The Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), often referred to simply as Congo, is a country situated in Central Africa. With a land area of 2.34 million square kilometers, it is the second-largest country in Africa and the 11th-largest in the world. The DRC has a population of approximately 105 million people, making it the most populous Francophone country globally. The capital city, Kinshasa, is the largest city and serves as the economic center of the country.

 

The DRC is bordered by several countries: the Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania (across Lake Tanganyika), Zambia, Angola, and the Cabinda exclave of Angola. The country also has a small coastline along the South Atlantic Ocean.

The region that is now the DRC has a rich history dating back to ancient times. It was initially inhabited by Central African foragers around 90,000 years ago. About 3,000 years ago, the Bantu expansion brought new cultural and linguistic influences to the area. From the 14th to the 19th centuries, the Kingdom of Kongo ruled the western part of the DRC. Other notable kingdoms included the Azande, Luba, and Lunda in the northeast, center, and east.

In the late 19th century, King Leopold II of Belgium acquired the