Country Name: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Capital: Kinshasa

Official Visa & Travel Information: Democratic Republic of the Congo Immigration Services (Visa Services)

Government Type: semi-presidential republic

Background: Bantu, Sudanic, and other migrants from West and Northeastern Africa arrived in the Congo River Basin between 2000 B.C. and A.D. 500. The territory that is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo is extremely diverse, with more than 200 ethnic groups that trace their histories to many communal organizations and kingdoms. The Kingdom of Kongo, for example, ruled the area around the mouth of the Congo River from the 14th to 19th centuries. Meanwhile, to the south and east, the Kingdoms of Luba and Lunda, respectively, were also notable political groupings in the territory and ruled from the 16th and 17th centuries to the 19th century. These kingdoms were invaded and splintered by European prospectors in the Congo Basin in the late 1800’s, sponsored by King LEOPOLD II of Belgium, and eventually were forced to grant Leopold the rights to the Congo territory to make it his private property. During this period, known as the Congo Free State, the king's private colonial military forced the local population to produce rubber. From 1885 to 1908, millions of Congolese people died as a result of disease, inhumane treatment, and exploitation. International condemnation finally forced LEOPOLD to cede the land to the state of Belgium, creating the Belgian Congo.

The Republic of the Congo gained its independence from Belgium in 1960, but its early years were marred by political and social instability. Col. Joseph MOBUTU seized power and declared himself president in a November 1965 coup. He subsequently changed his name - to MOBUTU Sese Seko - as well as that of the country - to Zaire. MOBUTU retained his position for 32 years through several sham elections, as well as through brute force. Ethnic strife and civil war, touched off by a massive inflow of refugees in 1994 from conflict in Rwanda and Burundi, led in May 1997 to the toppling of the MOBUTU regime by a rebellion backed by Rwanda and Uganda and fronted by Laurent KABILA. KABILA renamed the country the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), but in August 1998 his regime was itself challenged by a second insurrection again backed by Rwanda and Uganda. Troops from Angola, Chad, Namibia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe intervened to support KABILA's regime. In January 2001, KABILA was assassinated and his son, Joseph KABILA, was named head of state. In October 2002, the new president negotiated the withdrawal of Rwandan forces occupying the eastern DRC; two months later, the Pretoria Accord was signed by all remaining warring parties to end the fighting and establish a government of national unity. Presidential, National Assembly, and provincial elections took place in 2006, with Joseph KABILA elected to office.

National elections were held in November 2011 and disputed results allowed Joseph KABILA to be reelected to the presidency. While the DRC constitution barred President KABILA from running for a third term, the DRC Government delayed national elections originally slated for November 2016, to 30 December 2018. This failure to hold elections as scheduled fueled significant civil and political unrest, with sporadic street protests by KABILA’s opponents and exacerbation of tensions in the tumultuous eastern DRC regions. Presidential, legislative, and provincial elections were held in late December 2018 and early 2019 across most of the country. The DRC Government canceled presidential elections in the cities of Beni and Butembo (citing concerns over an ongoing Ebola outbreak in the region) as well as Yumbi (which had recently experienced heavy violence).

The results of the 2018 elections were again disputed, but opposition candidate Felix TSHISEKEDI, son of long-time opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, was announced the election winner on 10 January 2019 and inaugurated two weeks later. This was the first transfer of power to an opposition candidate without significant violence or a coup since the DRC's independence. 

The DRC held its fourth electoral cycle since independence on December 20, 2023, which included presidential, national and provincial assembly, and, for the first time, some local (communal and municipal councilor) elections.  Tshisekedi was proclaimed winner December 31, 2023, with 73% of the votes cast, and his political alliance, “the Sacred Union,” retained a large parliamentary majority.  Electoral observer missions characterized the elections as more peaceful than previous cycles but noted significant technical and logistical shortfalls as well as allegations of fraud.

The DRC, particularly in the East, continues to experience violence perpetrated by more than 100 armed groups active in the region, including the March 23 (M23) rebel group, the ISIS-affiliated Allied Democratic Forces (ADF, or ISIS-DRC), the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), and assorted local militias known as Mai Mai militias. The UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) has operated in the region since 1999 and is the largest and most expensive UN peacekeeping mission in the world.

Continent: Africa

Population: 111,859,928 (2023 est.)

Ethnic Groups: more than 200 African ethnic groups of which the majority are Bantu; the four largest groups - Mongo, Luba, Kongo (all Bantu), and the Mangbetu-Azande (Hamitic) - make up about 45% of the population

Languages: French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba

Religions:  Christian 93/1% (Roman Catholic 29.9%, Protestant 26.7%, other Christian 36.5%), Kimbanguist 2.8%, Muslim 1.3%, other (includes syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs) 1.2%, none 1.3%, unspecified 0.2% (2014 est.)

Economic Overview: very poor, large, natural resource-rich sub-Saharan country; possesses the world’s second largest rainforest; increasing Chinese extractive sector trade; massive decrease in government investments; increasing current account deficit and public debts

Currency: Congolese Franc (CDF)

Reserves of Foreign Exchange & Gold: $3.467 billion (2021 est.) note: holdings of gold (year-end prices)/foreign exchange/special drawing rights in current dollars

Real GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $112.144 billion (2022 est.) note: data in 2017 dollars

Real GDP Growth Rate: 8.92% (2022 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency

Real GDP per Capita: $1,100 (2022 est.) note: data in 2017 dollars

Exports: 

• $22.354 billion (2021 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars

• Comparison Ranking: 88

Export Commodities: copper, cobalt, crude petroleum, tin, diamonds (2021)

Export Partners: China 53%, United Arab Emirates 11%, Saudi Arabia 6%, South Korea 5% (2019)

Imports: 

• $22.193 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

• Comparison Ranking: 93

Import Commodities: packaged medicines, refined petroleum, sulfuric acid, stone processing machines, delivery trucks (2019)

Import Partners: China 29%, South Africa 15%, Zambia 12%, Rwanda 5%, Belgium 5%, India 5% (2019)

Natural Resources: cobalt, copper, niobium, tantalum, petroleum, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, uranium, coal, hydropower, timber

• note 1: coltan, the industrial name for a columbite–tantalite mineral from which niobium and tantalum are extracted, is being linked to warfare in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; mining of coltan is mainly artisanal and small-scale and vulnerable to extortion and human trafficking; fighting over cassiterite deposits, a tin ore, is also a major cause of conflict in eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold extracted from central Africa are considered "conflict minerals" and as such are subject to international monitoring

• note 2: the DROC is the World's leading producer of cobalt, accounting for as much as 70% of the World's supply; between 20-30% of this cobalt is produced in artisanal and small-scale mining operations which are vulnerable to extortion, human trafficking, and exploitative working conditions including child labor

Agricultural Products: cassava, plantains, sugar cane, maize, oil palm fruit, rice, roots/tubers nes, bananas, sweet potatoes, groundnuts

Industries: mining (copper, cobalt, gold, diamonds, coltan, zinc, tin, tungsten), mineral processing, consumer products (textiles, plastics, footwear, cigarettes), metal products, processed foods and beverages, timber, cement, commercial ship repair

Industrial Production Growth Rate: 

• 15.66% (2022 est.) note: annual % change in industrial value added based on constant local currency

• Comparison Ranking: 9

Labor Force: 34.812 million (2022 est.)

Unemployment Rate: 4.69% (2022 est.) note: % of labor force seeking employment

Natural Hazards: periodic droughts in south; Congo River floods (seasonal); active volcanoes in the east along the Great Rift Valley

• Volcanism: Nyiragongo (3,470 m), which erupted in 2002 and is experiencing ongoing activity, poses a major threat to the city of Goma, home to a quarter million people; the volcano produces unusually fast-moving lava, known to travel up to 100 km /hr; Nyiragongo has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; its neighbor, Nyamuragira, which erupted in 2010, is Africa's most active volcano; Visoke is the only other historically active volcano

Geography:

• Total: 2,344,858 sq km

• Land: 2,267,048 sq km

• Water: 77,810 sq km

(Country Summary, The World Factbook, CIA.gov)

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