Most of the country is covered in tropical rain forest, though the south contains some stretches of savanna. The DRC's main rivers are the Congo, the Kasai and the Oubangui. The country—which is the third largest in Africa—shares borders with the Central African Republic, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola and the Republic of Congo.
The Congo was originally occupied by Pygmies, who were joined by Bantus and Nilotic settlers in the seventh and eighth centuries. Portuguese explorers set up trading posts on the western fringe of the country as early as 1482 and later developed the slave trade to furnish labor for their Brazilian colonies. In the 19th century, Belgium's King Leopold commissioned Henry Morgan Stanley to explore the upper reaches of the Congo River to see what commercial potential the land might have. The enormous territory Stanley explored became a private possession of the king in 1885. The incredibly brutal treatment accorded the indigenous people, as well as massive financial scandals, forced Leopold to turn his private estate over to the national government. (The Democratic Republic of the Congo should not be confused with the Republic of the Congo: The DRC was previously known as the Belgian Congo, and the neighboring Republic of the Congo was ruled by the French.)
Unfortunately, the Belgian government didn't do any better than Leopold in developing the Congo. So the country was woefully unprepared for self-government when independence came in 1960: No native Congolese had ever attended university, and less than a dozen had the equivalent of a high school education. Total chaos was averted in 1965, when strongman Mobutu Sese Seko took power in a coup. But chaos was traded for rapacious corruption—rumors abounded that "President-for-Life" Mobutu may have diverted as much as US$10 billion to his own private overseas accounts, and other officials are said to have stolen lesser amounts. Mobutu was overthrown by Laurent Kabila in a violent 1997 coup. (Mobutu died in exile in Morocco three months later.)
Ironically, Kabila's war was with the very people who put in him power. The governments of Rwanda and Uganda supported his successful, surprisingly brief rebel campaign in 1997. But when Kabila failed to control the Congo-based Hutu rebels who've plagued Rwanda and Uganda for years, those nations turned against him. Kabila was assassinated by one of his own bodyguards in 2001 and replaced by his son, Joseph. Despite the signing of two peace agreements in 2002 and 2003 between the warring countries, the killing continued. It was estimated that at the end of 2005 the death toll had reached 3.8 million. As a result, it will take years for the war-ravaged country to recover.
When things reach some semblance of normalcy, the foremost attractions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are tribal culture, gorillas, game viewing and natural beauty.
For an introduction to the country's
soukous music (a fusion of Cuban rhumba and traditional African sounds), check out such popular artists as Kanda Bongo Man, Tabu Ley Rochereau, Papa Wemba and Zaiko Langa Langa. Congolese music is widely popular throughout Africa. Many Congo residents claim that dancing to their music is what keeps them going in the face of so many hardships. Kinshasa's nightclubs are often overflowing with dancers on weekends.
The Congolese people would seem to have little these days to be happy about—yet they continue to smile. Many are hard pressed to explain their optimistic attitudes. The most common answer seems to be a French word, debrouillardise, which loosely translates to "the art of getting by."
The Belgian Congo, as it was known in Joseph Conrad's day, inspired him to write The Heart of Darkness in 1902.
Before independence in the early 1960s, Kisangani reportedly had the most Rolls-Royces per capita of any city in the world.
Former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, whose real name was Joseph-Desire Mobutu, changed his surname to Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa za Banga, which means "The all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, will go from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his wake."
The wealthy of Kinshasa carry cellular phones out of necessity—the regular phone system rarely works.
The country is mineral rich: It's the world's major source of cobalt, and it has major reserves of copper, diamonds and petroleum.
When We Were Kings, a documentary about the 1973 "Rumble in the Jungle" boxing match between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, shows a lot of footage of the former Zaire, including some scenes of the late Mobutu Sese Seko in his trademark leopard-skin hat.
The highest elevation in the Congo is Margherita Peak (16,762 ft/5,109 m).
Mobutu Sese Seko (who was Africa's richest ruler) did speak out on corruption, allegedly advising that officials should steal only a little all the time instead of a lot all at once.
The Congo gets our vote as having the most varied and annoying collection of insect life in the world. Be prepared for gigantic roaches, microscopic chiggers, fierce mosquitoes and, occasionally, tsetse flies.
The biggest boon to foreign exchange is the government-owned Gecamines copper-mining company.
In rural areas, you'll notice women carrying the most amazing things on their heads—we've seen sewing machines and even a toilet.
The word "Zaire" derived from the Portuguese mispronunciation of the word nzadi ("river" in Kikongo).
The arrows that Pygmies carry have poison tips.
In the rain forest, it's not uncommon to hear drums beating out messages.
