About DRC

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What is now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo has changed names a few times over the last half century. Until 1960 it was a Belgian colony known as the Belgian Congo. On gaining independence, political instability ensued followed by a coup in 1965 which installed Joseph-Désiré Mobutu as national leader. Mobutu then changed both his name to Mobutu Sese Seko and that of the country to Zaire, or Republic of Zaire with himself as president. He stayed in power until 1997 when his regime fell to the armies of Rwanda and Burundi with Laurent Kabila then installed as president. However a further insurrection was quashed with the aid of neighbouring countries. Kabila continued to rule until his assassination in 2001 after which his son became head of state. It is currently a democratic state following successful elections in 2006/2007.

Despite these elections the Democratic Republic of Congo has remained a fractious area, particularly with insurgent groups in open warfare with neighbouring states. This warfare has been ongoing since 1998 despite various peace accords. It is estimated that the war in the Congo has killed upwards of 5.4 million people, the most causalities of any war in earth's history, save for the Second World War. Even in 2009 it has been estimated that around forty five thousand people a month were dying.

This ongoing warfare has badly scarred the land and its peoples, with a recent survey suggesting that three quarters of the population being affected by events there. Today the country is home to over 68 million people making it Africa's third largest country by size and fourth largest by population, and, as with so many other former colonies, nearly 47% of its population is under the age of fifteen.

The wars have also damaged the country's economy, despite the it natural wealth, with foreign businesses and investors unwilling to work in partnership with the country because of its instability. This situation is slowly changing and foreign investment is beginning to rise. The Democratic Republic of Congo has been described as more of a geographical concept that a proper nation. Its landscape is one of rainforests, rivers and volcanoes all above a bed of an estimated twenty-four trillion US dollars of natural resources.