Discover the DRC

Lost of the Congo River basin is located in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Central Africa. The country is semi-enclosed, with an arm of the sea to the west (Kongo Central) and a 39km strip of land wedged between the enclave of Cabinda to the north and Angola to the south. It covers an area of 2,345,410 km2, roughly two-thirds the size of the European Union or four times the size of France.

Geography of the DRC

Most of the Congo River basin is located in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Central Africa. The country is semi-enclosed, with an arm of the sea to the west (Kongo Central) and a 39km strip of land wedged between the enclave of Cabinda to the north and Angola to the south. It covers an area of 2,345,410 km2, roughly two-thirds the size of the European Union or four times the size of France.

The DRC is divided into three main geographical zones.

One-third of the country is covered by the central basin, which has the lowest relief, alternates between swampy areas and tropical forests, and receives water from the Congo River and its tributaries throughout the year.

The savannah covers the plateaux surrounding the basin.

The mountain ranges of the provinces of North and South Kivu to the east.

Relief

The relief varies from the lowest point in the country (the coastal region of Moanda) to the mountains in the east, including the Ruwenzori, which rises to 5,109 metres (Pic Margueritte, Monts Mitumba, Virunga, etc.), and the high plateau of Katanga, where the average altitude exceeds 1,200 metres. The North Kivu region is also home to a number of volcanoes, including the constantly active Nyiragongo.

Hydrology

The Congo River is 4,700 km long, has a flow rate of 50,000 m3/s and a catchment area of 3.80 million km2. It rises in Katanga, where it is known as the Lualaba, at an altitude of 1,435 metres. Due to its location at the equator and the almost equal distribution of its tributaries in both hemispheres, which regulates its flow and makes it the most regular river in the world, it is the second longest river in Africa after the Nile, the largest in terms of flow and the second largest river in the world after the Amazon.

The river has significant economic value as a fishery, source of hydroelectricity and communication route. With its many tributaries, it forms a veritable river highway, with 14,166 km of navigable waterways. The Congo River crosses the country from end to end before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean via a large estuary, where its force is so great that its sandy waters can be seen more than 45 kilometres from the shore. With Mai-Ndombe and Ntumba to the west and Lakes Edouard, Albert, Kivu, Tanganyka, Moero, etc. to the east, the Congo River is also home to a number of important lakes.

The climate

The Democratic Republic of Congo has two distinct climates:

Tropical, hot all year round, with a dry season and a rainy season in the regions to the north and south of the equator, the duration of which varies from region to region. Equatorial, hot and humid all year round, in the central zone crossed by the equator, where the immense tropical rainforest is found.

The flora

The physical geography of the regions crossed by the DRC’s flora – plateaux, mountain ranges, low to medium altitudes – influences the vegetation through the climate: savannahs, wooded savannahs, dense forests, mountain forests, all environments that reflect the country’s great biodiversity.

The fauna

The ecosystems of the Democratic Republic of Congo are abundant and diverse. A wide variety of species that have evolved to adapt to different climatic and floral conditions make up its diverse and abundant natural fauna. Almost all of Africa’s famous gigantic species, such as the African elephant, the largest giraffe, and the gorilla, the largest primate, are found in this country. The okapi and the Congo peacock are endemic species known only in the Congo.

With around two-thirds of all mammal genera represented, the Democratic Republic of Congo has a diversity of mammals that is probably unrivalled anywhere else in the world. Gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, wild cats, ruminants and several species of birds with breathtaking plumage and haunting melodies can be found in the country’s forests.

As in tropical regions, insects are also very varied, although some species can transmit serious tropical diseases. Large herbivores such as elephants, antelopes and buffalo, as well as dominant predators such as lions, leopards and hyenas, live in the savannah and open forests. Unfortunately, poaching has had a major negative impact on Congolese wildlife, particularly during the Second Congo War. Due to economic difficulties, public transport is underdeveloped in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Due to the topography and temperature, the landscape is characterised by sparse plants and shrubs. Wooded savannahs can be found on flat land, where a persistent fog reigns.

Every year, bush fires spread over hundreds of square kilometres, displacing game and eluding hunters.

History of the DRC

Chronology of the main historical events in the D.R.C.

A. The kingdoms (5th to 18th centuries)

Before the arrival of the Europeans, populations of Pygmy and Bantu origin lived in the region.

The Bantu were divided into kingdoms, the most important of which were the Kongo (15th century), Luba (15th century), Lunda (16th century), Kazembe (18th century), Kuba, Yaka and Teke kingdoms, as well as the autonomous Mangbetu, Azandé and Mongo chiefdoms.

B. Explorations (from the 19th century onwards)

The potential of the Congo Basin was revealed to the outside world in the 19th century, several centuries after the discovery of the mouth of the Congo River by Diego Cao in 1482.

The era of scientific discovery in Central Africa in the 19th century began in 1816 with the voyage of the Englishman Tuckey up the Congo River to the Yelala Falls. Then it was the turn of Anglo-American writer and traveller Henry Morton Stanley who, on 27 October 1871, joined Scottish missionary and traveller David Livingstone at Ujiji, in Tanzania, near Lake Tanganyika.

Leopold II, King of the Belgians, founded the Association Internationale du Congo (AIC) in October 1882 after being intrigued by the Congo’s potential. Through this organisation, he launched several exploration expeditions and eventually created the Congo Independent State (EIC), which was designated his personal property at the Berlin Conference in 1885.

C. The colonial era (29 June 1908-29 June 1960)

The Belgian Congo, annexed by Belgium in 1908, marked the beginning of the colonial era, which lasted until 30 June 1960.

The participation of Force publique soldiers in the world conflicts of 14-18 and 40-45, the emergence of the Congolese middle class and the literacy of the population, as well as the creation of numerous political parties in 1958, all contributed to the end of Belgian domination of the Congo. With the Pan-African Conference in Accra in 1958 and General de Gaulle’s speech in Brazzaville, these events were followed by the start of unrest and riots in 1959).

The colony experienced a period of economic growth (creation of several public and private companies in the transport, agriculture and mining sectors), which was accompanied by a serious unemployment crisis just before independence.

On the socio-cultural front, there were two key events: the creation in 1954 of the official University of Congo in Elisabethville, now the University of Lubumbashi, and the Lovanium University in Léopoldville, now the University of Kinshasa, the first in Congo and Central Africa.

The traditional Catholic and Protestant Christian churches vied with each other to extend their religious influence as far as possible throughout the Belgian Congo.

Another occasion deserves to be highlighted. The religious movement founded by Simon Kimbangu came into being on 6 April 1921 in Nkamba, in the province of Bas-Congo. It then took the name Eglise du Christ sur Terre par le Prophète Simon Kimbangu (EJCSK) in 1959.

D. The post-colonial era (which began on 30 June 1960 and continues presently)

Three sub-periods make up this era, which began in 1960 with the independence of the Congo:

1960-1965: The First Republic

From 1965 to 1997, the Second Republic.

From 1997 to the present day, the Third Republic

1. The First Republic

On 30 June 1960, the Congo became independent after four years of nationalist unrest. The Republic of Congo (sometimes called “Congo Kinshasa”) was created to replace the Belgian Congo. Patrice Emery Lumumba became the first Prime Minister and Joseph Kasa-Vubu the first President of the Republic.

On 30 June 1960, when independence was proclaimed, Mose Tshombe’s Katanga seceded. Patrice Emery Lumumba was assassinated in 1961, UN forces intervened (1961-1963) to prevent Katanga from seceding and Belgian paratroopers intervened (1964) to put an end to a mutiny by loyal Lumumbists. Several conflicts broke out between 1961 and 1965, but the assassination of Patrice Emery Lumumba was the most significant.

2. The Second Republic

It is important to remember a few dates from this long period of 32 years.

After a coup d’état, Mobutu Sese Seko became President of the Republic on 24 November 1965.

The Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution (M.P.R.) became the sole political entity in 1970.

1971: Zaire replaces the name of the Republic of Congo. Mobutu calls on France and Morocco in 1977 and 1978 to put down new rebellions (Kolwezi).

From 1990: Mobutu is forced to make certain concessions (opening up to a multi-party system, setting up a transitional administration) in the face of the rise of a fierce opposition, but he refuses to fully democratise the institutions.

1994: The large number of refugees from Rwanda exacerbates the political unrest.

3. The Third Republic

This period began with the end of the liberation struggle led by Mzee Laurent Désiré KABILA.

In 1997, rebel forces moving from east to west invaded the country and forced Mobutu to resign.

Laurent Désiré Kabila took control on 17 May 1997 and renamed Zaire the Democratic Republic of Congo.

On 2 August 1998, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi began hostilities against the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Laurent Désiré Kabila was killed on 16 January 2001.

Joseph Kabila Kabange was appointed President of the Democratic Republic of Congo on 26 January 2001. Following the Global and Inclusive Agreement on Transition in the DRC and the additional memorandum on the army and security, signed respectively in Pretoria on 17 December 2002 and 6 March 2003, and ratified on 1 April 2003 in Sun City, South Africa, and the Transitional Constitution, adopted on 1 April 2003 in Sun City, Republic of South Africa, Joseph Kabila Kabange was appointed President of the Democratic Republic of Congo on 26 January 2001.

4. The election of Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo

Following the presidential and legislative elections on 30 December 2018, Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, son of the former transitional prime minister and president of the UDPS (Union for Democracy and Social Progress), Étienne Tshisekedi wa Mulumba, was chosen and took office as the fifth president of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Elections were held on 30 December 2018 and Félix Tshisekedi was sworn in as President of the Democratic Republic of Congo on 10 January 2019. The ceremonial palace of Congolese presidents, the Palais de la Nation, is where President Tshisekedi was sworn in on 24 January 2019.