Democratic Republic of the Congo Not to be confused with the neighbouring Republic of the Congo or the Peoples Republic of the Congo. Democratic Republic of the Congo République démocratique du Congo (French) Flag Coat of arms Motto: Justice – Paix – Travail (French) Justice – Peace – Work Anthem: Debout Congolais (French) Arise, Congolese Capital and largest city Kinshasa 4°19′S 15°19′E Official languages French Recognised national languages Lingala Kikongo Swahili Tshiluba Ethnic groups See Ethnic groups section below Demonym Congolese Government Semi-presidential republic - President Joseph Kabila - Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo Legislature Parliament - Upper house Senate - Lower house National Assembly Independence - from Belgium 30 June 1960[1] Area - Total 2,345,409 km2 (11th) 905,355 sq mi - Water (%) 4.3 Population - 2014 estimate 77,433,744[1] (19th) - Density 33.01/km2 (182nd) 75.9/sq mi GDP (PPP) 2014 estimate - Total $55 billion[2] - Per capita $694[2] GDP (nominal) 2014 estimate - Total $30.8 billion[2] - Per capita $416[2] Gini (2006) 44.4[3] medium HDI (2013) Increase 0.304[4] low · 186tha Currency Congolese franc (CDF) Time zone WAT and CAT (UTC+1 to +2) Drives on the right Calling code +243 ISO 3166 code CD Internet TLD .cd a. Lowest ranked. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (French: République démocratique du Congo), also known as DR Congo, DRC, Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, DROC,[5][6] or RDC, is a country located in Central Africa. It borders the Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and Sudan to the north, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania to the East, Zambia and Angola to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world. With a population of over 75 million,[1] the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most populous officially Francophone country, the fourth most populous nation in Africa and thenineteenth most populous country in the world. The Congolese Civil Wars, beginning in 1996, brought about the end of Mobutu Sese Sekos 31 year reign, devastated the country, and ultimately involved nine African nations, multiple groups of UN Peacekeepers and twenty armed groups.[7][8] The wars resulted in the deaths of 5.4 million people since 1998[9][10][11] with more than 90% of those deaths the result of malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition, aggravated by displacement and unsanitary and over-crowded living conditions.[12] Nearly half of the victims were children under five.[9] The country is extremely rich in natural resources but political instability, a lack of infrastructure and a culture of corruption have historically limited development, extraction and exploitation efforts. Besides the capital, Kinshasa, the countrys other largest cities are both mining communities (Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi) and the countrys largest exports are raw minerals with China accepting over 50% of DRCs exports in 2012.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 00:34:33 +0000
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