropical forest. |
| Katanga This region consists mainly of fertile plateaus, de facto independent from 1960 to 1966 during the "Katanga crisis". |
| kasai This region is important for the country because of the many diamond mines. |
| Kivu A turbulent border region near Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda known for its volcanoes, mountain gorillas and lingering unrest. |
| Congo area This region has the second largest rainforest after the Amazon. |
Towns
Other destinations
Info
History
From the 1870s, the country was first explored by Europeans and the first government emerged. The area was first mapped by the explorer Stanley. In 1885, the land was awarded to King Leopold II of Belgium at the Berlin Conference. He made it his personal property and called it the 'Congo Free State'. Shortly afterwards, when rubber became a highly coveted product, the country brought in a fortune for Leopold, with which he erected buildings in Brussels, Tervuren and Ostend, among others. The Congolese, meanwhile, were being exploited, and between 1885 and 1908 an estimated 5 million people died of exploitation and disease. In 1908, the Belgian Parliament had to give in to pressure and took over the colony from the king. The country was now called the Belgian Congo. Governance improved considerably and significant economic and social progress was achieved. However, the white colonial rulers generally displayed a condescending, patronizing attitude towards the native population.
Congo became independent on June 30, 1960. Patrice-Emery Lumumba (1925-1961) became prime minister, Joseph Kasavubu (1913-1969) became Congo's first president. Shortly after independence, there was a mutiny in the army and at the same time the relatively wealthy province of Katanga seceded and declared its independence. After five years of instability and disorder, Mobutu, now Lieutenant General, ousted Kasavubu in 1965. He installed a one-party state and proclaimed himself head of state. In an effort to propagate African awareness, Mobutu renamed the land and river after Zaire and himself Mobutu Sese Seko. Since 1994 Congo has been hit by ethnic unrest and civil war, partly due to the influx of refugees from Rwanda and Burundi. On May 18, 1997, soldiers of the Alliance of Democratic Forces led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila entered the Zaire capital of Kinshasa, after which Kabila proclaimed himself President of Congo-Kinshasa. On January 16, 2001, Kabila was killed in a failed coup. His son, Joseph Kabila, succeeded him. On July 30, 2006, Congo held its first real elections since independence, with Joseph Kabila being elected president.
climate
The equator cuts the country in two, one third is north and two thirds south of this imaginary line. Due to this equatorial location, Congo has to deal with large amounts of precipitation and has the highest frequency of thunderstorms in the world. Annual precipitation can total more than 2032 mm in some places. The area has the second largest rainforest in the world (after the Amazon). This vast expanse of lush jungle covers most of the river's low-lying central basin, sloping toward the Atlantic Ocean in the west. This area is surrounded by plateaus, merging into savanna to the south and southwest, and bounded by the mountainous terraces to the west and dense grasslands extending beyond the Congo River to the north. High mountains and glaciers are found in the far eastern region.
Population
The United Nations estimated the population in 2007 at 62.6 million people. Despite the war of 1997, the population increased sharply. As many as 250 ethnic groups have been identified and named in the country. The most numerous ethnic groups are the Congo, Luba and Mongo. There are also about 600,000 pygmies in Congo-Kinshasa. Although several hundred local languages and dialects are spoken, the linguistic diversity is largely bridged by intermediate languages such as Kongo, Tshiluba, Swahili and Lingala.
More than 80% of the population is Christian, of which 50% are Roman Catholic, 30% Protestant and 17% belong to various indigenous denominations, including the Kimbang Church (about 5 million members). During the 1970s and 1980s, under President Mobutu Sese Seko, relations between the various denominations on the one hand and the state on the other were tense. Archbishop Malula of the Catholic Church had to go into exile in the 1970s for his criticism of the regime. In 1973, independent church dailies were banned and the Protestant churches were obliged to unite. In 1990 the restrictions on the church and religion were lifted and since then the population has enjoyed religious freedom.
There are many mines in Congo-Kinshasa, where important raw materials such as copper and zinc are extracted. These are transported by boat across the Congo River for export.
Art and culture
The culture of the Democratic Republic of the Congo reflects the diversity of its hundreds of ethnic groups and their different ways of life across the country – from the mouth of the Congo River on the coast, upstream through the rainforest and the savanna in the middle, to the more densely populated mountains in the far east.
Since the late 1800s, the traditional way of life has undergone changes due to colonialism, the struggle for independence, the stagnation of the Mobutu era and most recently, the first and second Congolese wars. Despite these pressures, the customs and cultures of the Congo have been largely preserved. The country has 60 million inhabitants, mainly rural. The 30 percent who live in urban areas are the most open to Western influences.
Another notable part of the Congolese culture is the "sui generis music". The Congolese have mixed their ethnic music with Cuban rumba, merengue and soukous. Influential figures of soukous and its offshoots N'dombolo and Rumba rock include Dr Nico, Franco Luambo, Tabu Ley, Lutumba Simaro, Papa Wemba, King Kester Emeneya, Tshala Muana Koffi Olomide, JB Mpiana, Werrason, Kanda Bongo, Ray Lema, Abeti Masikini, Reddy Amisi, Pepe Kalle, Fally Ipupa, Awilo Longomba, Gatho Buvens, Ferre Gola and Nyoka Longo.
Other African countries produce genres of music derived from Congolese soukous. Some of the African bands sing in Lingala, one of the main languages in DRC. The same Congolese soukous, led by Papa Wemba, set the tone for a generation of young men and they became known as the 4th generation of Congolese music and they mostly come from the former band Wenge Musica.
Congo-Kinshasa is also known for its art. Traditional art includes masks and wooden statues. Notable contemporary artists and fashion designers include Odette Maniema Krempin, Lema Kusa, Henri Kalama Akulez, Nshole, Mavinga, Claudy Khan and Cheri Samba.
Holidays
June 30th - The National Day (Independence Day) is celebrated on June 30.
Arrive
Passport and visa
There is a visa requirement. The visa is available at the Embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Brussels. The Visa Service can help you with this. View on [1].
In case of a stay in Lubumbashi, it is recommended to inform yourself about the obligation to report to the local authorities for a stay of more than 48 hours. Attention: you need a travel pass that is valid for at least one year after your arrival at the RDC. A visa is only issued if an invitation with the stamp of a town hall in Congo and a Certificate of Good Conduct are provided.
By plane
N'Djili International Airport, also known as Kinshasa International Airport, is an airport serving Kinshasa. It is the largest of the country's five international airports. It is a hub for the three largest airlines in Congo-Kinshasa, namely Bravo Air Congo, Hewa Bora Airways and Wimbi Dira Airways. Brussels Airlines also provides regular flights between Brussels and Kinshasa.
By train
The National Railway Company of Congo-Kinshasa (SNCC) provides a limited number of connections in the immense country. Shortly after the country's independence, rail links were more extensive and infrastructure in better condition than today, but since the political changes, efforts have been made to restart closed lines. Yet one cannot compare the Congolese railways with the railways in the western world. The tickets are generally only on sale shortly before departure and are also sometimes difficult to obtain.
By car
The roads in Congo-Kinshasa are in a deplorable condition and so it is not recommended to explore the country by car. In the center of Kinshasa, the main streets are easily accessible and the road to the port of Matadi is also in reasonable condition. All other destinations are easily accessible only by plane or boat.
By bus
See above.
By boat
Banana, Boma and Matadi are ports at or near the mouth of the Congo River and are accessible to large cargo ships. Matadi is the country's main seaport. The cities of Bukavu, Bumba, Goma, Kalemie, Kindu, Kisangani, Kuba and Mbandaka are inland ports and are accessible via the major rivers.
In Kinshasa you can take the ferry to Brazzaville, the capital of neighboring country Congo Brazzaville.
Language
In eastern Congo-Kinshasa, the main language is Swahili. In other parts of the country people speak Kikongo, Lingala, Tshiluba or a local language (variant). In addition, French is also an official language. Dutch inscriptions can be found sporadically on old buildings from the colonial era.
To buy
The Congolese franc is the currency of Congo-Kinshasa. One franc is 100 centimes, but the subunit is no longer used.
No coins are used. The paper money is available in 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 francs.
Cost
Food
Moambe is a Congolese dish, made of 8 ingredients (moambe means eight in Lingala). The ingredients are:
1. palm nuts 2. chicken 3. dried fish 4. ground peanuts 5. rice 6. manioc leaves (saka saka or sombe) 7. plantains 8. pili pili in a spicy sauce.
The palm nuts are first boiled and then crushed. Then the pulp is mixed with water, sieved and boiled again. The end result is a kind of 'peanut sauce'. The crushing and/or grinding of the leaves of the cassava plant, which is then cooked, is called saka saka.
Going out
stay overnight
To learn
To work
Safety
Health
respect
Contact
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