Democratic Republic of the Congo - Wikivoyage, the free collaborative travel and tourism guide - République démocratique du Congo — Wikivoyage, le guide de voyage et de tourisme collaboratif gratuit

For other places of the same name, see Congo.

Democratic Republic of Congo
Flag
Information
Capital city	Kinshasa
Area	2 345 410 km²
Population	68 692 542 hab. (2009)
Density	29,29 inhab./km²
Form of State	Republic
Official language	French (official) kikongo, lingala, swahili, tchiluba (national)
Cash	Congolese franc (CDF)
Electricity	220 V/50 Hz, European plug
Telephone prefix	243
Internet suffix	.CD
Flow direction	Right-hand drive
Spindle	UTC 1 to UTC 2
Location
3 ° 18 ′ 0 ″ S 23 ° 12 ′ 0 ″ E
edit

The Democratic Republic of Congo is a country ofcentral Africa, border of the Republic of Congo to the west, from the Central African Republic north of South sudan in the northeast, ofUganda, from Rwanda, from Burundi and some Tanzania to the east (from north to south), from the Zambia to the south-east andAngola at the South West.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is sometimes referred to as Congo-Kinshasa to distinguish it from the Republic of Congo neighbor, also called Congo Brazzaville.

The country was formerly called Belgian Congo and, from 1971 to 1997, Zaire.

Understand

Art and culture

Friends of art should visit the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Kinshasa and find there artists like Lema Kusa - with his "Women of Lema Kusa" -, Roger Botembe and Henri Kalama Akulez - with his central subject "Cosmic vibrations ". Kalama and Lema’s private studios are very interesting to visit and a discussion of art with them very meaningful.

Holidays

Dated	French name
January 1, 2022	new Year's Day
January 4, 2022	martyrs day of independence
January 16, 2022	anniversary of the assassination of President Laurent Désiré Kabila
January 17, 2022	anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Patrice Émery Lumumba, father of national independence
April 30, 2021	national education day
May 1, 2021	international labor day
May 17, 2021	May 17 feast (day of the seizure of power by the AFDL, liberation from mobutism)
June 30, 2021	independence anniversary
August 1, 2021	parents / elders day
December 25, 2021	Christmas

Regions

Cities

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• -4.33166715.3138891 Kinshasa  – the capital (last update Feb. 2018)
• -5.848713.05612 Boma  – Port overlooking the Atlantic but on the right bank of the Congo River (last update Feb. 2018)
• -2.515328.8453 Bukavu (Bukavu)  – City of North Kivu (last update Feb. 2018)
• Butembo - new commercial city of North Kivu
• Beni - City in the north of the province of North Kivu
• -1.693329.22524 Goma  – capital of the province of North Kivu (last update Feb. 2018)
• 2.773327.61855 Isiro  – capital of the Haut-Uele province (last update Feb. 2018)
• -5.93329.1836 Kalemie  – capital of the province of Tanganyika. Main Congolese port of Lake Tanganyika (last update Feb. 2018)
• -5.892222.40277 Kananga  – capital of Kasaï-Central province (last update Feb. 2018)
• -5.040918.81618 Kikwit  (last update Feb. 2018)
• -2.9525.959 Kindu  – capital of the province of Maniema (last update Feb. 2018)
• -11.76527.24510 Kipushi  (last update Feb. 2018)
• 0.519225.196111 Kisangani  – capital of the province of Tshopo (Eastern Province). River trade terminus coming from Kinshasa and road trade departure to Kivu. (last update Feb. 2018)
• -3.48323.43312 Lodja  (last update Feb. 2018)
• -11.669727.483313 Lubumbashi  – capital of Katanga province. (last update Feb. 2018)
• -5.817313.470814 Matadi  – capital of the province of Bas-Congo. Main industrial port on the Atlantic side. (last update Feb. 2018)
• 0.0476418.255915 Mbandaka  – capital of the province of Equateur. The line of the equator passes through the suburb at Wangata. (last update Feb. 2018)
• -6.136923.589816 Mbuji-Mayi (Mbujimayi)  – capital of the province of Kasai-Oriental. (last update Feb. 2018)
• -6.416620.817 Tshikapa  – capital of the province of Kasai. (last update Feb. 2018)

To go

Formalities

Circulate

By plane

Several international companies have for destination Kinshasa for example Air France, Sn Brussels, South African Airlines (SAA), Ethiopian Airline, and several others.

By train

• for Ituri: from Nairobi and Mombasa with the EAR Railway to Arua, station at the Uganda-Congolese border
• for katanga: from Mozambique and South Africa via Zimbabwe and Zambia
• for Katanga: from Benguela, direct CFB line
• for Kinshasa: from Matadi, ONATRA line

By bus

One of the biggest difficulties in Kinshasa is transport, mainly because of the poor condition of the roads. In Kinshasa the most popular means of circulation is the bus, particularly of the combi type (old model of Vw), in which the seats are replaced by wooden benches. The trip costs around 200 Congolese Fr (1 $ (~0,83 € - course of 04/27/2021) (~ 0.92 Fr. - price of 04/27/2021) (~ C $ 1.24 - class on 04/27/2021) (~ 543.04 F CFA - price of 04/27/2021)USA = 2000 Congolese Franc) depending on the destinations.

By car

Vehicles, known locally as taxis, have seats distributed as follows: one in the front seats (except for the driver) and three to four in the rear.

Taxis in the good sense of the term are called Taxi ExpressL the value of the trip is to be negotiated according to the distance and the quality of the way to your destination.

One of the greatest peculiarities of public transport in Kinshasa is that all these different means do not have specific colors, any vehicle can in a few minutes become a taxi or an express taxi.

So especially have a good look to see the hand signals made by the drivers.

Private vehicles go back and forth, entering and leaving Angola according to each driver.

There are no fixed prices. So negotiate with the driver before departure.

To speak

It all depends on where you go, but you can get by with French anywhere, but the most spoken language is Lingala, and for advice it would be better for you to learn the language. The second most widely spoken is Swahili, followed by Tshiluba and Kikongo. With the arrival of AFDL, then MONUC, we are also witnessing a trend towards English, so it is not excluded to find someone who answers HOW MANY?

To buy

The Democratic Republic of Congo's currency is the Congolese Franc (CDF). There are 50-franc, 100-franc, 200-franc, 500-franc, 1,000-franc, 5,000-franc and 10,000-franc notes.

Eat

Specialties

• Fufu  – Fufu is a paste made from cassava flour and boiled water. It is the basis of the diet of many Congolese families. (last update Feb. 2018)
• Chikwangue  – Chikwangue is a sweet bread made from cassava (last update Feb. 2018)
• Pondu  – Pondu, also called saka saka, is a festive dish made from cassava leaves. (last update Feb. 2018)
• Moambe Chicken  – Chicken prepared with a sauce made from the flesh of the palm nut to which we add meat and condiments. (last update Feb. 2018)

Convenient

With the exception of a few large cities where you will find (very expensive) European restaurants, in DRC cities you will only find small local restaurants that will have to make a return trip to the market to buy the food beforehand. to prepare it and serve you. It is therefore advisable to order in advance.

Have a drink / Go out

Housing

To learn

To work

Communicate

• Yellow Pages  (last update Feb. 2018)

Manage the day-to-day

Time zones

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the only state in Africa located in two time zones.

Security

Government travel advice

• Belgium (Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation)  (last updated Apr 2018)
• Canada (Government of Canada)  (last updated Apr 2018)
• France (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)  (last updated Apr 2018)
• Swiss (Federal Department of Foreign Affairs)  (last updated Jan 2016)

Health

Respect