Democratic Republic of the Congo
| Anthem: Debout Congolais | |
| Capital | Kinshasa |
| Largest city | Kinshasa |
| Official language(s) | French |
| Government | Republic |
| Area | |
| - Total | 2,344,858 km²2,344,858,000,000 m² 23,448,580 ha 905,354.735 miles² (12th) |
| 905,351 sq mi | |
| - Water (%) | 3.3% |
| Population | |
| - 2006 est. | 59,319,660 (countries by population|23rd) |
| - Density | 24/km² (179th) 62/sq mi |
| GDP (PPP) | 2003 estimate |
| - Total | 35,798 ¹ (78th) |
| - Per capita | 673 (174th) |
| HDI (2003) | 0.385 (167th) – low |
| Currency | [[Uses currency::Congolese franc]] (CDF)
|
| Time zone | [[Located in::CET, EET zone]] (UTC+1 to +2) |
| - Summer (DST) | not observed (UTC+1 to +2) |
| Internet TLD | [[Has internet TLD::.cd]] |
| Calling code | +243
|
- This article, or parts of this article, has been imported from the page Wikipedia:Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (French: République Démocratique du Congo), also often referred to as DRC, RDC, DR Congo, Congo or Congo-Kinshasa, and formerly as Zaire (or Zaïre in French), is a country in Central Africa and the third largest country on the continent. It borders the Central African Republic and Sudan on the north, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania on the east, Zambia and Angola on the south, and the Republic of the Congo on the west. The country enjoys access to the sea through a narrow forty kilometre stretch, following the Congo river into the Gulf of Guinea. The name "Congo" (meaning "hunter") is coined after the Bakongo ethnic group, living in the Congo river basin.
Formerly the Belgian colony of the Belgian Congo, the country's postindependence name was changed in 1971, from Congo-Kinshasa (after its capital, to distinguish it from the Republic of Congo, or Congo-Brazzaville) to Zaire, until 1997. Since 1998, the country has suffered greatly from the devastating Second Congo War (sometimes referred to as the African World War. The country enjoys access to the sea through a narrow forty kilometre stretch, following the Congo river into the Gulf of Guinea. The name "Congo" (meaning "hunter") is coined after the Bakongo ethnic group, living in the Congo river basin.
Formerly the Belgian colony of the Belgian Congo, the country's postindependence name was changed in 1971, from Congo-Kinshasa (after its capital, to distinguish it from the Republic of Congo, or Congo-Brazzaville) to Zaire, until 1997. Since 1998, the country has suffered greatly from the devastating Second Congo War (sometimes referred to as the African World War ), the world's deadliest conflict since World War II.
