Democratic republic of Congo

History

Prehistory

The oldest traces of settlement in Congo are associated with Pre-Acheuléen, discovered on the archeological sites of Mulundwa to the Katanga, Katanda 2 and Sanga 5 with the Kivu. The rollers cut or choppers have an age estimated at more than 200.000 years, without it being possible to be more precise today.

The territory of the DRC was in the past populated only by hunter-collectors, perhaps partly ancestors of the people current Pygmies. Between the traces of Pre-Acheuléen and the arrival of the first villagers, Congo will be always occupied by wandering groups, hunter-collectors, masons stone, different cultures.

The Acheuléen is attested by many discoveries isolated from Biface S and Hachereau X like by the site of Kamoa in Katanga.

During the second millenium before J.C., the north of equatorial Africa saw a wave of migrations of producing populations of food, Neolithic S, speaking for some about the languages bantoues. Between - 3.500 and - 2.000 years, a first village occupation whose epicentre was in south-Cameroun, leads to the installation of a Neolithic mode of production in the north and the west of central Africa. In Congo, the first traces of these populations materialize around - 2.600 years by the aforementioned “Imbonga Tradition” close to Mbandaka and the lake Tumba, and by the “Ngovo Tradition” in low-Congo from - 2.300 years. On the other side of the country, in Kivu, one sees appearing villages of the “Tradition Urewe”. These villages are only the Western extension of producing communities of food, metallurgists, installed especially in Uganda, in Rwanda, in Burundi, in the west of Kenya and Tanzania; the oldest traces are gone back there to - 2.600 years.

The Métallurgie of iron develops in an independent way with these installations, the oldest traces are discovered in central Africa in the North-West (south-Cameroun and zone of Bouar in Central Africa), and in the North-East (Interlacustre Area). In Congo, iron is not known in the area occupied by the “Imbonga Tradition”; they are only later towards - 2.000 years that one will work this metal (sites of Pikunda and Munda). About the same time, low-Congo knows its first pig iron and cast iron of iron within the framework of the “Tradition Kay Ladio” which follows in time the “Ngovo Tradition”. In Kivu, as of the installation of the first village communities, it is probable that iron is present, as the many well-known furnaces of reduction of iron in Rwanda and Burundi attest it.

Later, as indicates it German research on the affluents of the Congo river, these first populations slowly upstream will colonize the heart of the Equatorial forest while following the axes of the rivers of the downstream; Spanish work in Ituri suggests that it is necessary to wait - 800 years to meet the first villages in certain sectors of the forest.

Kingdoms and empires

Colonization

Belgian Congo

As of the years 1940, in what was then the Belgian Congo, two important independence tendencies appeared in the capital Léopoldville: that of “people of in bottom” (Low-Congo and Bandundu) speaking the Kikongo and that about “people about in top” speaking the Lingala, coming from the Ecuador initially and finally of all the interior of the country. In the first category in 1949 was formed an initially cultural association and finally policy, the Alliance of Bakongo (ABAKO), whose Joseph Kasa-Vubu became president in 1954. Its dream became to restore the old kingdom Kongo of the Portuguese time , does that of the Bakongo of it. This tendency hardens very quickly and claimed soon immediate independence while remaining federalistic when it is a question later of discussing the problem of the remainder of Congo. The advanced ones “of in top”, coming from areas more diversified and allured by “the 30 years plan for the emancipation of the Africa” of the Belgian Professor Van Bilsen, published in 1956, were also eager to maintain large Congo unit. Their proclamation in this direction published on July 1st 1956 was vigorously fought by the ABAKO as of its general meeting of the August 23rd 1956. The 30 years plan is declared utopian: “the nationalization of the large food and agricultural companies as of semi-public is desirable. Since the hour came, should be granted this very day immediate independence! ”
The Belgium, which believed in the progressiveness of the transition towards the Indépendance organized the first election S at the communal level, limited at the big cities in 1957. The ABAKO inevitably triumphed in Léopoldville and that impressed certain unitarists, such Patrice Lumumba, a Tetela of the Kasaï, intelligent and idealistic, which was not long in founding its clean “Congolese national movement” MNC-Lumumba, more claiming than that of the MNC-Kalonji, Albert Kalonji being also Kasaïen unitarist. These young political competitions confronted with the complicated tribal structures of Congo were going to form an explosive mixture which would destroy at the end of five years the first Congolese parliamentary democracy. One can only point out here some projecting episodes:

riots of Léopoldville (4 -7 January 1959) caused by the late prohibition of a meeting of the ABAKO. Arrest of Kasa-Vubu on January 12th. It will be released on March 14th.
on January 13rd, governmental declaration announcing the Belgian intention to carry out the independence of unit Congo quickly. The ABAKO rejects this declaration later two days.
the continuation of the year 1959 sees initially the authorization of the Congolese parties, followed general elections on the whole of the Congolese territory marked by all kinds of operations of these parties from which 3 poles were released: a Trust of the trained federalistic nationalists of 6 separatist parties or separatists of which the ABAKO and MNC - Kalonji, the pole of MNC-Lumumba and finally that of the man strong of Katanga, Brace Tshombé, conscious of the economic force of its area and interest to mean with the Mining Union (just like Kalonji with respect to the diamond exploitations in Kasaï). Among the parties which emergent one finds the PSA (Left Interdependent African Antoine Gizenga), as well as the PNP (Left National the People led by Albert Delvaux and Laurent Mbariko).

In 1960, it will be the Roundtable of Brussels (of the January 20th to the February 20th) where representatives Congolese and Belgian S fixed the following stages. In May the legislative and provincial elections took place which marked new cleavages and alliances (scission of the ABAKO) from which a compromise resulted: Joseph Kasa-Vubu was elected President by the Parliament, Lumumba being Prime Minister.

At the time of the independence of the country, the king of the Belgians went in person to Léopoldville (future Kinshasa) to attend the ceremonies devoting the end of the colonial union between Belgium and Congo, and marking the birth on the international scene of this new French-speaking State (official language) of Africa.

a linguistic precision is essential being the bakongo. Ba in the bakongo must be regarded as definite article (plural of driven): and them. Example: muntu designates the person or the man. Bantu nominates the men or the person. Thus the bakongo, a redoudance of the artiles thus indicate them the people of Kongo and not people of in bottom or of under like often says it the Western writers, for lack of comprende the kikongo spoken language by these people.

Congo and Zaire

The assassination of Patrice Lumumba in 1961 and the resumption of the Katanga and the South-Kasaï (which had made secession the shortly after independence) will mark the beginning of the rise of Mobutu Sese Seko. This one will seize definitively the capacity in 1965.

Zaire was between 1971 and 1997 the name carried by the current Democratic republic of Congo, like by its currency and the river which gives to the country its only access to the Atlantic Ocean

The Belgian Congo became independent in 1960 as “a Republic of Congo”, while the old French colony close to Means-Congo adopted the title of Congolese République . The title “Democratic republic” was adopted in 1966, but the two countries were generally distinguished by their capital, namely Congo Léopoldville and Congo Brazzaville.

In the years which followed the seizure of power by the general Joseph-Desired Mobutu, this last started as from 1972 “an authenticity” campaign. The country was famous “Republic of Zaire”, according to a local word for river . The Mobutu general became Mobutu Sese Seko and obliged all his fellow-citizens to adopt African names (suppression of the first names with Western connotation, and addition of a “Postnom”). The Abacost is promulgated. A news Monnaie - the Zaire divided into 100 makuta (singular Likuta) - replaced the frankly. Many cities were renamed:

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As from 1974, many goods from abroad are confiscated (" Zaïrianisation "). It is the prelude at the beginning from many abroad who leave the country. The economy starts with péricliter.

The mode seems absent as of the years 1990.

Mobutu is reversed by Laurent-Desired Kabila in 1997 at the time of the First war of Congo, the country found its name of Democratic republic of Congo.

Currently UNO maintains the presence of soldiers of various countries within the framework of the MONUC. But violences continue. The war would have made 3,8 million died (figures of a Congolese person in charge commenting on a Commission Report of the human rights of UNO, 2003).

Policy

See also: Political of the Democratic republic of Congo

Constitution:

2006 - constitution of the {{IIIe}} republic (full text), adopted by referendum, confirmed by the Supreme court on February 4th, 2006. The Constitution was promulgated by the Head of the State on February 18th, 2006.
2003 - 2006 Constitution of the transition (full text), into force until February 18th, 2006.

President (list):

2006 - auj. Joseph Kabila

Prime Ministers (list):

2006 - auj. Antoine Gizenga

Government (list):

2007 - Government Gizenga
2003 - 2007. Transition government to see

Provinces

See also: Provinces of the Democratic republic of Congo, List of the provinces, cities, communes, districts and territories as a Democratic republic of Congo

The country is divided into 11 provinces. The constitution of the 3rd} République envisages 26 provinces, this one will be effective once the institution of the new republic in place.

Geography

The country extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the plate of the east and corresponds to major the part of the basin of the Fleuve Congo (Zaire) true spinal column of the country. Third larger country of Africa, large like four times the France, eighty times the Belgium, 33 times larger than the Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg), once and half more than the Quebec (Canada). or large as the side of the the United States in the East of the the Mississippi, it is the 12th state of the world by its size. The country suffers from a lack of reliable transportation routes.

Because of its large surface, of its enormous richnesses and its important population, the Democratic republic of Congo east one of the “giants” of Africa, with the Egypt, the Nigeria and the South Africa in the center of Africa. It is crossed by the equator and includes/understands three climates: equatorial climate, tropical climate and climate of mountain.

It is almost completely crossed by the second larger river of Africa. It has two rivers with multiple affluents.

See also: Forest of the Basin of Congo | List of the cities of the Democratic republic of Congo

Economy

Formerly the Congolese areas were implied in the triangular trade, the deportation d´esclaves against end products or fruits d´ America was ensured by the traffickers Arab S and Portuguese. This removed the hand d´œuvre which the African companies needed to develop, but allowed the Arabs and the Americans to build powerful economies (Brésil, the United States). In that l´esclavage was a true dish d´Esaü.

Since Belgian colonization, the economy is strongly turned towards export, in particular thanks to the mining products. No advanced technology industry was developed: they were not wished by the colonizers who wished to leave dependant Congo, and the freedom fighters could not develop them. For example, the Cuivre is extracted in great quantities, but it must be exported to be treated, before returning imported in finished forms (cables, electric wires…).
Tourism was ruined by the wars civiles.
The major part of the population remains active then in the agriculture.
Political L´élite of Mobutu diverted enormously d´argent cases of the state, indeed all the Mobutistes senior officials had assets in almost all the industrialized countries and did of Congo/Zaire one of the most involved in debt countries d Afric.

In detail, the Democratic republic of Congo has an important potential of natural resources and mineral. Its economy however drastiquement slowed down since the medium of the Années 1980 but the liberalization of the mining sector allows a redécollage.
The Agriculture remains the principal sector of the economy. The agricultural main resources are the Café, the Bois (Afromosia, ebony, Wengé, Iroko, sapelli, sipro, tiama, tola, kambala, lifaki…) and the rubber.
The principal exploitations of Copper and Cobalt are dominated by the Gécamines and of its partenariats.
Industrial diamond is extracted by MIBA.

Here a list of the mining resources by province:

Diamond: Eastern Kasaï, Kasaï Western, Bandundu, Ecuador, Eastern Province.
Gold: Eastern province, Maniema, Katanga, Low-Congo, North-Kivu, South-Kivu, Ecuador.
Copper: Katanga.
Tin: Katanga, North-Kivu, South-Kivu, Maniema.
Colombo tantalite (Coltan): North-Kivu, South-Kivu, Katanga, Maniema.
Bauxite: Low-Congo.
Iron: Banalia, Katanga, Luebo, Kasaï-Eastern.
Manganese: Katanga, Low-Congo.
Coal: Katanga.
Oil: Coastal basin of Moanda (in exploitation), the Central Basin, Ituri, Bandundu (indices)
Gas Methane: Lake Kivu
bituminous Schists: Mvuzi (in Low-Congo)
Cobalt: Katanga.

The industry of wireless telecommunications was initially under the monopoly of the company Télécel and since liberalization, is divided by companies like Starcel Congo, Vodacom, Celtel, KNOWS Telecom (Oasis), Congo China Télécoms, Sogetel, Supercell, Tigo etc

Demography

Considering its size Congo is populated little, the population concentrates on the plates, in savanna close to the rivers and of the lakes, the north and the center of the country, field of the jungle are almost empty. The rural migration with inflated the cities and especially Kinshasa. The great agglomerations are Kinshasa (8 million inhabitants), Lubumbashi, Kisangani, Mbuji-Mayi, Kananga, Mbandaka, Bukavu, etc

The slave draft of the Portuguese to the West and that of Arabo-swahilis in the East considerably emptied a large territory like Western Europe. The mode of Léopold II led to massacres of great width and even more decreased the population. It is only with the crisis of 1929 and the end of the second world war that the population starts to increase quickly. The mode of Mobutu encouraged the birthrate according to the slogan “more population to have more weight on the international scene”. To have many children ensures, at the time, a better retirement and more respect in the société.
The demographic explosion transformed Congo of the years 1960 and its 15 million inhabitants into giant of about fifty million inhabitants. The population is characterized by its great youth, more half of the inhabitants have less than 20 years. During the inter-African war (1997-2005) 3,9 million Congolese died mainly of infectious illness due to the Malnutrition and the exodus. It is the most fatal conflict since the Second world war.

The Congolese people are composed of more than several hundreds of ethnos groups or tribes - some give the number of 200 , 250 , more than 365, 400 or 450, - formant various groups. Let us note nevertheless that many languages and cultures of small ethnos groups tend to disappear with the profit from those from the large ethnos groups.

Group Bantou (80 % of the population):

Luba (18 %)
Mongo (17 %)
Kongo (12 %)
Nande (10%),

Congo-Kinshasa counts some 250 ethnos groups which can be divided into several groups. The first group is formed by the people bantous (approx. 80 % of the population) whose principal ethnos groups are Luba (18 %), Mongo (17 %), Kongo (12 %); the other ethnos groups bantoues are Lunda, Tchokwé, Tetela, Bangala, Shi, Nande, Hunde, Nyanga, Tembo, the kumu and Bembe. The ethnos groups not bantoues are distributed between the Sudaneses (Ngbandi, Ngbaka, Mbanja, Moru-Mangbetu and Zande), the Nilotic ones (Alur, Lugbara and Logo), Chamites (Hima-Tutsi) and the Pygmies (Mbuti, Twa, Baka, Babinga). The Nilotic ones and Chamites, which formerly left the valley of the Nile, were confronted with the migrations bantoues, but had little by little to leave the place.

Others: Lunda, Tchokwé, Kuba, Tetela, Bangala, Shi, Nande, Hunde, Nyanga, Tembo, Téké and Bembe, Babindi, Hema, Ngombe, Mbuza (Budja), Bowa, Wakuti, Bemba, Yeke, Kwango, Kaonde, Hangs, Ambuun, Lwalwa, Suku, Pende, Ambala, Nkumu, Bira, Havu, Hutu, etc

Group Soudanais:

Ngbandi
Ngbaka
Manvu
Mbunja
Moru- Mangbetu
Zande

Nilotic group:

Alur
Kwakwa
Lugbara
Logo

Group Chamite:

Hima Tutsi

Group Pygmy:

Mbuti
Twa
Baka
Babinga
Yaka

Correction: Tutsi are consisted the Nilotique group and chamite, and do not make party of the " group; Bantou". Sources: publication: www.kspdemocongo.org

Social

Education and Research

Because of deficiency of the State, the education system is primarily financed by the parents. The rate of schooling is of 52 percent and the general rate of illiteracy (in 2004), very high - 33.2 percent -, reached 43.3 percent among women. Primary schooling decreased because of the insulation of the areas, of the increasing incapacity of the parents to pay the school expenses, of the lack of maintenance of the infrastructures, the lack of school handbooks and the fall of the quality of the instruction. The teachers perceive wages of less than 20 dollars per month. The national plan envisages the universal school by 2015, but the objective does not appear unfortunately not credible. The scientific research and technological is undertaken sometimes under the direction of the Ministry for Higher education and the Scientific research and sometimes under the direction of the Ministry for the Scientific research and Technologique.

Health

In a general way, the social indicators have alarming levels: the infantile Death rate passed from 125 per thousand in 1990 to 170 per thousand in 2000, the rate of maternal Mortalité of 800 deaths for 100.000 live births in 1990 to 2.000 deaths for 100.000 births currently, the Life expectancy was 42 years in 2002 against 51 years a African average, the access to the basic health departments is lower than 26 percent. The Paludisme makes devastations in DRC.

Moreover, diseases formerly éradiquées like the Trypanosomiasis, leprosy and the plague re-appeared, and the pandemia of the HIV/AIDS touches more than 4 percent of the population between 15 and 49 years. The figure could rise with 20-22 percent in the Eastern provinces where there are still some disorders. According to the last estimates, approximately 750.000 children lost at least one their parents because of the disease.

This situation perdure since already of the decades.

Poverty and inequality

The Democratic republic of Congo east one of the poorest countries of the world, with inequalities very marked in spite of these multiples and various richnesses. This situation finds for the majority the explanation in various conflicts for devastators purposes which this country knew.

The violations of the human rights, - result of the armed conflicts - in particular of the children and the women, had very major repercussions within the populations. In 2002, 80 percent of the population lived in lower part of the Poverty line fixed at 2 dollars per day. Nearly 44 percent of the women and approximately 22 percent of the men do not have any income. Regional disparities are very strong. The populations of the East of the country lived on average with 32 dollars per annum and per capita whereas those of the South had 138 dollars and those of the province of Kinshasa, of 323 dollars, ten times more than at the East. The Pauvreté appears by the Malnutrition which touches between 30 and 50 percent of the women and the children. On the whole, 16 million people is in food situation of insecurity. Many vulnerable groups were formed (taken refuge, orphan, descolarized children or children soldiers) which miss care and of food.

Statute of the woman

The Committee of the United Nations for the elimination of discrimination with regard to women (CEDAW) worries owing to the fact that, during the transitional period once the finished war, the State does not regard the promotion of the human rights of the women and the equality between the sexes as a priority.

A report/ratio prepared by the African association of defense of the human rights and discussed at the time of the 36e meeting of the CEDAW is edifying as for the condition of the women in DRC.

The context of war still increased the precariousness of the women and violence against the women seems to be perceived by broad sides of the company like a phenomenon normal.
In July 2007, the international committee of the Red Cross expressed its concern concerning the situation in the East of the DRC.

According to Yakin Ertürk, special protractor of the United Nations on the violence, which visited, inter alia, the province of the South-Kivu in July 2007, violence against the women in North and the South Kivu is of a “unimaginable brutality”. “Of the armed groups tackle the local communities, plunder, violent one, take along the women and the girls like sexual slaves and subject them to the forced labor declared Ertürk.

A local initiative initiated by women, has Bukavu, aims at offering to the women a chance to cure their wounds of last and allows them by work economically to become independent.

Culture

The Congolese culture is very diverse because the Congo-Kinshasa is composed of a hundred ethnicities, in bantous majority, and extends from the mouth of the Fleuve Congo, then in the forest of the basin of Congo until the area of the large-lakes and the Savane.
Since the end of the 19th century, the traditional lifestyles of the area changed because of colonialism, the fight for independence, the long reign of Mobutu, and recently, the First and Second Wars of Congo. In spite of that, the Congolese traditions and the culture knew to keep their individuality. More than 60% of the inhabitants live in rural areas. 30% of those which live in urban area culturally are opened with, or are influenced by the Occident.

the retrospective library of Rd-Congo: 1960-2004 , published by the Presses of the French-speaking Media library of the Funa counts more than 9.000 bibliographic records, placing the Democratic republic of Congo among the first countries of Africa French-speaking in the publication of work.

Languages

With its 62.660.551 inhabitants, Congo-Kinshasa is regarded as the “first French-speaking country of the world”, after France.Mais only one minority usually speaks French, and this although secondary education is in French through the country.

The population of Congo speaks more than 200 languages, even more than 400 dialects. The majority of the Congoleses speaks several languages. Generally they usually speak a language and manage in one or more others, often one of the national languages.

Bank holidays

Others

The Code country (domain name Internet), ZR , is obsolete (the Democratic republic of Congo has as a code country CD ).

Education system as a Democratic republic of Congo
Media as a Democratic republic of Congo: written press, radios, television
Given quantified
Transport as a Democratic republic of Congo

Codes

The Democratic republic of Congo has as codes:

CD, according to the standard ISO 3166-1 (code list country), code alpha-2,
CD, according to the international Code list of the number plates,
CG, according to the Code list countries used by NATO, code alpha-2,
COD, according to the Code list country of the CIO,
COD, according to the Code list countries used by NATO, code alpha-3,
COD, according to the standard ISO 3166-1 (code list country), code alpha 3,

See too

Country of the world
Africa
Health as a Democratic republic of Congo

History & policy

Zaire
First war of Congo
Second war of Congo
Transition government of the Democratic republic of Congo
Massacres and serious violations of the human rights as a Democratic republic of Congo between 1994 and 2003 Political
of the Democratic republic of Congo
Political parties of the Democratic republic of Congo

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