DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF

CONGO

Expeditionary Culture

Field Guide

Lubumbashi Likasi

Matadi

Kolwezi

Goma

Mbuji-Mayi

Mbandaka

Tshikapa

Kananga

Kisangani

Kinshasa

DR Congo 
This guide is designed to prepare you to deploy to culturally 

complex environments and achieve mission objectives. The 

fundamental information contained within will help you 

understand the cultural dimension of your assigned location 

and gain skills necessary for success.

The guide consists of 2 

parts: 

Part 1: Introduces 

“Culture General,” the 

foundational knowledge 

you need to operate

effectively in any global

environment. 

Part 2: Presents “Culture Specific” the Democratic Republic 

of the Congo (DRC), focusing on unique cultural features of the 

DRC’s society and is designed to complement other predeployment training. It applies culture-general concepts to help

increase your 

knowledge of your 

assigned deployment 

location (Photo 

courtesy of IRIN © 

Siegfried Modola).

For further information, 

visit the Air Force 

Culture and Language 

Center (AFCLC) 

website at http://culture.af.mil/ or contact AFCLC’s Region 

Team at AFCLC.Region@us.af.mil. 

Disclaimer: All text is the property of the AFCLC and may not 

be modified by a change in title, content, or labeling. It may be 

reproduced in its current format with the expressed permission 

of the AFCLC. All photography is a courtesy of the US 

government, Wikimedia, and other sources as indicated.

ECFG 

the Democratic Republic of the Congo

About this Guide
What is Culture?

Fundamental to all aspects of human existence, culture shapes 

the way humans view life and functions as a tool we use to 

adapt to our social and physical environments. A culture is the 

sum of all of the beliefs, values, behaviors, and symbols that 

have meaning for a society. All human beings have culture, 

and individuals within a culture share a general set of beliefs 

and values. 

Members of a culture also

usually assign the same 

meanings to the symbols in 

that culture. A symbol is 

when one thing – an image, 

word, object, idea, or story – 

represents another thing. 

For example, the American 

flag is a physical and visual 

symbol of a core American value – freedom. At the same time, 

the story of George Washington admitting to having chopped 

down a cherry tree is also symbolic, representing the 

importance Americans place on personal honesty and 

leadership integrity. 

Force Multiplier

The military services have learned through experience the 

importance of understanding other cultures. Unlike the 20thcentury bipolar world order that dominated US strategy for 

nearly half a century, today the US military is operating in what 

we classify as asymmetric or irregular conflict zones where the 

notion of cross-cultural interactions is on the leading edge of 

our engagement strategies. 

We have come to view the people themselves, rather than the 

political system or physical environment, as the decisive 

feature in conflict areas. Our primary objective hinges on 

influencing constructive change through peaceful means where 

possible. We achieve this endeavor by encouraging local 

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PART 1 – CULTURE GENERAL
nationals to focus on developing stable political, social, and 

economic institutions that reflect their cultural beliefs and 

traditions.

Therefore, understanding the basic concepts of culture serves 

as a force multiplier. Achieving an awareness and respect of a 

society’s values and beliefs enables deploying forces to build

relationships with people from other cultures, positively 

influence their actions, and ultimately achieve mission success. 

Cultural Domains

Culture is not just represented by the beliefs we carry 

internally, but also by our behaviors and by the systems 

members of a culture create to organize their lives. These 

systems, such as political or educational institutions, help us to 

live in a manner that is appropriate to our culture and

encourages us to perpetuate that culture into the future. 

We can organize these behaviors and systems into categories 

– what the Air Force refers to as “cultural domains” – in order to 

better understand the primary values and characteristics of a 

society. A cross-culturally competent military member can use 

these domains – which include kinship, language and 

communication, and social and political systems among others

(see chart on next page) – as tools for understanding and 

adapting to any culture. For example, by understanding the 

ways different cultures define family or kinship, a deployed 

military member can more effectively interact with members of 

that culture. 

Social Behaviors Across Cultures 

While humankind shares basic behaviors, various groups enact 

or even group those 

behaviors differently across 

cultural boundaries. For 

example, all societies obtain 

food for survival, although

agrarian societies generally 

produce their own food for 

limited consumption using 

very basic techniques. 

Conversely, industrialized nations have more sophisticated 

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market economies, producing foodstuffs for universal 

consumption. Likewise, all cultures value history and tradition, 

although they represent these concepts through a variety of 

unique forms of symbolism. While the dominant world religions 

share the belief in one God, their worship practices vary with

their traditional historical development. Similarly, in many kinbased cultures where familial bonds are foundational to social 

identity, it is customary for family or friends to serve as 

godparents, while for other societies this practice is nearly nonexistent.

Worldview

One of our basic human behaviors is the tendency to classify 

others as similar or different according to our cultural standard. 

As depicted in the chart 

below, we can apply the 12 

cultural domains to help us 

compare similarities and 

differences across cultures. 

We evaluate others’

behavior to determine if 

they are “people like me” or 

“people not like me.” 

Consequently, we assume 

that individuals falling into the “like me” category share our 

perspectives and values. 

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This collective perspective forms our worldview – how we see 

the world and understand our place in it. Your worldview 

functions as a lens through which you see and understand the 

world. It helps you to interpret your experiences and the values 

and behaviors of other people that you encounter. Consider 

your worldview as a way of framing behavior, providing an 

accountability standard for our actions and a logical 

explanation of why we individually or collectively act in a certain 

manner. 

Cultural Belief System

An important component of a worldview is our belief system. A 

community’s belief system sets its universal standards of what 

is good and bad, defines right and wrong behavior, and assigns 

a value of meaningful or meaningless. Our beliefs form the 

fundamental values we hold to be true – regardless of whether 

there is physical evidence to support these ideas. Beliefs are a 

central facet of human culture. They are shared views about 

world order and how the universe was physically and socially 

constructed. 

While all people have beliefs, their specific components tend to 

vary depending upon respective world views. What people 

classify as good or bad, right or wrong depends on our deeplyheld beliefs we started developing early in life that have help 

shape our characters. Likewise, 

these values are ingrained in our 

personalities and shape our 

behavior patterns and our selfidentities. Because cultural beliefs 

are intensely held, they are 

difficult, though not impossible, to 

change. 

Core Beliefs

Core beliefs shape and influence 

certain behaviors and also serve 

to rationalize those behaviors. 

Therefore, knowledge of individual

or group beliefs can be useful in 

comprehending or making sense of their activities. We will use 

the iceberg model for classifying culture to illustrate two levels 

of meaning, as depicted. Beliefs and values, portrayed by the 

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deeper and greater level of the submerged iceberg, are seldom 

visible, but are indicated / hinted at / referenced by our 

behaviors and symbols (top level). It is important to recognize, 

though, that the parts of culture that are not visible (under the 

waterline) are informing and shaping what is being made 

visible (above the waterline). 

In many cases, different worldviews may present behaviors 

that are contrary to our own beliefs, particularly in many 

regions where US forces deploy. Your ability to suspend 

judgment in order to understand another perspective is 

essential to establishing relationships with your host-nation

counterparts. The ability to withhold your opinion and strive to 

understand a culture from a member of that culture’s 

perspective is known as cultural relativism. It often involves 

taking an alternate perspective when interpreting others’ 

behaviors and is critical to your ability to achieve mission 

success. 

As you travel throughout the African Continent, you will 

encounter cultural patterns of meaning that are common

among most African countries. What follows is a general 

description of 12 cultural domains which are used to frame 

those commonalities. 

1. History and Myth 

History and myth are related concepts. History is a record of 

the past that is based on verifiable facts and events. Myth can 

act as a type of historical record, 

although it is usually a story which 

members of a culture use to explain 

community origins or important events 

that are not verifiable or which occurred 

prior to written language. 

Africa has a history that spans the

entire existence of humankind. In 

ancient times prior to the emergence of 

written languages, history and wisdom 

were preserved across generations and 

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CULTURAL DOMAINS
ethnic boundaries through oral folk legends or myths. Most 

early human evolution began as hunting and gathering cultures 

in East and South Africa, with countries such as Ethiopia, 

Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa renowned for their early 

human sites. In the last several millennia, the development of 

agriculture and pastoralism (animal herding) replaced hunting 

and gathering lifestyles (Photo: Kutubiyya Mosque courtesy of 

CultureGrams, ProQuest, 2013).

Ancient civilizations evolved in all corners of Africa, inspired in 

part by peoples from the Middle East bringing trade, beliefs, 

customs, language, and on occasion, colonization. Far from 

being isolated empires, the African civilizations were intimately 

connected by commerce and marriage throughout various 

regions of the continent, and when confronted by outsiders, 

managed to adapt to their influences. Eventually, Arab traders 

introduced Islam to Africa and also instituted the TransSaharan African slave trade that lasted from the 7th to 19th 

Centuries. 

The “golden age” of European exploration, which lasted from 

the 18th to mid-20th century, prompted the wholesale 

exploitation of Africans resources – first human assets through 

slavery, followed by natural resources such as minerals, 

precious gems and 

metals, and wildlife, 

thereby diminishing most 

of what was traditional 

and African. 

The introduction of the 

European Trans-Atlantic 

Slave Trade altered the 

slave trade through both 

the sheer number of 

Africans enslaved and

through the cementing of a racist ideology of Black inferiority to 

legitimize the institution of slavery. Slavery decimated the 

African continent for over 400 years through the forced 

relocation of an estimated 25 to 30 million Africans worldwide. 

This figure does not include those Africans who died aboard 

ships or during capture. While abolition of the slave trade 

dissolved the institution of slavery, it did not end the European 

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presence on the African continent nor did it drastically alter 

their attitudes towards Africans.

Starting in the mid-19th century, European colonialism served 

to redefine African ethnic relations on a large scale; however,

as African societies began to resist colonial rule and seek their

independence, widespread ethnic conflict and genocide

occurred. Sustained westernization and globalization continue

to shape the continent through poverty, disease, and social 

reform. A history still to be recorded, Africa’s future identity 

faces many challenges in critical areas such as environmental 

change, ethnic strife, women’s health and security, and 

education. 

2. Political and Social Relations 

Political relations are the ways in which members of a 

community organize leadership, power, and authority. Social 

relations are all of the ways in which individuals are linked to 

others in their community. 

Traditional African political 

organizations in the form of 

bands, tribes, and 

chiefdoms have existed for 

several millennia and 

continue to influence 

contemporary African 

governments. Uncommon 

in modern society, bands 

are limited to hunting and gathering economies, such as the

!Kung of the southern African Kalahari Desert and foragers of 

central African forests. 

Tribes are still represented today across the African political 

landscape, although the use of the word “tribe” is sometimes 

misinterpreted due to its western notion of “primitiveness” and 

oftentimes substituted with the term “ethnic group.” Lacking 

centralized authority, tribes are organized around segmented 

descent groups or in some cases age groups. 

Everyday governance is discharged through councils of 

respected elders and sanctioned through ritual and other 

means. East African pastoralist groups such as the Maasai, 

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along with some West African tribes and the Berbers in North 

Africa, represent this type of organization. 

Chiefdoms or kingdoms are ruled by kings or queens from a 

royal clan and generally incorporate millions of subjects. 

Kingdoms such as the Zulu or Swazi in southern Africa 

developed through conquest, while others like Ghana’s 

Ashante developed through an association of related traditional 

states. However, colonialism eventually diluted the power and 

reach of these empires, 

whose leaders were often 

retained as indirect rulers 

or figureheads. 

Today, all three of these 

political organizations still 

exist, although in the 

confines of modern African 

nation-states created by 

colonial powers who had little regard or understanding of 

African cultures. This juxtaposition of modernity with tradition 

has caused severe conflict throughout the continent. 

Challenged to construct their respective “national” identities, 

regional leaders attempt to do so by diluting the traditionally 

cohesive power of ancestry. These national ruling elites, who 

derive their power from wealth and commerce rather than tribal 

affiliation, feel threatened by loyalty to these traditional 

organizations, labeling their rule as “tribalism.” 

This “class versus descent” scrimmage for power has resulted 

in conflicts across the continent and a dramatic divergence of 

interests. As a means to overcome these and other issues on 

the continent, a 53-nation federation, the African Union (AU), 

was formed in 2002. AU’s charter is to promote “greater unity 

and solidarity between African countries and peoples” by 

building partnerships in all segments of “civil society.”

3. Religion and Spirituality 

Religion is a cultural belief system that provides meaning to 

members of a community. Religious and spiritual beliefs help 

preserve the social order by defining proper behavior. They 

also create social unity by defining shared identity, offer 

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individuals peace of mind, and explain the causes of events in 

a society. Prior to the arrival of Islam and Christianity, the 

African continent consisted of orally transmitted indigenous

religious practices. As in many societies, African indigenous 

beliefs influenced diet, subsistence patterns, family structures, 

marriage practices, and healing and burial processes. In 

essence, Africans constructed their worldview through their 

indigenous religions. 

Today, the African continent

is primarily either Muslim or 

Christian. Other faiths such 

as Judaism and Hinduism 

exist as pockets in different

regions of the continent, 

primarily in urban areas. The 

historical trajectories of 

Islamic and Christian 

expansion in Africa offer intriguing commonalities in how 

Africans across the continent initially reacted to the introduction 

of each of those religions. For example, it is common 

throughout the continent to find a blending of many elements of 

indigenous religious practices with local Islam and Christianity

(Photo courtesy of Wikimedia). 

Consequently, many African native religions share similarities 

with religions such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in their 

understanding of God as the creator 

and ruler of all life, although He is 

considered untouchable by humans. 

However, unlike Christianity and 

Islam, many African indigenous 

religions believe that God is not 

directly involved in people's lives. To 

them there is a spirit world 

populated with former good and bad 

human beings. The good spirits 

intercede with God on behalf of their 

living families to whom they then 

relay God's will through dreams and acquired possessions. 

The bad spirits work to bring misfortune through sickness, 

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death, or natural disasters to those who behave 

inappropriately. 

Many indigenous African religions revere "nature" spirits living 

in the sky, water, and forests. These impersonal spirits help 

protect people from harm and provide them with life’s essential 

ingredients such as water, sun, and wildlife. This belief system 

is commonly referred to as animism.

Just as spirits mediate relations between God and humans,

religious specialists act as mediators between spirits and 

humans to provide protection from harm. 

4. Family and Kinship 

The domain of family and kinship refers to groups of people 

related through blood ties, marriage, or through strong 

emotional bonds that influence them to treat each other like 

family members (often called “fictive kin”).The traditional 

African family with respect to marriage, family structure, and 

descent is a much 

different arrangement

than is found in most 

American families. 

Likewise, there are 

several components of 

the traditional African 

family that are common 

to all African cultures. 

First, perhaps the most 

difficult feature to 

reconcile to Americans 

is that of polygyny – the practice of a husband having more 

than one wife. A benefit of this arrangement is that it promotes

societal alliances through marriage, procreation, and family 

wealth through female labor. 

Second, due to polygyny, the family in most African cultures 

has historically consisted of an expanded set of kin or relatives 

that extends well beyond the American notion of a nuclear 

family. This arrangement created a family environment where 

children considered all siblings as “brothers and sisters” and all 

of the wives/mothers as “mother.” 

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Third, the extended African family traces descent through 

either the male or female side of the family, a practice which 

differs considerably from the American family. Patrilineal 

descent (through the male side of the family) is the more 

common approach and usually features polygyny. The

matrilineal (through the female bloodline) marriage pattern is 

more uncommon and almost always features monogamy – it is 

rare to encounter a wife having more than one husband. 

Lastly, it is common for two or more blood lines (lineages) to 

share a common ancestor and collectively form a clan, which is 

the largest social unit. Clans do not have formal leaders or 

organizational structures. Membership is transferred from 

father to child and cuts across ethnic and social boundaries. 

The dramatic social changes in Africa during and after 

colonialism in the last 4 decades have obviously affected the 

traditional family, and variations on these 3 features can be 

found across the continent.

5. Sex and Gender 

Sex refers to the biological/reproductive differences between 

males and females, while gender is a more flexible concept 

that refers to a culture’s categorizing of masculine and feminine 

behaviors, symbols, and social roles. Gender roles in Africa 

follow no single model nor is there a generalized concept of 

sex and common standard of sexual behavior. 

Prehistorically, gender role differentiation in Africa’s hunting 

and gathering cultures was based on a division of labor 

featuring different, yet complementary, sets of responsibilities 

for males and females, adults and children. Females gathered 

over half the caloric 

needs from natural 

vegetation, while also 

reproducing and raising 

offspring. Males were 

primarily hunters but also 

assisted with gathering. 

These gender patterns 

continued as agricultural 

practices advanced. 

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Females shared in farming while continuing to provide for the 

family’s subsistence, and males produced the cash crops. 

Pastoralists like the Maasai of Kenya traditionally have featured 

males involved in cattle-raising and females in food production. 

The 19th-century European colonial period introduced a cash 

economy into Africa, with female labor used to produce the 

cash crops. By inserting male authority over females, colonial 

administrators disrupted the distinct yet complementary 

male/female relationship that had been traditionally African. 

More recently, western influence across the continent has 

dramatically altered the traditional gender roles. Educational 

and professional opportunities for females, along with 

increased family migrations to urban areas, have radically

altered traditional male and female gender roles. 

Likewise, the number of singles parents and even child- or 

other relative-led families has increased with the predominance 

of HIV/AIDS-related deaths and warfare, further altering 

traditional gender responsibilities. Additionally, ethnic conflicts 

involving abuse of women are prevalent in many unstable 

countries, and while the rubric of traditional African gender 

generally remains, the forces of change are gradually ripping it 

away.

6. Language and Communication 

Language is a system for sharing information symbolically, 

whereby words are used to represent ideas. Communication is 

defined as the cultural 

practice of sharing 

meaning in interaction, 

both verbally and nonverbally. America is 

predominantly a 

monolingual society, 

where traditionally, 

fluency in a second 

language has been 

considered a luxury 

rather than a necessity. 

Conversely, national survival for many societies in Africa 

required them throughout their existence to adopt multilingual 

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practices, if for no other reason than to preserve their native 

heritage. 

You may find it challenging to comprehend the scope of 

Africa’s linguistic diversity. There are over 2,000 African 

languages (many spoken-only) from 6 major language families, 

and perhaps 100 of these languages are used to communicate 

among the more dominant ethnic groups such as Berber, 

Swahili, Yoruba, and others. 

Official languages of African nation-states are few, yet the 

linguistic diversity expressed across the continent (Nigeria has 

250 languages) has prompted an awareness of the value of 

Africa’s linguistic traditions. While most areas of the continent 

speak the adopted language of their colonial past – such as 

French and Portuguese in West Africa, French and Arabic in 

Morocco, and English in Kenya and South Africa – the majority 

of people also speak one or more traditional “indigenous” 

languages of their and other ethnic groups. As African 

independence spread throughout the continent, ethnic groups 

continued to depend on their indigenous identifiers, such as 

language, to celebrate their “release” from colonial rule and to 

preserve a sense of 

indigenous identity. 

While communication 

styles tend to vary by 

ethnic or social groups, 

Africans generally are 

friendly and outgoing 

people although they 

tend to communicate 

with reserve to avoid 

confrontation. As in most kin-based societies, Africans believe 

that saving face or protecting one’s honor and dignity are of 

utmost importance; therefore, they avoid public criticism and 

controversial topics at all costs – even to the extent of 

withholding their honest opinion or modifying the truth. 

Africans admire and even expect extended greetings and small 

talk, and to attempt to rush or avoid social graces is considered 

disrespectful. Similarly, Africans avoid direct eye contact when 

communicating with new acquaintances and people of status, 

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particularly elders. They also are fond of non-verbal gestures, 

and it is common throughout African societies for members of 

the same gender to hold hands or touch while conversing.

7. Learning and Knowledge 

All cultures require that the older generation transmit important 

information to the younger generation. This information can be 

strictly factual (for example, how to fulfill subsistence and 

health requirements) and culturally traditional (the beliefs, 

behaviors, and symbols that have meaning to the community). 

This knowledge transfer may occur through structured, 

formalized systems such as 

schools or through informal

learning by watching adults or 

peers. 

The contemporary African 

educational system hardly 

resembles the traditional precolonial structure, whereby 

community elders were primarily responsible for preparing 

youth for adulthood. Their instruction included fundamentals of 

ethnic ritual and ceremony, along with customary protocol for 

their distinctive gender roles. A rite-of-passage commemorating 

their successful journey from childhood to adulthood served as 

a form of graduation.

European colonialism brought a more structured, formal 

educational system that catered to a small group of African 

elite who demonstrated potential to administer expanding 

colonial territories. Following independence, many African 

nations adopted the European system because they believed it 

would prepare them to be more competitive in intra-continental 

and global marketplaces, thereby enhancing their quality of life. 

However, progress in developing and maintaining reliable 

educational institutions has been slow for a variety of reasons. 

Since most Africans live in rural environments, they continue to 

rely heavily on child labor for family survival, resulting in 

decreased school enrollments or early withdrawals. Likewise, 

widespread HIV/AIDS epidemics, ethnic conflict, teacher and 

resource deficits, and inaccessibility to remote rural areas also 

hamper progress. According to 2005 statistics, only half of the 

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continent’s children were enrolled in primary school, leaving 

over 40 million African children without any schooling at all. 

8. Time and Space 

In every society, people occupy space and time in ways that 

are not directly linked to physical survival. In low-context 

western cultures, people tend to be preoccupied with strict time 

management, devoting less effort to relationship-building. 

Conversely, most African cultures are traditionally high-context 

societies, whereby people center their activities on socializing 

and establishing close associations, having little regard for the 

passage-of-time. 

Only after establishing trust and honor will your typical African 

counterpart agreeably proceed with business. In his worldview, 

time is a precious commodity used to establish relationships 

and form alliances. Any 

attempt to accelerate the 

tempo at the expense of 

social pleasantries will 

likely result in deadlock. 

To an African, close 

physical proximity between 

individuals encourages 

cooperative trust, and for 

centuries they have 

viewed human linkage as 

a core element to survival. This closeness is best represented 

in a traditional African village where strong kinship connections

are evidenced by a display of close interpersonal relations 

among family members. 

While conventional African concepts of time and space remain 

intact, throughout the continent western influence and 

globalization have stepped up the pace of African living, mostly 

in urban areas. Consequently, rural-to-urban migrations have 

reshaped traditional social and subsistence patterns. 

9. Aesthetics and Recreation 

Every culture has its own forms of creative expression that are 

guided by aesthetic principles of imagination, beauty, skill and 

style. Prior to 19th-century European colonization of Africa, 

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recreation served a vital subsistence role, whereby adolescents 

and adults alike participated in intellectually stimulating 

leisurely activities that concurrently served to develop essential 

hunting and pastoral skills.

Games of chance and skill were important to early childhood 

development, providing social outlets within and outside their 

community. Featuring 

wrestling, jumping and 

running; traditional African 

sport was steeped in 

religious ritual. 

Along with colonialism 

came the introduction to 

Africa of western sports 

such as soccer, cricket, 

rugby and track and field. This emphasis on western sport 

continued to thrive with African independence and 

globalization, as seen in sporting events such as the Olympics 

and the World Cup. 

Leaders such as Nelson Mandela skillfully employed sport to 

promote a unified South African nation. Importing the 

predominantly “white” game of rugby, Mandela used it to fuse a 

racially divided country following his election in 1992. This 

event is the theme of the motion picture “Invictus,” exemplifying 

how sport can serve to create national identities and overcome 

ethnic division. His efforts 

have inspired many other 

African nations to follow 

suit.

Likewise, East African 

countries such as Kenya 

and Ethiopia have 

produced the world’s 

dominant male and 

female distance runners, 

and South Africa, Cameroon and Nigeria emerged as strong

contenders in the 2010 World Cup. African nations are now 

competing in leagues such as the International Basketball 

Association (FIBA) World Championships, and there is also a 

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growing number of African basketball players on US college 

campuses and in the National Basketball Association (NBA). 

10. Sustenance and Health 

Societies have different methods of transforming natural 

resources into food. These methods can shape residence 

patterns, family structures and economics. Theories of disease 

and healing practices exist in all cultures and serve as adaptive 

responses to disease and illness. 

Despite having only 11% of the global population, Africa is a 

victim of many of the world’s debilitating health disorders. 

According to the World 

Health Organization, 60% of 

the global HIV/AIDS cases 

and 90% of malarial 

diseases occur in Africa. 

These and other medical 

conditions are attributed 

primarily to viral infection and 

widespread poverty caused 

by extreme climatic 

conditions and civil unrest, coupled with inadequate 

preventative measures. While extensive drought generates 

widespread famine, civil disturbances generate millions of 

displaced persons. Likewise, with only 58% of the SubSaharan African population having access to safe drinking 

water, water-born bacterial diseases 

such as cholera and schistosomiasis

are common.

Many people in Africa lack access to 

western medicine, and as a result 

depend on traditional health 

practices to combat disease. In 

addition, some traditional beliefs run 

counter to western medical practice

and perhaps discourage individuals 

from utilizing those services even 

when they are available. This 

problem is further intensified by lack of federal regulatory 

healthcare management. 

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While modern healthcare procedures are more common in 

urban areas, many rural people rely on traditional practitioners 

who use a variety of plants and herbs to treat patients. 

Similarly, many families have their own secret remedies. While 

in some cases traditional medicine proves effective with fewer 

side effects than modern drugs, traditional practices do not 

adequately treat many of the more serious conditions. 

On a positive note, western influence has stimulated some 

progress in combating Africa’s health crisis. More resources 

are devoted to achieving basic human security by assessing

disease symptoms early and with scientific accuracy. 

11. Economics and Resources 

This domain refers to beliefs regarding appropriate ways for a 

society to produce, distribute, and consume goods and 

services. Traditionally having an agrarian-based economy, 

Africa today remains predominantly agricultural, featuring less 

industrialization than 

most other parts of the 

world. Post-colonial 

adversities such as 

civil war, disease, 

poverty, and unstable 

dictatorships posed 

unusual hardship on

several young African 

nations; however, 

Africa currently stands 

at the cross-roads of economic development with many nations 

becoming some of fastest growing regions in the world. 

Colonialism institutionalized the exploitation of Africa’s mineral 

resources, resulting in today’s oil industry dominating the 

economic market in several coastal regions. A surge in global 

oil prices; a growing African middle class; and reduction in civil 

wars, foreign aid, and inflation collectively promise a more 

positive outlook for the future.

Countries such as Botswana, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, and 

South Africa are economically the wealthiest on the continent, 

with regions such as East Africa showing signs of economic 

stability. Despite the economic upswing, much of sub-Saharan 

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Africa’s future economic prosperity is held hostage by 

devastating diseases such as AIDS, particularly in areas of 

southern Africa, and the growing effects of climate change and 

man-made environmental degradation throughout the 

subcontinent. 

12. Technology and Material 

Societies use technology to transform their physical world, and 

culture heavily influences the development and use of 

technology. Africa lags far behind most of the world in 

manufacturing capacity and output. Even the more 

economically-developed nations such as South Africa are 

competitively weak when compared to non-African 

industrialized nations. During the 1970s and 1980s, Africa 

experienced some growth in raw exports although this increase 

did little to boost long-term manufacturing capacity. 

Today, Africa is experiencing an actual decline in 

manufacturing capacity due primarily to a lull in the global 

economy, along with other indigenous issues such as 

environmental stress, poor physical and organizational

infrastructure, and a 

shortage of skilled 

personnel. Likewise, 

African manufacturing 

capacity is no match 

against global powers 

such as China and 

significant Southeast 

Asian markets. 

International aid from 

both governmental and non-governmental organizations has 

helped African nations establish preliminary economic 

footholds. For example, many of them have dedicated 

industrial developmental zones to attract foreign investment 

and increase export-related manufacturing capacity, although 

Africa is far removed from having a significant role in the global 

marketplace in the foreseeable future. 

Now that we have introduced general concepts that

characterize African society at large, we will now focus on 

specific features of the DRC’s society. 

GENERAL

CULTURE 
HISTORY &

MYTH

Overview

The territory comprising present-day Democratic Republic of 

the Congo (also known as the DRC or Congo-Kinshasa) has a 

long and troubled history. Since assuming its earliest unified 

political form in the 19th century, the DRC has steadily endured

resource-driven violence and authoritarian rule. 

Early DRC 

While little is known about the DRC’s early history, its original

inhabitants were probably ancestors of modern central Africa’s 

Pygmy peoples (see p11 of Political and Social Relations). 

Small groups of these hunter-gatherers may have inhabited the 

rainforests of northern DRC as 

early as 10,000 years ago.

Perhaps as early as 2000 BC, 

Bantu-speaking peoples (see p1 

of Language and Communication) 

began arriving in the Congo River 

Basin (see p2 of Political and 

Social Relations) from their 

original home along the border of 

present-day Cameroon and Nigeria. Groups of Bantu-speakers 

eventually settled in the savannas of southern DRC and began 

cultivating crops. Eventual contact with non-Bantu speakers 

influenced some of them to pursue cattle raising.

By 1000 AD Bantu-speakers had expanded throughout the 

DRC where they interacted with Pygmies, assimilating to their 

unique local cultures. Since the region’s rainforests presented 

barriers to communication, large political structures were slow 

to form. In many areas, the predominant political component

long remained that of a small, lineage-based society governed 

by democratic consensus. In other areas, large states 

developed. 

PART 2 – CULTURE SPECIFIC

1. HISTORY AND MYTH
HISTORY &

MYTH

Early Political Structures

Between the 1400s-1600s a number of large, centralized 

political structures emerged in the savannas of southern DRC. 

Most of them had sophisticated hierarchies and were ruled by a 

monarch in conjunction with a council of elders and civil 

servants. The most prominent early political structures in the 

region were the Kongo, Luba, and Lunda Kingdoms. 

Kongo Kingdom: The Kongo Kingdom first rose to 

prominence in the late 14th century, after members of the 

Kongo ethnic group (see p10 of Political and Social Relations) 

migrated south of the Congo River and founded their capital 

city of Mbanza Congo in northern 

Angola. Relative to other African 

states of the same era, the Kongo 

Kingdom was developed, having a 

bureaucracy that collected taxes and 

regulated a currency (sea shells). The 

inhabitants of the Kongo Kingdom 

worked as both merchants of copper 

and ivory and as craftspeople of 

metal and textiles. They also were a 

primary source for the European-led 

slave trade (Photo: The Coat of Arms 

of the Kongo Kingdom).

Luba and Lunda Kingdoms: The Luba and Lunda Kingdoms 

were separate but closely linked states that flourished between 

the 16th-19th centuries in southern DRC and northeastern 

Angola. The Luba and Lunda peoples traded copper, ivory, 

palm oil, other goods, and slaves with traders from both the 

East (coastal Tanzania) and the West (Angola). 

Arrival of Outsiders

In the 15th century a succession of outsiders from Europe and 

other parts of Africa began to arrive in the DRC. These 

outsiders typically were more interested in obtaining copper, 

ivory, and slaves than in forming permanent settlements or 

colonizing the Congo River Basin. The savanna kingdoms 

fared poorly against these outsiders due to internal feuds. 

Likewise, the lineage-based societies not affiliated with a 

kingdom were too fragmented to offer effective resistance.
HISTORY &

MYTH

Europeans: The first European to reach 

the DRC was Diogo Cão (pictured), a 

Portuguese explorer who arrived at the 

mouth of the Congo River in 1483. Soon 

after Cão’s initial visit, the Portuguese 

made further expeditions to the region 

where they developed peaceful ties with 

the Kongo Kingdom. The latter supplied 

ivory and slaves in return for European 

goods such as guns, textiles, and wine. 

Eventually, this relationship was 

undermined by the rapid growth of the 

trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Although slavery had long existed in the Kongo Kingdom, the 

slave supply traditionally was limited to prisoners captured in 

local conflicts. In addition, most slaves held in Africa became 

citizens of their communities within a generation. As the 

Portuguese developed plantations in their colony of Brazil, 

demand for slaves began to outstrip supply. Consequently, the 

Portuguese began to sponsor raids to kidnap and enslave 

more Africans. This process played a major role in the forcible 

relocation of an estimated 5.7 million people from West Central 

Africa to the New World between 1500 and 1866. The violent 

appropriation of so many inhabitants destabilized the Kongo 

Kingdom, which entered a slow decline in the 17th century.

Afro-Arabs: The slave trade was not limited to Atlantic Ocean 

ports. By the early 19th century, Afro-Arab traders had arrived 

in the eastern DRC from their base in coastal Tanzania. They

initially bartered for and later forcibly took ivory, copper, and 

slaves to ports located along Indian Ocean trade routes. Some 

Afro-Arab merchants amassed trade-based empires in the 

region. Eventually, these indigenous resources were 

exhausted, contributing to the decline of the Luba and Lunda 

Kingdoms in the 1800s. 

Egyptians and Sudanese: Traders based along the Nile River 

in Cairo (the Egyptian capital) and Khartoum (the Sudanese 

capital) began filtering into northeastern DRC in the 1820s. 

Like the Afro-Arabs, these traders were interested primarily in 

ivory and slaves.
HISTORY &

MYTH

Exploration and Colonization

European traders and explorers began to penetrate the DRC’s

periphery in the early 19th century, extending their expeditions 

into the vast Congo River Basin by the end of the century. The 

first such explorer was James Tuckey, an Anglo-Irishman who 

traveled 300 mi up the Congo River in 1816 before being 

forced to turn back in an area near today’s capital, Kinshasa. 

Other European explorers followed Tuckey, although none 

surpassed his progress for more than half a century. Finally, in 

1877 a Welsh-American explorer named Henry Morton Stanley

(pictured) completed a 999-day journey that began in coastal 

Tanzania and ended at the mouth of the 

Congo River.

Stanley’s feat attracted great attention 

in Europe, particularly from King 

Leopold II of Belgium, who hired 

Stanley to facilitate the King’s quest to 

amass a colonial empire. Leopold sent 

Stanley to the Congo River Basin, 

instructing him to purchase as much 

land as possible. Since Leopold’s 

colonial ambitions lacked the support of 

the Belgian parliament, he acquired the land in his own right

using the International Association of the Congo (known by its 

French initials AIC) as an ostensibly charitable front. By 1884 

Stanley had tricked local rulers into signing a collective total of 

about 450 treaties ceding their land to the AIC.

That same year, representatives of the European colonial 

powers met in Berlin to decide the terms under which each 

country would pursue colonizing the African continent. 

Although Belgium as a country did not participate in the 

conference, Leopold’s representatives worked behind the 

scenes to convince the major powers to recognize the King’s 

African claims (most of what is now the DRC) as a privatelyowned colony to be known as the Congo Free State. The major 

powers liked the idea of having a politically neutral buffer 

colony in the center of the continent, so they agreed to 

Leopold’s unusual arrangement. Their only conditions were 

that Congo Free State would remain off-limits to slavery yet

open for global trade of all other goods. 
HISTORY &

MYTH

Congo Free State

Despite the proposed philanthropic aims of the AIC, Leopold 

was primarily interested in securing his prominence among the 

colonial powers. Since Belgium’s parliament refused to support 

those ambitions financially, Leopold sought a way to finance 

the colony’s administration by exploiting its natural resources. 

Although the slave trade had been abolished, the Congo Free 

State still had large amounts of copper and ivory. In addition, it

had rubber vines which became highly lucrative after Scottish

entrepreneur John Dunlop invented the inflatable tire in 1888. 

In order to exploit these resources as economically as possible, 

Leopold granted European companies concessions to control 

defined areas in exchange for a share of the profits. He also 

allowed those companies to extract these resources using

forced African labor, creating the Force Publique—a private 

African military led by Europeans—to enforce his policies.

The concession companies, the Force Publique, and bounty 

hunters all used cruel techniques to discipline African laborers. 

In some cases, they disfigured (usually by cutting off a hand) or 

killed those who tried to flee forced labor. In other cases, they 

held a laborer’s family hostage until he met certain production

quotas. In just 20 years, these abusive techniques along with 

other factors like disease and 

malnutrition, led to the deaths of an 

estimated 5-8 million Congolese (Photo: 

A 1906 cartoon that depicts King 

Leopold II as a snake constricting an 

African rubber collector).

Exposure: Although the world remained

ignorant of Leopold’s atrocities for years, 

foreign travelers eventually brought 

attention to the issue, two of which were

Americans—GW Williams, a reporter, and WH Sheppard, a 

missionary. Pressure for change mounted further after a pair of 

Englishmen founded the Congo Reform Association (CRA) in 

1904. In 1906 the Belgian parliament decided to buy the Congo 

Free State from Leopold. After 2 years of haggling over the 

price, the Congo Free State became the Belgian Congo colony

on November 15, 1908.
HISTORY &

MYTH

Belgian Congo

Although widespread publicity had 

generated popular support for

ending the horrific labor practices 

in the Congo Free State, the new

Belgian Congolese government

continued to operate using the

same economic model of European concession firms and 

forced African laborers to extract resources. Furthermore, the 

Belgian administration proved no more willing than Leopold’s to 

grant political rights to indigenous Congolese.

Nevertheless, living standards rose in Belgian Congo, primarily 

due to an expansion of copper and diamond mining (see p3 of 

Economics and Resources). These lucrative resources led to 

the development of urban areas, including Élisabethville (now 

Lubumbashi) and Léopoldville (now Kinshasa).

Belgian activities, especially those of missionaries, also led to 

higher living standards through the creation of schools, health 

clinics, roadways, and railways. Despite these improvements, 

few Congolese were educated past the primary level, leaving 

Belgian Congo with few people capable of administering the

colony when it eventually gained independence.

Nationalism and Independence

Independence movements emerged in Belgian Congo in the 

1950s. Unlike the inhabitants of other African colonies, the 

population of Belgian Congo shared little sense of collective 

identity. Consequently, movements were fragmented by region 

and ethnicity. For example, a significant ethnic movement

known as the Alliance des Bakongo (ABAKO)—literally the 

“Alliance of the Kongo People”—became politically active in the 

late 1950s under the leadership of a civil servant named 

Joseph Kasavubu.

Despite this fragmentation, a brewery worker named Patrice 

Lumumba founded a movement with a national focus—the 

Mouvement National Congolais (MNC)—in 1958. Due to 

speeches and demonstrations organized by both ABAKO and 

the MNC, a national consciousness emerged almost overnight 

among the Congolese as calls for independence grew louder in 

the last few years of the 1950s.
HISTORY &

MYTH

By the close of the 1950s many independence demonstrations 

had turned violent, and security forces were increasingly less 

able to contain the mounting chaos. Consequently, the Belgian 

government called 45 representatives from various Congolese 

groups to Belgium in January 1960 to plan for independence. 

Just 5 months later on 30 June 1960, Belgian Congo became 

an independent country, the Republic of the Congo. Due to 

elections held the month before, Patrice Lumumba became 

Prime Minister while Joseph Kasavubu became President.

The Congo Crisis

Just days after independence, a series of events started to 

destabilize the Republic of the Congo. On 4 July 1960, 

Congolese army soldiers mutinied against their officers over 

low pay and a lack of advancement opportunities, eventually 

leading to the appointment of Joseph-Desiré Mobutu as chiefof-staff. Hardly a week later, the Belgian government sent 

paratroopers (pictured) with the pretext of protecting Belgians 

who had remained after independence. On 11 July, the 

mineral-rich Katanga Province seceded from the Republic of 

the Congo with the support of Belgian 

business owners, prompting the 

United Nations (UN) to send a 

peacekeeping force 4 days later.

The situation continued to deteriorate. 

Less than a month after the UN force 

arrived, South Kasai Province 

seceded, followed a month later by a 

Mobutu-led coup that toppled and 

later assassinated Lumumba but left Kasavubu in office as 

figurehead. Antoine Gizenga, the self-proclaimed successor to 

Lumumba, formed a rival government in Stanleyville (now 

Kisangani) that controlled the eastern half of the country.

By mid-1961, the Stanleyville government had been dissolved, 

and the Congolese army recaptured South Kasai by the end of 

that year. Katanga’s secession did not end until early 1963, by 

which time UN forces had spent 2.5 years battling a Katangan 

army composed primarily of well-trained foreign mercenaries. 

Despite this victory, smaller rebellions and general instability 

continued for several years.
HISTORY &

MYTH

After free and fair elections in March 1965, Kasavubu remained 

President while Moise Tshombe—former leader of secessionist 

Katanga Province—became Prime Minister. The leaders soon 

became locked in a power struggle, which Mobutu used as a 

ploy for staging a second coup in November 1965 and 

declaring himself President for the next 5 years.

The Mobutu Era

Mobutu (pictured) soon purged the Army 

of those he believed to be disloyal then 

deployed troops to suppress continuing 

rebellions in the East. Soon thereafter, 

he founded the Popular Movement of the 

Revolution (MPR in French), banning all 

other political parties. Having firmly 

entrenched his power, Mobutu controlled

the country’s politics both directly or 

indirectly for more than 3 decades.

While Mobutu initially provided some degree of public services, 

his rule ultimately became known for incompetence, cronyism, 

and corruption. His government extracted large bribes through 

both grand and petty corruption. In addition, Mobutu embezzled 

foreign aid and export revenues, living an extravagant lifestyle 

financed by a fortune estimated at $5 billion in 1985. 

Despite his flaws, Mobutu was an ally of the US and its Cold 

War allies. At home, he suppressed rebellions of leftist groups 

sympathetic to the Eastern Bloc. Abroad, he supported a rebel 

group against the Communist-backed Angolan government.

“Authenticity”: In the early 1970s Mobutu introduced a series 

of policies intended to purge the Congo’s colonial heritage. He 

changed the name of both the country and its namesake river 

to “Zaire”—a variation of nzadi, a local word meaning “river”—

and replaced the European names of many cities with African 

ones (for example, Léopoldville became Kinshasa). In addition, 

he required Congolese to abandon their Christian names and 

adopt African ones, changing his own name to Mobutu Sese 

Seko. Ultimately, these reforms went beyond the symbolic. As 

part of a policy known as “Zairianization,” for example, Mobutu 

nationalized foreign businesses in 1973, dissuading many 

foreign businesses from investing in the country.
HISTORY &

MYTH

Pressure for Reform: By the end of the 1980s, a combination 

of Mobutu’s embezzlement, falling global copper prices, failed 

nationalization policies, and inflation had damaged the Zairean 

economy severely. Along with rampant human rights violations, 

these economic problems prompted increasing calls for reform 

in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Around the same time, the end of the Cold War made Western 

governments less willing to support Mobutu unconditionally.

Consequently, in August 1991 Mobutu agreed to participate in 

a constitutional convention with opposition leaders. Although 

this convention led to a series of opposition governments over 

the next 6 years, Mobutu co-opted or otherwise controlled them 

all from behind the scenes.

First Congo War

The beginning of the end for Mobutu’s regime came in 1994, 

when Rwanda, Zaire’s neighbor to the east, descended into 

civil war. Between April and July of that year, the ethnic Hutu 

Rwandan government conducted a genocidal mass slaughter 

against the county’s ethnic Tutsi minority, resulting in an 

estimated 800,000 deaths. As 

Tutsi-affiliated forces took control 

of Rwanda, around 2 million Hutus 

fled to refugee camps in Zaire 

(pictured) and Tanzania. 

Some of those Hutu refugees 

resumed attacking Tutsis in Zaire 

and, to a lesser extent, western 

Rwanda. In 1996 it ostensibly was 

those attacks that prompted the 

Rwandan government—which had become Tutsi-affiliated—to 

invade Zaire alongside Burundi and Uganda. Rwanda and 

Uganda also sponsored the creation of a rebel group known as 

the alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of CongoZaire (AFDL in French) and chose Laurent-Désiré Kabila, a 

rebel fighter, as its leader. The combined force faced little 

resistance as it marched across the country to Kinshasa. In 

May 1997, Kabila was named President of the renamed 

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Mobutu fled to 

Morocco, where he died of cancer 4 months later.
HISTORY &

MYTH

Second Congo War

Rwanda advocated Kabila, having an ulterior motive of 

appropriating DRC’s resources (see Economics and 

Resources). Consequently, Rwandan troops remained in the 

DRC after Kabila took power, although generally were

considered among the locals as occupiers. Kabila asked the 

Rwandans to leave, although they refused. Consequently, ties 

between Kabila and his First Congo War allies became 

increasingly strained.

In August 1998 Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi invaded the 

DRC to support the rebellion of a Rwanda-backed group known 

as the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD in French). The 

combined force almost captured Kinshasa but was stopped 

after Angola and Zimbabwe intervened. Chad, Namibia, and 

other countries came to Kabila’s defense, causing the war to 

become a stalemate. Meanwhile, the RCD splintered. Led by 

Jean-Pierre Bemba, the most important faction became known 

as Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC).

More than 4 million people are estimate to have perished 

during the conflict, most of whom were civilians suffering from

disease. The UN brokered a ceasefire in 1999, yet the war did 

not subside until January 2001, when 

his bodyguards assassinated Kabila, 

replacing him with his son, Joseph 

Kabila (pictured). 

The Younger Kabila

The younger Kabila quickly sought a 

lasting peace deal. After agreeing to a 

ceasefire in February 2001, the 

warring sides signed the Sun City 

Agreement in December 2002. This deal provided for the 

establishment of a Kabila-led transitional government that 

would include representatives of the main rebel groups and 

political opposition. Although various conflicts continued, 

especially in the eastern DRC (see p7 of Political and Social 

Relations), this accord enabled DRC’s government to reassert 

some degree of control. Widely seen as more competent than 

his father, Kabila was reelected in 2005 and 2011, although not 

without some controversy over the results.
HISTORY &

MYTH

Myth Overview

Since many Congolese languages did not have written forms 

until relatively recently (see p2 of Language and 

Communication), the country has a 

tradition of oral folklore as rich and 

reflective as its extensive history. 

Although oral traditions vary between the 

DRC’s ethnic groups, many Congolese 

myths share common elements. For 

example, some myths depict the main 

characters as animals that embody and 

represent gluttony, intelligence, and other 

human characteristics. This type of myth 

usually conveys a moral message. Other 

myths are closer to historical narrative. 

For example, the myth below explains the 

origins of the Bakuba people, who live in 

the Kasai region of the southeastern DRC (Photo: A late 19thor early 20th-century Bakuba helmet and mask).

Bakuba Creation Myth

In the beginning, a white giant and god of creation named 

Mbombo ruled the world, which then consisted of nothing more 

than water and darkness. One day Mbombo felt a throbbing 

pain in his stomach and soon thereafter began to heave up the 

first heavenly bodies: the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars. The 

new Sun shone strongly, and soon both the darkness and the 

water that had constituted the world had disappeared, with the 

water evaporating into clouds and exposing dry land.

Mbombo heaved again and released a variety of new things: 

lightning and falling stars; firmament studded with plants and 

trees; the first monkey, eagle, leopard, fish, and insects; and, 

finally, the first man and woman. The man and the woman had 

2 children, a son named Woto and a daughter named Labama.

Woto and Labama eventually married one another and moved 

westward until they settled in a desert. Labama disliked the 

desolate landscape, so Woto called forth an entire forest from 

the sand with a few blows of his horn. Woto and Labama then 

settled in a forest dwelling and began raising children, who 

would be the earliest ancestors of the Bakuba people.
Official Name

Democratic Republic

of the Congo

Political Borders

Central African 

Republic: 980 mi

South Sudan: 390 mi

Uganda: 475 mi

Rwanda: 135 mi

Burundi: 145 mi

Tanzania: 285 mi

Zambia: 1199 mi

Angola: 1560 mi

Republic of the 

Congo: 1498 mi

Coastline: 23 mi

Capital

Kinshasa

Demographics

The DRC’s 79.4 million population has an annual growth rate of 

about 2.5%. While only about 43% of the population is urbanbased, the DRC’s urban populace grows yearly by 4.5% which 

is slightly higher than sub-Saharan Africa’s urbanization rate. 

Nearly 2/3 of the population is younger than 24. 

Flag

The DRC’s flag is sky blue, with a 

star in the upper left corner and 3 

diagonal stripes that extend from 

the lower left corner to the upper 

right. The thickest red stripe 

commemorates martyrs who have 

died for the DRC, while the yellow 

star and 2 thinner yellow stripes signify the DRC’s wealth. The 

star represents the DRC’s unity and bright future, while the sky 

blue background symbolizes peace and hope.

2. POLITICAL AND SOCIAL RELATIONS

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
Geography

Located in the center of the African continent, the DRC has a 

total area of 905,355 sq mi, an expanse roughly the same size 

as the portion of the US lying east of the Mississippi River. The 

DRC borders the Republic of the Congo (ROC) to the west; the 

Central African Republic (CAR) and South Sudan to the north; 

Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and 

Tanzania to the east; and Zambia 

and Angola to the south.

The DRC’s most prominent

physical feature is the Congo River

(pictured: near Kinshasa), from 

which the country takes its name. 

The Congo River cuts a winding, 

2,900-mi arc across the DRC, flowing northwards from the 

southeastern frontier before veering west at Kisangani and 

ultimately turning south toward its mouth on the Atlantic Coast. 

Second only to the Amazon River in volume, the Congo River is 

fed by numerous tributaries, of which the most important are the 

Lomami, Kasai, and Ubangi rivers.

Those tributaries lie in a region known as the Congo Basin. 

Covering about 1.3 million sq mi—including most of the DRC 

and parts of 6 other central African countries—the Congo Basin 

consists of a bowl-like depression filled with swamps and 

rainforests. It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the 

Ruwenzori and Virunga mountain ranges and Africa’s Great 

Lakes to the east, and plateaus of 4,000-5,000 ft in elevation to 

the north and south. The DRC’s highest point is Mount Stanley, 

which rises 16,763 ft along the Ugandan border. The DRC has 

a 23-mi Atlantic Ocean coastline at the Congo River’s mouth.

Climate

The DRC has a tropical climate. Temperatures fall between 70-

80°F in most regions and seasons, although the mountainous 

East tends to be cooler. Most of the country gets 20-40 inches 

of rainfall from May-October, although rains tend to be heavier 

in the North during that time of year. From November-April, the 

North gets the same 20-40 inches of rainfall while the South 

receives 40-60 inches. Only the far Southeast has a dry season, 

which lasts from May-September.

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
Natural Hazards

DRC’s primary natural hazard is flooding, especially from the 

Congo River. Most flooding occurs between November-January, 

when the well-watered South gets its heaviest rainfall. A second 

natural hazard is volcanic activity, especially that of Mts.

Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira in the Virunga Mountains. 

Environmental Issues

Extensive mining and a large rural population have contributed 

to several environmental issues in the DRC. Mining—whether by 

individuals or corporations—contributes to soil erosion and 

generates toxic byproducts, thereby poisoning the DRC’s water 

supply. Rural populations contribute to deforestation by relying 

extensively on wood fuel (see p2 of Technology and Material) 

and practicing slash-and-burn agriculture. 

Government

Since its current constitution took effect in February 2006, the 

DRC has been a semi-presidential republic structured similarly 

to the French government. The DRC is divided into 10 provinces 

and 1 ville (city)—the national capital region of Kinshasa.

In an effort to protect the DRC’s natural resource revenue from 

government embezzlers, the framers of the 2006 constitution 

introduced provisions designed to limit the national 

government’s power. One provision provided for the 

establishment of 15 new provinces by 2009, while another 

mandated that 40% of all resource revenue would remain with 

the originating state. Neither provision has been implemented.

Executive Branch

The President, currently Joseph Kabila 

(pictured), functions as head-of-state and 

commander-in-chief of the armed forces. 

The President is elected by direct popular 

vote to serve a 5-year term, which can be 

renewed once. The President also 

appoints a Prime Minister, who must be 

approved by the National Assembly. The 

Prime Minister serves as head-of-government and selects a 

Cabinet of ministers, which must be approved by the National 

Assembly.

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
Legislative Branch

The DRC has 2 legislative chambers: the National Assembly and 

the Senate. The former comprises 500 directly-elected National 

Deputies, while the latter consists of 108 Senators selected by 

provincial assemblies. Members of both chambers serve 5-year 

terms with no term limits. The President has the power to 

dissolve the National Assembly if it persistently disagrees with 

either the Prime Minister or Cabinet. 

Judicial Branch

Since the DRC was colonized by Belgians (see p4 of History and 

Myth), the country’s legal system is based on Belgian civil law, 

which in turn is derived from France’s Napoleonic Code. The 

constitution also recognizes customary law, which consists of 

the traditional, locally-based legal practices of the indigenous 

population. Although customary law is subordinate to statutory

law, Congolese use the former system to settle most cases. 

Political Climate

In 2006 and 2011 the Congolese 

people voted in the country’s first 

multi-party elections since 1966. 

Participation was strong: in 2011, 

for example, about 60% of voters 

turned out to choose between 11 

presidential candidates and nearly 

19,000 candidates for the National 

Assembly. Despite these 

promising signs and an absence of widespread election-related 

violence, technical and logistical issues and reports of 

intimidation raised questions about the results (Pictured: The 

DRC’s coat of arms).

According to the official tally, President Kabila won re-election in 

2011 with 49% of the vote, while his party and its allies won 260 

of 500 seats (52%) in the National Assembly. Kabila faced 

criticism during the election over his government’s decision to 

end runoff voting, which occurs when no presidential candidate 

receives more than 50% of the vote. With Kabila ineligible for reelection in 2016, it remains to be seen whether the DRC’s young 

and fragile democracy will be able to support a peaceful transfer 

of power.

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
Defense

The Armed Forces of the Democratic 

Republic of the Congo (known by its

French initials FARDC) consist of an 

Army, Navy, and Air Force having a 

collective strength of between 144,000-

159,000 personnel. Due mainly to low 

pay, poor training, and low morale, the 

FARDC historically has performed 

poorly. Consequently, the Congolese 

government depended upon allied 

foreign militaries for its defense during 

the Second Congo War (see p10 of 

History and Myth) and still depends upon the United Nations 

Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of 

the Congo (MONUSCO) for stability operations in the East. The 

FARDC is currently undergoing a slow restructuring as its 

leaders try to integrate some of those who fought for rebel 

groups during the Second Congo War. FARDC soldiers are 

accused regularly of committing human rights abuses (see p2 of 

Sex and Gender).

Army: Consisting of around 110,000-120,000 personnel, the 

Army is the largest branch of the FARDC. It is poorly equipped 

for a force its size, having about 150 main battle tanks, 40 light 

tanks, and 140 armored personnel carriers. FARDC personnel 

commonly use their positions to extract bribes from Congolese 

citizens, a practice likely motivated by meager pay. The only 

FARDC unit that is paid and equipped well is the Republican 

Guard, an elite unit of 6,000-8,000 that protects the President.

Navy: Comprising approximately 6,700 personnel, the Navy is 

responsible for patrolling the DRC’s inland waterways and 23-mi 

coastline. The Navy is equipped with about 20 small patrol 

boats, some of which are armored or mounted with machine 

guns. The Navy generally has been ineffective, particularly in its 

coastal defense mission.

Air Force: The Air Force comprises about 2,500 personnel. It is 

equipped with around 5 fighter jets (including 3 Sukhoi Su-25s), 

10 attack helicopters, and 10 transport craft. Most of the Air 

Force’s hardware is of Soviet/Russian design.

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
Security Issues

Although the DRC’s security situation has improved since the 

end of the Second Congo War (see p10 of History and Myth), 

various rebel groups continue to commit terrorist acts and 

human rights violations in the eastern DRC, especially in the 

Nord Kivu, Sud Kivu, and Orientale provinces. 

FDLR: The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda 

(FDLR in French) is an ethnically Hutu rebel group based in the 

DRC. According to a 2011 United Nations (UN) report, the FDLR 

is eastern DRC’s strongest and most politically influential rebel 

group. Most FDLR fighters once belonged to one of the two 

groups primarily responsible for committing the 1994 Rwandan 

Genocide (see History and Myth): the old (pre-1994) Rwandan 

Armed Forces, and the Interahamwe, a Hutu militia. 

The FDLR’s stated aim is to replace the Tutsi-aligned Rwandan 

government. The group fought the elder Kabila and his Tutsi 

allies in the First Congo War but backed him in the Second 

Congo War after being abandoned by his Tutsi allies. Although 

regional militaries have had some success in fighting the FDLR, 

it is far from destroyed. 2011 

estimates indicate that the FDLR 

has 6,000-8,000 fighters.

CNDP and M23: The National 

Congress for the Defense of the 

People (CNDP in French) was

established as a political party by

its ethnic Tutsi leader General 

Laurent Nkunda in 2006. 

Rebelling against the Kabila government soon after its

formation, the CNDP eventually was defeated and offered a 

peace deal in 2009 when Rwandan forces arrested Nkunda. In 

April 2012 about 300 former CNDP members who had been 

incorporated into the FARDC mutinied under General Bosco 

Ntaganda. Now called the M23 movement, the mutineers 

captured Goma in November 2012 before retreating under 

international pressure. In March 2013 Ntaganda turned himself 

in at the US embassy in Rwanda, leaving M23 factionalized 

between two potential successors: Sultani Makenga and JeanMari Runiga (Photo: M23 rebels in Goma).

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
Mai Mai: “Mai Mai” is a term describing Congolese ethnic militia 

groups ostensibly existing to protect the homeland and expel 

foreign forces, particularly Rwandan forces and their M23 and 

CNDP allies. The Mai Mai backed the Kabila government during 

the Second Congo War (see p10 of History and Myth), aligning 

closely with the Interahamwe and other Hutu groups.

ADF: The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) is a Ugandan rebel 

organization consisting of Islamic extremists and troops from a 

variety of defunct regional militias. In the late 1990s, the ADF 

conducted a series of attacks—mostly against civilians—in

southwestern Uganda, prompting Ugandan military action that 

pushed some ADF activity into the eastern DRC. In June 2010, 

the FARDC launched an offensive against the ADF in the Beni 

region of the DRC near the Ugandan border. The offensive was 

successful militarily but displaced some 100,000 civilians.

LRA: The Lord’s Resistance Army 

(LRA) is a rebel group that seeks to 

replace the Ugandan government with 

one presumably based on the Bible’s

10 Commandments. The LRA is known 

for its brutal acts of assault, murder, 

rape, and disfigurement and also for its 

extensive reliance on kidnapped 

children to serve as sex slaves and 

soldiers. The International Criminal 

Court issued arrest warrants in 2005 

for LRA leader Joseph Kony and 4 of his commanders. This 

event, along with a deterioration of LRA strength after years of 

pursuit by the Ugandan military, led the LRA to end its 

permanent presence in Uganda and relocate some operations 

to the DRC. Today, the LRA is most prominent in the CAR

(Photo: LRA fighters).

Following the LRA’s relocation, the DRC, Uganda, and other 

countries have staged successful offensives to weaken the 

group. With many LRA leaders still at large, LRA remnants 

continue to commit brutal attacks in the northeastern DRC—200 

in 2011 alone, according to the UN. The Congolese military has 

worked with MONUSCO in recent years to locate remaining LRA 

fighters.

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
Foreign Relations

With the exceptions of Angola, Rwanda, and Uganda, the DRC 

has relatively cordial relations with neighboring countries. For 

example, the DRC and Zambia have solidified a trading 

partnership, while Tanzania has facilitated peace in the DRC by 

harboring as many as 60,000 Congolese refugees.

Although Angola and the DRC share historical, economic, and 

ethnic ties, relations between the two countries are complicated 

by Angola’s suspected poor treatment of Congolese workers

and disputes over control of offshore oil fields. The neighbors 

also have fought concurrent civil wars in recent years and 

intervened in each other’s conflicts. 

Relations between the DRC and its smaller neighbors Rwanda 

and Uganda have been strained in recent years by the latter two

countries’ interventions in the eastern DRC. Both Rwanda and 

Uganda have backed various rebel groups in the eastern DRC 

(History and Myth, p9-10) and are widely believed to have 

illegally exported large quantities of minerals such as gold and 

coltan (see p3 of Economics and Resources) from the DRC. Ties

have improved in recent years as the DRC has invited the 

militaries of both countries to help pursue rebel groups in the 

DRC.

DRC-US Relations: Since 

Mobutu was anti-communist, 

the US and the DRC (then 

Zaire) were allies for most of 

his time in power (see p8-9 of

History and Myth). As the 

Cold War ended, the US 

distanced itself from Mobutu, repelled by his record of raiding 

state coffers and violating human rights. The US initially had 

positive ties with the elder Kabila, although relations soured after 

he ended his alliance with Rwanda (see p9-10 of History and 

Myth). Since Joseph Kabila acquired power in 2001, the US and 

the DRC have worked together to improve the DRC’s economy 

and restore stability to the country. To help with these aims, the 

US provides the DRC with a large amount of official 

development assistance (ODA) (see p4 of Economics and 

Resources), including $351.8 million in 2014 alone.

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
Ethnic Groups

Several hundred different 

ethnic groups inhabit the DRC. 

The largest are the Kongo, 

Mongo, Luba, and Azande. 

Most Congolese ethnic groups 

speak Bantu languages (see

p3 of Language and 

Communication).

Although ethnic favoritism occurs in the DRC, it typically does 

not have disastrous political consequences because no group 

constitutes a majority. Moreover, modernization in recent years 

has obscured many of the traits that once differentiated ethnic 

groups. Consequently, Congolese tend to identify more closely 

with their villages and families than with their ethnic groups. 

Kongo: Constituting about 15% of the population, the Kongo 

mostly inhabit Bas Congo Province in the western DRC. They 

are heirs to a coastal kingdom that made first contact with 

Portuguese explorers in the late 1400s (see p2-3 of History and 

Myth). Perhaps due partly to a long history of engagement with 

the West, many Kongo are educated urban office workers.

Luba: This group comprises about 15% of the population, living

mainly in northern Katanga Province and the Kasai provinces of 

the southern DRC. Historically hunters and farmers, the Luba 

are known also for their skill in pottery, woodwork, and 

metalwork (see p5 of Aesthetics and Recreation). In recent 

decades, divisions between Luba from Kasai and Katanga have 

led to violence and political conflict. 

Mongo: Also called the Ngundu, they comprise about 15% of 

the populace, living in the Equateur and Bandundu provinces of 

the central DRC. Originally hunter-gatherers, the Mongo are now 

known for banana cultivation, animal trapping, and a variety of 

handicrafts (see p5 of Aesthetics and Recreation). 

Azande: Speaking a non-Bantu language, the Azande live 

mostly in the northern DRC’s Orientale Province and total about 

5% of the population. Although they historically have lived as 

hunters and subsistence farmers, today they also cultivate cash 

crops (see p2 of Economics and Resources).

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
Other Groups: Nilotic-speaking ethnic groups, of which the 

largest is the Alur, live in the northeastern DRC on the border 

with South Sudan. Pygmies, known for their short stature and 

hunting skills, live throughout the Congo Basin. The best known 

Pygmy groups in the DRC are probably the Babinga, Bambuti, 

and Twa. Banyamulenge, or Congolese Tutsi, live in the eastern 

DRC near the Rwandan and Burundian borders. There are a 

small number of Western foreign nationals living in the capital, 

and a sizeable community of Indian, Lebanese, and West 

African merchants.

Social Relations

In most Congolese ethnic groups, 

age and gender traditionally have 

been the notable social status 

indicators. Respected as the 

wisest members of the community, 

elders are expected to offer advice 

and help mediate disputes. Rural Congolese in particular treat 

elders with great respect and consider it an honor to care for

elderly relatives. Men remain the dominant gender in rural areas, 

having greater legal rights than most women (see p1 of Sex and 

Gender) (Photo: elderly woman gathers firewood, courtesy of 

Culture Grams, ProQuest 2014). 

In urban areas, by contrast, the prevalence of imported goods 

has made monetary wealth the primary social status indicator. 

Along with wealth, education is also important. There are 3 main 

social classes in the urban DRC. The top class consists of a 

small number of wealthy officials and businessmen. They 

typically live in luxurious urban homes, use imported Western 

products, have access to education and healthcare, and can buy 

their release from legal liability. 

The next class consists of clerks, civil servants, small business 

owners, traders, and others with a regular income. While 

government employees earn modest salaries, payments are 

often late and taxed heavily. Others members of this class also 

face high taxes and economic uncertainty. The lowest class 

consists of workers in the informal economy, who solicit income 

from wherever they can. They mostly live in shantytowns and 

often cannot afford even basic necessities.

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
Overview

Most Congolese are Christian. About 50% of the population is 

Roman Catholic, roughly 35% Protestant, and another 5-10% 

belongs to the indigenous, Christianity-based Kimbanguist 

Church (see “Kimbanguism” below). Muslims constitute 1-10% 

of the Congolese population, while another 1-5% practices 

traditional religions exclusively. Followers of other faiths include 

Greek Orthodox Christians, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, 

and a small number of Jews. 

Traditional Beliefs

Before their exposure to Islam or Christianity, most Congolese 

lived within a traditional belief system consisting of 3 spiritual 

influences: natural, ancestral, and divine. As animists, many 

Congolese believed that the spirit of life or consciousness lives 

in all objects, animate and inanimate, and that all natural 

objects, such as trees and animals, are sacred. This conviction

established a close link between people and their environment. 

Many Congolese also believed that the spirits of their ancestors 

participated in daily life by 

guiding or obstructing human 

affairs (Photo: Villagers of the 

Songye ethnic group of the 

southeastern DRC posing with 

a protector figurine in the early 

20th century).

Many Congolese ethnic groups 

also recognized the existence 

of a supreme being, a creator 

god who was good, merciful, 

and unknowable. For example, 

members of the Kongo ethnic group believed in Nzambi 

Mpungu, a god who created the world and its inhabitants. 

Although still responsible for day-to-day events like weather 

and peoples’ health, Nzambi Mpungu lost interest in the world 

after he created it. Consequently, the Kongo direct rituals at

other spiritual entities, such as nature or ancestral spirits, in an 

effort to influence daily events.

3. RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY

RELIGION & 

SPIRITUALITY
Among some groups, spiritual values and religious practices 

influenced social and political systems. The Luba ethnic group, 

for example, believed that religious activities were meant to 

engender dignity, self-respect, and good-heartedness among 

participants and the whole society. In addition, the mulopwe

(Luba King) and his council of elders tried to govern in 

accordance with the will of ancestral spirits, which they learned 

with the help of the mulopwe’s supernatural powers.

Congolese historically communicated with the spirit world using 

a variety of means such as prayers, songs, dances, offerings, 

sacrifices, libations, cleansing rituals, and rites of passage. 

These activities often involved creating and using special 

furniture, buildings, figurines, statues, and masks. For example, 

the Kongo ethnic group made minikisi—usually a clay pot,

decorated shell, or hollow gourd—to hold ancestral relics. 

Minikisi were popular during the colonial era (see p4 of History 

and Myth), when people used them in rituals meant to deter

abuse from authorities.

Although most Congolese are now practicing Christians, many 

also continue to observe traditional religions. Even as an active

Catholic, President Mobutu used many traditional religious 

symbols to bolster his authority. It was 

rumored that his walking cane could turn 

into a snake.

Introduction of Christianity

Roman Catholicism was introduced to

the DRC at the end of the 1400s, when 

Portuguese explorers arrived in the 

Kongo Kingdom (see p2-3 of History and 

Myth). The King of Kongo became one 

of the region’s earliest converts, taking the name Alfonso I and 

establishing a trade partnership with the Portuguese (Photo: A 

gourd depicting Europeans). Over the next 50 years, several 

Kongo traveled to Portugal to study the language and religion, 

while Portuguese missionaries traveled throughout the Kongo 

Kingdom, founding a series of small churches in the places 

they went. These missionaries had largely left the region by 

1615, while those still remaining departed in the late 18th 

century as the Kongo Kingdom dissolved.

RELIGION & 

SPIRITUALITY
Introduction of Islam

Arab traders from the Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar brought 

Islam to the DRC while seeking slaves in central Africa during 

the 1700s and 1800s (see p3 of History and Myth). Eventually, 

small Muslim communities formed in the eastern DRC. 

Although some Muslims from Sudan, Uganda, and Tanzania 

later joined these communities, Islam never predominated in 

the DRC.

Religion in the Congo Free State

Organized missionary activity in the region resumed in the late 

19th century as European interest in the Congo River Basin 

reawakened. Both Protestant and Catholic missionary activity 

increased as Belgium’s King Leopold II 

formed the Congo Free State in 1885 (see

p4-5 of History and Myth).

Missionaries—including French Catholics 

and Protestants from Britain, Sweden, and 

the US—initially supported Leopold’s 

plans. They appreciated his anti-slavery 

stance and apparent desire to establish 

missions, schools, and health clinics in the 

region. As the concession companies’ 

brutal forced labor practices were brought to light, many 

missionaries (particularly Protestants) vocally protested, 

ultimately leading to the dissolution of the Congo Free State 

and the creation of Belgian Congo, which was controlled by the 

Belgian government rather than Leopold (Photo: The first 

native Congolese to become a Catholic priest, as 

photographed in the early 20th century).

Religion in Belgian Congo

During the Belgian Congo era, missionaries supported the 

Belgian government’s “civilizing mission” because they 

considered the Congolese as degraded and uncivilized (see p6 

of History and Myth). While missionaries opened schools and 

created written forms of many indigenous tongues, they also 

tended to dismiss local beliefs and practices, encouraging

converts to adopt Western-style customs. By independence 

there were 7,500 missionaries, of which 6,000 were Catholic

and 400 native Congolese priests.

RELIGION & 

SPIRITUALITY
After Independence: Religion in Mobutu’s Zaire

Although President Mobutu was a staunch Catholic, he viewed

religious institutions as a threat to his authority and actively 

attempted to reduce their power. For example, he banned 

religious youth groups and outlawed religious broadcasts on 

radio and TV. Instead, the government and the state-controlled 

media encouraged adulation of Mobutu himself as part of the 

President’s “Authenticity” movement (see p8 of History and 

Myth). They spoke of Mobutu as a heaven-sent prophet or 

messiah, encouraging Congolese to replace their Christian 

crucifixes with pictures of Mobutu.

Catholic leaders denounced both Mobutu and his “Authenticity” 

movement. In a series of pastoral letters, they condemned the 

President’s human rights violations, prompting Mobutu to expel 

several Catholic bishops. During the same period, Protestant 

churches expanded their political clout by merging to form the 

Church of Christ in Zaire, which lobbied for democratic reform. 

Through these types of actions, Congolese religious institutions 

acted as the conscience of the nation during a very turbulent 

period (see p9 History and Myth).

Religion Today

Today religious institutions are a 

stabilizing presence in Congolese 

society, where religion remains an 

important part of life for a majority 

of Congolese. In a recent survey, 

82% of respondents reported that 

religion is very important in their 

lives, while 70% claimed regular

attendance at weekly religious 

services (Photo: A Baptist Church 

in the rural DRC).

Many Christian churches continue to offer educational services 

from pre-primary through post-secondary levels (see Learning 

and Knowledge). In addition, they finance a wide array of social 

support ventures, including medical clinics, housing projects, 

and agricultural development schemes. Religious leaders at all 

levels continue to protest the ongoing human rights violations 

that plague the DRC (see p7-8 Political and Social Relations). 

RELIGION & 

SPIRITUALITY
While the well-established Roman Catholic Church and 

mainstream Protestant churches dominate the DRC’s religious 

landscape, other types of Christian churches have emerged in 

recent decades. Music, dance, and other traditional African 

elements often infuse all types of Christian worship services 

(Photo: Congolese civilians and 

soldiers await the arrival of a 

chaplain from the US military). 

Roman Catholicism

Encompassing about half the 

population, Catholics inhabit all 

parts of the DRC. Since 

independence, a number of sects 

have tried to combine Catholic 

teachings with indigenous traditions 

and beliefs. For example, the 

Jamaa movement focused on 

fertility and the sacredness of life with the goal of forming an 

emotional connection with God. Although the Vatican initially 

resisted the movement, today it recognizes Jamaa followers as 

members of the Roman Catholic Church. 

Protestantism

Most of the DRC’s Protestant denominations work together as 

the Church of Christ in Congo (Église du Christ au Congo or 

ECC), an organization that traces its history to the early 1900s. 

At that time, Protestant missionaries from Britain, Sweden, and 

the US wanted to avoid competition between their respective 

denominations, so they banded together and formed a single 

organization. Today, many Congolese Protestants do not 

identify with particular denominations, instead referring to 

themselves as members of the ECC or “The Protestant 

Church.” As in many African countries, Evangelical Protestant 

churches have grown rapidly in the DRC in recent years.

Independent African Churches

Although Independent African churches take several different 

forms, most of them trace their founding to charismatic leaders 

who opposed colonial administrators and broke away from 

mainstream Protestant mission churches. In the DRC, the most 

popular such leader was Simon Kimbangu.

RELIGION & 

SPIRITUALITY
Kimbanguism: In response to visions telling him to become a 

healer and apostle, Baptist Church member Simon Kimbangu 

began his ministry in 1921. After leading a protest against the 

Belgians, Kimbangu was caught and imprisoned. He continued 

his ministry from prison, proclaiming that Jesus Christ had sent 

him to start a new church based on Christianity and traditional 

beliefs. Although Kimbangu died in prison in 1951 and the 

Belgians banned his movement, he became a martyr for many 

people and a symbol of Congolese 

nationalism. Even Mobutu held the 

Kimbanguist Church in high regard 

due to its synthesis of Africanization 

and Christianity.

Recognized in 1959 as an official 

religious group, the Kimbanguist 

Church was later admitted to the 

World Council of Churches as its

first Independent African church. 

Also called the Church of Christ on Earth by the Prophet Simon 

Kimbangu, the church today has 5-7 million Congolese 

members, primarily among the Kongo who live in Kinshasa and 

Bas-Congo Province (Photo: An outdoor religious service in 

Kinshasa).

Islam

Estimates of the DRC’s Muslim population range from 750,000 

to 7 million. Most Muslims live in Kinshasa or in the eastern 

provinces of Maniema and Orientale. Like 85% of the world’s 

Muslims, about 50% of Congolese Muslims identify with the 

Sunni sect. Another 10% identify with the Shi’a sect, while 35% 

claim no sectarian affiliation.

Traditional Beliefs

A traditional worldview continues to infuse daily life for many 

Congolese, even those who identify as Christian or Muslim. 

While only a few take part in traditional ceremonies honoring 

ancestors, many Congolese still believe that spirits or magical 

powers reside in various objects and influence daily life. For 

example, a student might carry an amulet or talisman for luck 

when taking an examination, while a politician might accuse an 

opponent of appealing to evil spirits in a bid to gain votes.

RELIGION & 

SPIRITUALITY
Many Congolese blame death, sickness, accidents, or bad luck 

on the purposeful and malevolent work of witches or sorcerers. 

In a recent survey, approximately 60% of Congolese reported 

believing that certain people can cast spells and curses.

If they feel that witchcraft, sorcery, or other supernatural forces 

are being used against them, Congolese may take measures to 

protect themselves. Alternatively, they may consult an nganga

(diviner) to identify the source of the malevolent force and then 

perform an exorcism. Since Congolese believe that children 

have especially close ties to the spirit world, they sometimes 

accuse children of communicating with evil spirits when bad 

luck befalls their families.

Sorcery and Witchcraft Accusations

Both the United Nations (UN) and non-governmental 

organizations (NGOs) report that both adults and 

children are occasionally accused of performing 

sorcery or witchcraft. As a consequently, they are

beaten, burned, tortured, driven from their homes, or 

even killed. Many of those labeled “witches” are in 

fact suffering from disabilities, speech impediments, 

or psychological problems or developmental delays. 

NGOs estimate that about 70% of Kinshasa’s 

70,000 street children (see p2 of Family and 

Kinship) are accused witches abandoned by their 

parents. While witchcraft accusation and child 

abandonment are both illegal, Congolese authorities 

do not typically prosecute such cases.

Sorcery and witchcraft accusations typically cause 

general fear and unrest within communities. Some 

non-denominational churches charge excessive fees 

to conduct exorcisms on accused witches, including 

children. These exorcisms typically involve beating, 

starvation, and forced ingestion of purgatives. 

RELIGION & 

SPIRITUALITY
Overview

The family is the basic unit in DRC society. Congolese are loyal 

to their families and will not hesitate to provide for its members 

in need of food, lodging, or financial support. Due to years of 

conflict (see p7-10 of History and Myth), however, family ties 

for some Congolese have weakened or disintegrated. 

Family Structure

For most Congolese, family refers not just 

to the nuclear family, which includes two

parents and their children, but also the

extended family, comprised of several 

generations of aunts, uncles, cousins, and 

grandparents. In many cases, members of 

the same extended family coexist and 

share responsibilities such as farming, 

child-rearing, and other tasks. 

DRC is mostly a patriarchal and patrilineal 

society where men have most decisionmaking authority and lineage is traced through male ancestors. 

Ethnic groups in the western DRC tend to be matrilineal, 

whereby lineage is traced through female descent. Since the

Kongo ethnic group (see p10 of Political and Social Relations), 

for example, is matrilineal, their children often are influenced 

more by their maternal uncles than by their paternal relatives.

Polygyny: This term refers to the practice of a man having 

multiple wives simultaneously. While polygyny is common in 

rural parts of the DRC, polygynous marriages are illegal and 

not recognized by the government. Instead, polygynous 

relationships typically occur in the context of deuxieme bureau

(“second office” in French), a practice whereby married men 

keep mistresses on either a short- or long-term basis and 

sometimes treat them as wives. Although polygyny traditionally 

was popular because it signified affluence and high social 

status, the practice has declined due to the influence of 

Christianity (see p2 of Religion and Spirituality) and Western 

media.

4. FAMILY AND KINSHIP

KINSHIP

FAMILY &
Children: Children signify wealth in the DRC and are 

considered a blessing from God. Consequently, Congolese 

women bear large numbers of children—an average of 10 in 

rural areas and about half that number in the country as a 

whole. Children are expected to behave respectfully toward all 

adults, especially elders (see p11 of Political and Social 

Relations,) and are taught to start performing chores—such as 

tending to animals and crops, pulling weeds, and hanging 

laundry to dry—as soon as they can walk.

Although parents are primarily responsible for raising their own 

children, it is the duty of every village resident to discipline and 

look after children in the community. Nevertheless, child abuse 

and neglect are major issues in the DRC. Many children have 

been orphaned due to warfare or abandoned due to economic 

hardship, suspicion of witchcraft (see p7 of Religion and 

Spirituality), or mental and physical disabilities—these cases of 

child neglect have been condemned in and outside the DRC. 

Moreover, combatants of many different affiliations have lured 

or coerced children into serving as soldiers in all of the DRC’s 

conflicts since the 1960s (see p7-10 of History and Myth).

Residence

Although the DRC is 

urbanizing rapidly, most 

Congolese still live in villages. 

Housing structures in both 

villages and cities vary by 

ethnic group, region, and 

economic status. 

Rural: Most homes in the DRC’s savannas are one-room, 

mud-brick huts with frames built from sticks, vines, and palm 

fronds. This type of home typically has a thatched grass roof 

and is either round or rectangular (pictured). Rainforest homes 

are similar to those found in grasslands but usually have wood 

frames. Huts often are grouped into compounds in which each 

hut has a specific use, such as cooking or sleeping. Some 

compounds also feature small gardens consisting of

subsistence crops for family consumption. Although large 

villages sometimes occupy as many as 200 huts, even the 

largest villages typically lack electricity and running water.

KINSHIP

FAMILY &
Urban: Most of the DRC’s urban 

poor live in shantytowns, where 

homes typically are crafted from

corrugated iron and other readily 

available materials. Factory and 

office workers, who typically are 

more affluent than inhabitants of 

shantytowns, usually live in tall, 

cinder-block apartment buildings. In 

both types of home, electricity and

water tend to be unreliable if available at all. Wealthy urban 

dwellers often live in large dwellings with modern amenities in 

neighborhoods that formerly housed Europeans during the 

colonial era (see p4 of History and Myth). 

Rites of Passage 

Rites of passage are ceremonies recognizing life’s transitions 

and typically differ by ethic group. 

Birth

Congolese still observe some of the traditional practices that 

have historically been associated with pregnancy and birth. For 

example, pregnant women typically do not leave their homes in 

order to avoid being cursed (see p1-2 & 6-7 of Religion and 

Spirituality). In addition, Congolese continue to celebrate a new 

birth in the parents’ home.

Initiation Rituals

Congolese traditionally used initiation rituals to mark children’s 

entrance into adulthood and prepare them for new social roles. 

At puberty, young Congolese traditionally left their homes for 

days or months in order to attend gender-specific “bush 

schools.” Boys were circumcised and learned how to hunt, 

make masks, and dance, while girls learned domestic skills 

such as cooking and cleaning. Both genders received 

instruction about sexual relations and were celebrated as 

adults upon returning to their villages. Today, young Congolese 

often learn about sex from an aunt or uncle. 

Marriage

Congolese traditionally have regarded marriage not only as the 

joining of two individuals but also as a union of two families and 

the continuation of a community.

KINSHIP

FAMILY &
Spouse Selection: Although extended family members once 

arranged most marriages for their children, today, this practice

is less common in villages all but nonexistent in cities. Instead, 

young Congolese increasingly find spouses through dating and 

social settings such as school, church, dances, parties, and 

concerts. 

Bridewealth: Bridewealth is a pre-marital payment that the 

groom’s family gives to the bride’s as compensation for the loss 

of the bride’s presence and the value of her labor. Although 

bridewealth sometimes is paid in cash, it can also be disbursed

in cattle, goats, tools, or other assets.

Weddings: A typical Congolese wedding may include up to 3 

different ceremonies that follow the negotiation and exchange 

of bridewealth. First, a couple usually obtains a civil marriage 

certificate and then holds a small celebration with friends and 

relatives at one of their families’ homes. Next, a couple typically 

has a traditional marriage ceremony. Although grooms dress in 

Western clothing for this ceremony, brides wear the traditional 

liputa (long dress or skirt, see Aesthetics and Recreation, p1). 

Finally, couples raised in Christian households (see Religion 

and Spirituality) may hold a third 

ceremony in a Christian church, 

followed by another celebration. 

Death

Most Congolese believe that the 

souls of deceased endure as 

ancestral spirits who routinely 

intervene in the affairs of living 

relatives (see p1 of Religion and 

Spirituality). Consequently, Congolese of most faiths consider it 

essential to please the deceased by performing various burial 

rituals. The deceased is first washed, groomed, and covered in 

a shroud and then displayed for friends and relatives to view. 

At the burial site, family members may place gifts in the grave 

or offer a few remarks. After the burial rituals are complete, the 

family of the deceased may stay together for a week or longer 

(Photo: A Belgian nurse visits the graves of those who died 

during an outbreak of the Ebola virus in 1976—see p4 of 

Sustenance and Health).

KINSHIP

FAMILY &
Overview

Congolese typically consider sexual relations a private matter 

closed to public discussion even though Congolese women 

remain victims of ruthless sexual violence from armed groups

(see p7-8 of Political and Social Relations). They also face 

widespread and socially accepted discrimination and domestic 

violence. While some discriminatory policies and attitudes are

traditional, others are linked directly to the violence and disorder 

that has become commonplace in eastern DRC. 

Gender Roles and Work

Men and women traditionally have assumed

distinctive roles and responsibilities, each

regarded with equal esteem until the colonial 

era. In rural areas, men historically traded and 

hunted, while women gathered firewood, 

collected water, cultivated crops, cooked, 

tended to the household, and cared for 

children. Today, women in both urban and 

rural areas still care for children and kin and 

perform most domestic chores, while women 

in rural areas may also cultivate crops. Many 

Congolese women also earn money outside the home, selling 

goods at market or running service businesses such as hair 

salons. Since women must have spousal consent to obtain

business permits, many work in the unregulated informal 

economy. Women who perform wage labor typically earn less 

than male counterparts.

Gender and the Law

Although the DRC’s constitution grants equal rights to men and 

women, those rights are not protected equally and often

undermined by tradition or discriminatory laws introduced during 

the colonial era. For example, the DRC’s Family Code 

designates men as heads of household whom wives are

required to obey. Moreover, women must have their husbands’ 

permission before signing any legal document. Consequently, 

men can easily prevent their wives from obtaining a passport, 

opening a bank account, or acquiring property.

5. SEX AND GENDER

SEX &

GENDER
Discriminatory attitudes often prevail even in situations in which 

both the constitution and specific laws support gender equality. 

For example, while women legally may own and inherit land, 

widows are commonly forced to surrender their inheritance to a 

male relative due to the continuing influence of customary law 

(see p4 of Political and Social Relations).

Gender and Politics

While Congolese political parties are required by law to include 

women as candidates for political office, there is no mechanism 

for enforcing this requirement, resulting in low female political 

participation. As of 2012, women held just 10% of the seats in 

the National Assembly and only 6% of posts across the DRC’s 

provincial assemblies. This low participations stems from a 

number of factors including limited formal education for women, 

fear of retaliation from discriminatory men, and a Family Code 

interpretation that women must have spousal permission to 

participate in politics. 

Gender Based Violence (GBV)

Rebel, government, and militia troops alike routinely use GBV, 

particularly rape, as a weapon of war against inhabitants of the 

eastern DRC (see p7-8 of Political and Social Relations). GBV 

is also widespread beyond the DRC’s 

conflict zones. 

Perpetrators rarely face legal 

consequences for GBV, while most 

victims do not have access to medical 

treatment (see p3 of Sustenance and 

Health) (Photo: GBV victims in South 

Kivu Province). In 2006 the Congolese 

government revised the penal code in 

order to increase prosecution rates and 

provide more support to rape victims. 

Nevertheless, the situation remains 

about the same, especially since many

victims do not report rape in order to avoid the social stigma 

associated with being a victim of sexual violence.

In addition to rape, domestic violence is common in the DRC. In 

a recent survey, about 2/3 of Congolese women reported having 

experienced physical or sexual violence on the part of a partner 

SEX &

GENDER
or spouse. Abused women have limited legal recourse, as the 

DRC’s laws recognize neither domestic abuse nor spousal rape 

as offenses. In addition, a number of Congolese—including 76% 

of women—indicated in a recent poll that men are usually 

justified in hitting their wives. With few alternatives, most women 

reconcile with abusive spouses.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

FGM refers to the practice of modifying the female sex organ in 

order to reduce sexual pleasure and encourage virginity.

Common in many parts of Africa but relatively rare in the DRC, 

FGM occurs among a few groups in the DRC’s North.

Sex and Procreation

Congolese women typically bear many 

children (see p2 of Family and Kinship), and 

while most of them are familiar with 

contraceptives, only about 17.7% of women 

use or have access to them. With rape 

widespread and healthcare limited, for many 

Congolese women, birth control is not a 

matter of choice. Abortion is legal in the 

DRC only in cases where the pregnancy 

compromises the mother’s mental or 

physical health.

Since virginity and fidelity are considered more applicable to

women than men, the DRC has laws designed to discourage 

women from having extramarital sex. For example, women who 

commit adultery face criminal penalties regardless of the 

circumstance, while men face punishment only for committing 

adultery of “injurious quality.” 

Homosexuality

Homosexuality is legal but socially unacceptable in the DRC. 

While there have been no reports of systematic discrimination 

against homosexuals, they often face abuse or discrimination 

from their families or communities. Consequently, Congolese 

homosexuals typically hide their sexual orientation. In 2010 the 

National Assembly debated a bill that would have criminalized 

homosexual acts and banned media representations promoting 

homosexuality. Despite popular support, the bill did not pass.

SEX &

GENDER
Language Overview

More than 200 languages and 

dialects are spoken in the DRC, 

none of which is the first language 

for a majority of the population. 

While French is the official 

language, there are 4 indigenous 

“national” languages used for

primary education (see p4 of 

Learning and Knowledge) and to promote cultural identity. 

Many Congolese are multilingual, speaking French at work and

school, 1 of the 4 national languages in the marketplace, and a 

local language at home (Photo: A multilingual sign warning

passers-by of land mines).

French

Belgian colonists introduced French to the Congo region in the 

19th century, where today it remains the primary language of 

government, business, and secondary/tertiary education (see 

p4 of Learning and Knowledge). Only about 1/3 of Congolese 

speak French, mainly the educated and wealthy urbandwellers. For some Congolese, speaking French often

connotes formality and sophistication, while for others, French 

is still regarded as the language of the colonial oppressor.

National Languages

The DRC’s 4 national languages—Lingala, Tshiluba, Kikongo, 

and Kiswahili—belong to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo 

language family. Each language is associated with a particular 

region where it serves as the dominant language of everyday 

communication, business, trade, primary education, and TV 

and radio broadcasting (see p3 of Technology and Material).

Lingala: It is the predominant language in Kinshasa (the 

capital of the DRC), Equateur Province, and northern 

Bandundu and Orientale provinces and the DRC’s most widely 

spoken national language. More than 2 million Congolese 

speak Lingala as a first language and another 7 million as a 

second language. 

6. LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

COMMUNICATION

LANGUAGE &
Although its exact origins are unclear, Lingala probably evolved

as a pidgin language along the banks of the southern Congo 

River in the 1700s. Missionaries and colonial authorities used 

Lingala to communicate with locals in the Congo Free State, 

where it later became the language of the Force Publique, a 

colonial police force (see p5 of History and Myth). After 

independence Lingala became the language of the Congolese 

military and a favorite of Patrice Lumumba and Mobutu Sese 

Seko (see p7-8 of History and Myth). Today Lingala’s rich and 

diverse history is evident in the phrases it borrows from French, 

Portuguese, and other indigenous languages.

Tshiluba: Also known as the Luba-Kasai language, Tshiluba is 

spoken by about 6 million Congolese, primarily members of the 

Luba ethnic group in the Kasai-Occidental and Kasai-Orientale 

provinces. Tshiluba is related to the language that was spoken 

in the DRC’s pre-colonial Luba Kingdom (see p2 of History and 

Myth) and was one of the first languages translated and 

transcribed by Christian missionaries.

Kikongo: As the first language of about 3 million people in 

Bas-Congo Province and southern Bandundu Province, 

another 5 million Congolese speak Kikongo as a second 

language. It traces its roots to the Kongo Kingdom, whose 

inhabitants became some of the first in 

sub-Saharan Africa to make contact 

with Europeans in the 15th century 

(see p2 of History and Myth). Due to 

this early contact, Kikongo was the 

first Bantu language to be written 

(Pictured: The Hail Mary prayer written 

in Kikongo).

Kiswahili: Although Kiswahili (also 

called “Swahili”) is spoken as a first 

language by only about 1,000 

Congolese, it is used commonly as a second language in the 

eastern and southern DRC. Brought to the region from Africa’s 

Indian Ocean coast by Arab traders in the late 1800s, Kiswahili 

borrows elements of Arabic, French, and various Bantu 

languages. Members of several Congolese ethnic groups 

speak Kiswahili or one of its 15 dialects as a second language.

COMMUNICATION

LANGUAGE &
Other Indigenous Language

Some Congolese who live near the Rwandan border in the 

eastern DRC’s Kivu provinces speak Kinyarwanda, a Bantu 

language that is the national language of Rwanda. Although 

most languages spoken in the DRC are Bantu languages, 

several other language families are represented. For example, 

some inhabitants of Orientale Province speak Nilo-Saharan 

languages, while others from the western DRC speak Kituba, a 

creole language based on Kikongo. 

English

English is a compulsory subject at the secondary and tertiary 

levels (see p4 of Learning and Knowledge), although not 

spoken widely. Nevertheless, the presence of MONUSCO, a 

United Nations peacekeeping mission, has promoted the use of 

English indirectly (see p5 of Political and Social Relations).

Communication Overview

Communicating competently in the DRC requires not just the 

ability to speak French, Kikongo, Lingala, Swahili, or Tshiluba, 

but also the ability to interact effectively using those languages. 

This broader notion of competence includes paralanguage 

(volume, rate of speech, intonation), nonverbal communication 

(personal space, touch, gestures), and interaction management 

(conversation initiation, turntaking, termination). When used 

properly, these forms of 

communication ensure that 

statements are interpreted as the 

speaker intends.

Communication Style

Congolese tend to be passionate 

and animated speakers, 

sometimes using exaggerated 

body language. In most cases, 

they are courteous, friendly, and respectful to both peers and 

superiors alike. Although Congolese are naturally frank and 

open, their country’s history of conflict and political instability 

(see p7-10 of History and Myth & p7-8 of Political and Social 

Relations) influences their willingness to trust anyone beyond 

their own networks of friends and relatives.

COMMUNICATION

LANGUAGE &
Congolese sometimes make requests or accept help without 

saying “please” or “thank you.” Although this behavior may 

seem rude, it is actually a simple consequence of the fact that 

many Congolese languages do not have equivalent 

expressions. For speakers of those 

languages, the social norm is to show 

thanks through actions rather than 

words, and many Congolese still 

follow those norms even when 

speaking English or French.

Greetings

Exchanging proper greetings is an 

important part of Congolese culture, 

which involves inquiring about the well-being of family and 

friends. Consequently, foreign nationals are advised not to rush 

through greetings, but rather, take time to get acquainted.

In cities men and women typically greet each other by shaking 

hands, sometimes while grasping each other’s right upper 

arms. They also exchange verbal pleasantries. Close friends 

may shake hands and then hug or even exchange 3 cheek 

kisses. In rural areas women may avoid shaking hands with 

men, instead clapping their hands softly or offer a slight bow. 

When meeting a group, a Congolese typically shakes hands 

with every person.

Verbal greetings vary 

depending on the 

language or situation. 

The French “Bonjour” 

and the Lingala 

“Mbote” are common 

greetings in formal 

and urban contexts. 

Due to the DRC’s 

linguistic diversity, it is not always entirely clear which language 

Congolese will use to communicate. When meeting a person 

for the first time, educated Congolese tend to begin 

conversations in French, transitioning to a shared language if 

one exits (Photo: US Secretary of State John Kerry greets 

election activists in Kinshasa).

COMMUNICATION

LANGUAGE &
Forms of Address

When addressing people in formal contexts, Congolese usually 

use a title such as Mr. or Dr. along with a surname. When they 

do not know the appropriate surname, Congolese sometimes 

address others using a combination of a title and occupation. 

For example, a Congolese might address someone as “Mr. 

Teacher” or “Mrs. Engineer.”

Nicknames are common among Congolese but should only be 

used with permission. Children tend to refer to elders as “aunt” 

or “uncle” regardless of the actual relationship. In business 

contexts, Congolese prefer the formal French “you” (vous) to 

the informal “you” (tu), although 

colleagues and peers may 

address each other by first 

names.

Conversation Topics

Congolese view ethnicity, 

politics, war, and poverty as 

sensitive subjects. Consequently, foreign nationals are advised 

to avoid these topics. If a Congolese introduces a sensitive 

topic, foreign nationals should not become involved in a debate 

of disagreement. When a Congolese is uncomfortable with a 

specific question, he may remain silent or offer vague 

responses, such as “I wait patiently” or “I have not been 

blessed yet.” Similarly, it is appropriate for a foreign national to 

express sympathy when discussing conflict or war (Photo: 

USAF officer converses with DRC and Rwandan counterparts). 

Gestures

Congolese often use gestures to emphasize or substitute for 

speech. For example, gently hitting a closed fist on an open 

palm several times indicates that a place, such as a restaurant 

or bus, is full. Pointing with the index finger is considered rude, 

although motioning with the entire hand or head (nose or chin

first) is an acceptable alternative. Both the “thumbs-up” sign 

and an extended middle finger are considered vulgar.

Language Training Resources

Please view the Air Force Culture and Language Center 

website at http://culture.af.mil/resources/index.aspx for 

language training resources.

COMMUNICATION

LANGUAGE &
Useful Translations

English French Lingala

Hello Bonjour Mbote

How are you? Comment allezvous? Sango nini?

I am fine, thanks, 

and you?

Bien, merci, et 

vous?

Nazali malamu, 

melesi, na yo?

I understand Je comprend Nazali koyoka

Do you speak 

English?

Parlez-vous 

anglais? Olobaka ngelesa?

I do not speak ___ Je ne parle pas ___ Nalobaka ___ te

Yes Oui Ee

No Non Te

OK Bien Nandimi

What is your name? Comment vous 

appelez vous?

Nkombo na yo 

nani?

My name is ___ Je m’appelle ___ Nkombo na ngali 

ezali ___

Good day (AM) Bonjour Mbote

Good day (PM) Bonsoir Butu elamu

Goodbye (AM) Au revoir Kende malamu

Goodbye (PM) Au revoir Butu elamu

Please S’il vous plaît Palado

Thank you Merci Melesi

You are welcome De rien Likambo te

Excuse me / I'm 

sorry

Excusez-moi / Je 

suis desole

Limbisa ngai /

Nazali na mawa

Today Aujourd’hui Lilo

Tomorrow Demain Lobi

I am pleased to 

meet you Enchanté Nasepeli na kokutana na yo.

Who? Qui? Nani?

What? Quoi? Nini?

When? Quand? Ntango nini?

Where? Où? Wapi?

Why? Pourquoi? Mpo na nini?

How? Comment? Boni?

What is the cost? Quel est le prix? Ntalo boni?

Repeat please Repetez-vous, s’il 

vous plaît Lobo liusu palado

Stop! Arretez! Telema!

Go! Allez! Bokende!

COMMUNICATION

LANGUAGE &
Literacy

• Total population over age 15 who can read and write: 68.3% 

• Male: 78.1% 

• Female: 50% (2015 estimate) 

Traditional Education

Since traditional educational methods 

were never uniform across the DRC, 

most children historically learned the

fundamental values, morals, skills, 

and knowledge of their respective 

ethnic groups through an informal, 

experiential process. In this traditional model, education 

incorporated Congolese folklore in the form of stories, proverbs, 

and poems to reinforce ethnic social values and promote a 

sense of community. Other activities, such as word games and 

counting, helped children learn articulation and pronunciation 

through rapid repetition. Certain ceremonies, such as initiation 

rites, also played an important role in imparting knowledge and 

passing on morals and values (see p3 of Family and Kinship).

History of Formal Education

Portuguese explorers and Catholic missionaries brought new 

models of education to the mouth of the Congo River in the late 

15th century (see p2-3 of History and Myth and p2 of Religion 

and Spirituality). Missionaries traveled throughout the Kongo 

Kingdom, founding formal, Western-style schools and creating 

written forms of native languages (see p1-3 Language and 

Communication). When the Portuguese departed the area in 

1615, they abandoned these mission schools.

Formal education did not return to the area until more than 250

years later, when Protestant and Catholic missionaries arrived 

from Europe and the US in the late 19th century. Later, during 

the Belgian Congo period (see p5-6 of History and Myth), the 

colonial government gave the Catholic Church full responsibility 

for the colony’s education system. The Belgians provided funds 

for the system yet little oversight or direction.

7. LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE

KNOWLEDGE

LEARNING &
Both missionaries and colonial administrators alike considered

Congolese to be childlike, uncivilized, and incapable of 

substantive work. Consequently, missionary schools imparted 

only basic literacy and numeracy to Congolese students, which 

qualified them for little more than menial jobs or, at best, lowlevel work as clerks or assistants. Only a few Congolese who 

were studying to become priests received instruction beyond 

primary school. It was not until 

the late 1950s, on the eve of the 

DRC’s independence, that 

colonial administrators finally 

tried to extend secondary and 

higher education to regular 

Congolese.

Education after Independence

Although the government of the 

newly independent Republic of 

the Congo (the DRC’s name until 1971) prioritized 

improvements to the education system, protracted political 

turmoil stymied progress. Throughout the 1960s and into the 

1970s, religious organizations ran most of the country’s primary 

schools and half of its secondary schools. Educational quality 

was low and fees were high at all levels, leading to university 

student protests and violent government responses.

In the early 1970s President Mobutu began nationalizing the 

country’s schools, removing religious groups and other private 

organizations from the education system completely. A decade

later, after educational quality had failed to improve, churches 

and private organizations were allowed again to manage and 

staff schools. 

Educational development continued to lag in the 1990s as the 

government focused on containing the violence and unrest that 

had spilled over its eastern borders from Rwanda (see p9 of 

History and Myth). During this period, the government spent 

more than twice as much on the military as it did on education. 

Although education’s share of the national budget has grown in 

recent years, it remains low: in 2010 the DRC spent the 

equivalent of 2.5% of GDP on education, well below subSaharan Africa’s average of 4.3%.

KNOWLEDGE

LEARNING &
Modern Education System

While Congolese generally consider 

education valuable to their quality of 

life, various challenges tend to impede 

achieving their educational goals. A 

foremost concern is lack of resources. 

Schools throughout the DRC do not 

have enough personnel, supplies, or 

facilities. Moreover, teachers are paid 

poorly and some demand bribes from 

students in exchange for grades.

Barriers to enrollment present another challenge. According to a 

2013 report, 25% of eligible schoolchildren age 5-17 were not 

enrolled in school. A disproportionate number of those children 

were female. Some children do not attend school because they 

must work to help provide for their families, while others come 

from large families that cannot afford school fees for all of their 

children. Abandoned, orphaned, or internally displaced children

often lack access to schooling, while dropout rates among the 

few who do attend school are high. Finally, basic security 

concerns abound, especially in the eastern DRC where many 

parents refuse to send their children to school for fear of rebel 

abductions (see p7-8 of Political and Social Relations). 

Despite these challenges, enrollments are growing in the DRC. 

In addition, more church-affiliated private schools are opening, 

although they usually serve only well-off families that can afford 

their high fees. Without adequate and reliable funding from the 

government, many public schools rely entirely on local financial 

support from families, businesses, parent-teacher associations, 

and various civic groups.

Primary: Although primary education is free and compulsory for 

children age 6-12, many underfunded schools charge fees and 

do not enforce attendance. At 96% the primary school 

enrollment rate is high, although the completion rate is only 59%. 

There are several reasons for this low completion rate. Some 

students are forced to drop out of school because their families 

need them to earn money or perform domestic tasks (see p2 of

Family and Kinship). Others live in areas so remote that regular 

school attendance is impossible.

KNOWLEDGE

LEARNING &
Although all Congolese primary schools provide instruction in 

the dominant national language of the region (see p1 of

Language and Communication), many children arrive at school 

speaking only a local language. Consequently, those children 

typically struggle to keep up with course material while learning 

a new language. After 6 years of primary school, students must 

pass a national examination to 

proceed with secondary study 

(Photo: Classrooms at Lusakela 

Agricultural Station).

Secondary: Taught in French, 

secondary education is neither 

compulsory nor free. Students 

choose between 2 “cycles” of 

study which includes some 

English language instruction. 

The cycle longue (long cycle) 

includes 2 years of tronc commun (general education) and then 

4 years of general, technical, or pedagogical training. The cycle 

court (short cycle) comprises 4 years of vocational training. 

Upon completing one of these cycles, students must pass the 

examen d’état (state exam) to receive a diploma and qualify for 

higher education. Individual universities rarely have separate 

entrance exams.

Tertiary: As of 2013, the DRC had 4 public universities, 227 

private universities or colleges, 147 polytechnic or specialized 

colleges, and 2 teacher-training institutions. While enrollment in 

post-secondary institutions is high in the DRC compared to other 

countries in sub-Saharan Africa, about half of students drop out 

after their second year.

Since state support is limited, universities receive most of their 

funding from private sources. Since these funds are far from 

adequate, educational quality has diminished in recent years 

even beyond its previously low standards. Even private 

institutions struggle to find staff. They hire part-time instructors 

because they cannot find or afford to hire full-time professors. 

This problem is aggravated by the DRC’s acute struggle with 

“brain drain,” a social phenomenon whereby a society’s skilled 

and educated workers immigrate to other countries.

KNOWLEDGE

LEARNING &
Concept of Time

Most Congolese have a relaxed view toward time and value 

relationships more than schedules. They typically prefer to take 

events as they come rather than obsessing about plans for the 

future. Due to these perspectives, Congolese are accustomed 

to “making do” with present circumstances and often view 

delays as opportunities to enjoy the moment rather than 

inconveniences. 

Time and Work

Congolese businesses typically are open 8:00am-3:00pm 

Monday through Friday and 7:30am until noon on Saturday. 

Some shops remain open as late as 6:00pm, while others may 

also keep longer hours but close for a 2-3 hour lunch break in 

the middle of the day. Most government offices operate 

between 8:00am-4:00pm (Photo: Women building energyefficient stoves for sale in local 

markets).

Time Zones: The DRC spans 

two time zones. The western 

1/3 of the country, which 

includes Kinshasa, observes 

West Africa Time (WAT), which 

is 1 hour ahead of Greenwich 

Mean Time (GMT) and 6 hours 

ahead of US Eastern Standard 

Time (EST). The eastern 2/3 of 

the country adheres to Central Africa Time (CAT), which runs 1 

hour ahead of WAT. Unlike the US, the DRC does not observe 

Daylight Savings Time. Since the DRC sits on the Equator, day 

and night are of roughly equal length throughout the year.

National Flag Ceremonies: All Congolese are required by law 

to acknowledge the raising and lowering of the Congolese flag 

at government facilities. These two ceremonies typically occur

around 7:30am and 6:00pm respectively, during which

Congolese pedestrians and motorists are required to stop all 

movement. Foreign nationals are advised to do the same.

8. TIME AND SPACE

SPACE

TIME &
Punctuality

While Congolese do not expect punctuality in social situations, 

they typically do expect it in business or educational contexts.

Accordingly, most Congolese adhere to deadlines where 

possible, although interruptions are common and tolerated. 

Moreover, Congolese understand that life is unpredictable and 

are willing to forego schedules if family obligations arise.

In some cases, Congolese keep other people—even those of 

high status—waiting while attending to situations of seemingly 

minor importance. Foreign nationals who encounter this type of 

situation are advised to be patient in keeping with this local 

tradition. To show irritation could be viewed as disrespectful.

Negotiations

Most Congolese prefer to develop personal relationships with 

their business partner as a means of establishing trust. They 

are agreeable to bargaining and negotiating, although they are 

unlikely to make a decision without detailed contextual 

information and ample time to deliberate. Contracts are difficult 

to enforce in the DRC unless they were made with a senior 

government official or a representative of another well-known 

institution. Foreign nationals are advised to have all plans of 

action and agreements in official writing.

Public Holidays

• January 1: New Year’s Day

• January 4: Martyrs’ Day

• January 16-17: Heroes’ Days

• March – April (variable): Easter

• May 1: Labor Day

• May 17: National Liberation Day

• June 30: Independence Day

• August 1: Parents’ Day

• October 14: Youth Day

• November 17: Armed Forces Day

• December 25: Christmas Day

SPACE

TIME &
Personal Space

When conversing with new acquaintances, Congolese typically 

maintain an arm’s length of distance. With family, friends, and 

others with whom they are familiar, Congolese typically stand 

much closer. They also tend to prefer close proximity in public 

spaces. For example, Congolese on an almost empty bus 

probably would sit close to each other.

Touch

While norms of social interaction vary 

across ethnic groups, Congolese use

some degree of casual touching when

conversing. Members of the same sex 

sometimes hold hands or link arms in 

public as a sign a friendship. Public 

displays of romantic affection traditionally 

have been uncommon, although some 

touching except for kissing is acceptable 

in urban areas. 

Eye Contact

Congolese consider constant eye contact intimidating or even 

disrespectful and therefore tend to alter their gaze when talking 

with others. When conversing with superiors, Congolese look 

down or away to indicate respect. In some cases, women and 

children also avert their gaze when speaking to men.

Left Hand Taboo 

As in many parts of Africa and Asia, Congolese typically use 

the left hand only for personal hygiene and consider it unclean. 

They typically use only the right hand when gesturing, shaking 

hands, or giving or receiving objects – foreign nationals are 

advised to do the same.

Photographs

Taking photopraphs in the DRC requires a permit, which is 

easily available in Kinshasa or provincial capital cities.

Nevertheless, even photographers with permits may attract 

suspicion from Congolese authorities, particularly when in 

proximity to the Congo River in Kinshasa, the Presidential 

Palace, government buildings, border checkpoints, military 

installations, or strategic infrastructure, all of which are offlimits. Violating these policies can lead to fines or arrest.

SPACE

TIME &
Overview

Congolese dress, recreation, music, and art are a dynamic mix 

of indigenous and foreign influences. Although stunted by 

conflict and political instability (see p7-8 of Political and Social 

Relations), many artistic trends that originated in the DRC have 

become popular across Africa and the world. 

Dress and Appearance

Most Congolese value a neat and tidy appearance. Even poor 

Congolese strive to keep themselves clean and well-groomed. 

Men typically keep their hair neat by wearing it short, while 

women tend to wear elaborate braids. 

Traditional: For daily wear, most Congolese historically wore 

skirts or aprons made from tree bark of raffia palm fibers, while 

chiefs wore aprons or capes made from animal skins. Body art 

and adornments, including scar designs, jewelry, and makeup, 

were an important part of a person’s appearance and indicated

wealth, social status, or ethnic 

affiliation. As some Congolese still 

do today, both men and women 

wore elaborate hairstyles, which 

often featured braids or were 

whitened with ash.

Modern: In rural areas, both male 

and female attire often combines 

traditional elements with Western 

styles (pictured). While men often wear pants or shorts, women 

tend to wear a liputa or pagne, a long dress or skirt made from 

colorfully patterned fabric. Sometimes they pair this garment 

with a matching blouse or headscarf. Women may also wrap 

an extra piece of fabric around their bodies for carrying children 

or goods.

In urban areas, many Congolese wear Western-style garments, 

such as t-shirts, trousers, skirts, and sandals. Some men wear 

a boubou or dashiki – colorful, loose-fitting shirt, over slacks. 

Many women wear a blouse over a liputa or skirt. Congolese 

consider jeans and shorts inappropriate in business settings.

9. AESTHETICS AND RECREATION

AESTHETICS &

RECREATION
Recreation

Congolese spend much of their free time socializing with family 

and friends at home or engaging in public activities such as 

dancing, conversing, playing games, and watching sports and 

movies. Churches are also an important social venue (see p4 

of Religion and Spirituality). In urban areas, young people often 

gather at nightclubs or ngandas (roadside food stands). Since 

many Congolese cannot afford to purchase toys, children often 

make their own from discarded materials. For example, a child 

might make a soccer ball with tightly wound plastic bags.

Sports and Games

Football: Football (soccer) is the DRC’s most popular sport. In 

addition to watching matches, Congolese of all ages regularly 

play football in both formal and informal settings. The national 

team, nicknamed “the Leopards,” won Africa’s Cup of Nations 

in 1968 and 1974 and became the first African team to qualify 

for the FIFA World Cup in 1974. While the Leopards won the 

inaugural African Championship of Nations in 2009, they lost at 

the group stage in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

Basketball: Basketball’s popularity has grown in the DRC as 

the national team has enjoyed success and Congolese players 

have excelled in foreign leagues. The best-known Congolese 

player, Dikembe Mutombo, was named Defensive Player of the 

Year 4 times in his 18-year National Basketball Association 

(NBA) career (1991-2009). Another Congolese, Mwadi Mabika, 

played for 11 years in the Women’s NBA. 

“Down with the Suit”

During his “Authenticity” movement (see p8 of History 

and Myth), President Mobutu banned some Western 

styles, including suits and ties. He promoted as an 

alternative the abacost (short for à bas le costume, 

French for “down with the suit”), a suit similar to those

worn by former Chinese leader Mao Zedong. Some 

Congolese continued to wear the abacost regularly 

until the Kabila government outlawed the garment in 

1997 due to its association with the old regime.

AESTHETICS &

RECREATION
Other Sports: Both volleyball and track and field have enjoyed 

increased popularity in the DRC in recent years. In addition, the 

DRC has been associated with boxing since 1974, when Zaire 

(former name for the DRC) hosted the legendary “Rumble in 

the Jungle” between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali.

Games: Congolese of all ages play a range of games, such as

chess, checkers, and card games. Also popular is mankala, a 

traditional game in which 2 players move seeds or pebbles 

across a board having 24 slots in an effort to capture each 

other’s game pieces. 

Music and Dance

Music and dance traditionally have

been a key component of rites of 

passage and various ethnic

ceremonies (see p3 of Family and 

Kinship). Instruments used to play 

traditional music include 

xylophones, drums, bells, and 

thumb pianos known as kalimbas 

or likembes, which are played by 

using the thumb to pluck metal 

strips. 

Modern Congolese music, which sometimes is still referred to 

as musique zaïroise, is popular not only across Africa but also 

in many parts of the world. The best-known form of Congolese 

dance music is soukous (Lingala for “shake”). Often referred 

to as the DRC’s national dance, soukous is heavily influenced 

by Cuban rumba and other Latin American dances. It combines 

the sounds of guitars, horns, and drums into an upbeat rhythm. 

A similar style is kwasa-kwasa, which has fast, hip-shaking 

rhythms and is often played at nightclubs. Ndombolo—a blend 

of rumba, funk, and soul—is also related to soukous. 

Several Congolese musicians have attracted large followings 

outside the DRC. Prominent examples include Antoine Wendo 

Kolosoy (referred to as Papa Wendo) and his Grand Zaïko 

Orchestra, Tabu Ley Rochereau, Koffi Olomidé, and Werrason 

of the Wenge Maison Mère band. Within the DRC, two of the 

more popular musicians are Innos’B, a pop idol, and Lexxus 

Legal, a rapper based in Kinshasa.

AESTHETICS &

RECREATION
Theater

While the specifics vary by ethnic group, the performing arts 

historically have permeated Congolese society as religious 

rituals, educational instruction, and entertainment. Since the 

20th century, Congolese artists have also embraced modern 

theater. Albert Mongito was a pioneer of Congolese theater 

who wrote a famous play honoring Henry Morton Stanley (see 

History and Myth, p4) in 1954. Today, much of the DRC’s 

theater covers political, economic, or social themes.

Literature

Prior to the advent of written literature in the DRC, inhabitants 

of the region transmitted history and traditions orally in the form 

of poems, proverbs, riddles, and stories (see p11 of History 

and Myth & p1 of Learning and Knowledge). In recent years, 

scholars have tried to collect and document some of this 

folklore in order to preserve the DRC’s literary heritage.

The DRC has produced relatively little written literature even 

though Kikongo (see p2 of Language and Communication) 

became the first Bantu language to be written more than 4 

centuries ago. Publishers in the DRC today produce around 

100 titles per year, most of which are written in French. 

Congolese authors typically write about social issues, ethnic 

relations, Congolese identity, and the legacy of European 

colonialism. Several Congolese authors have earned 

international acclaim for their work. The most notable examples 

are Timothée Malembe, Vumbi Yoka Mudimbe, Mbwil a Mpang 

Ngal, and Dieudonne Mutombo. The 

DRC also has produced notable 

literary critics, such as Buata Malela

(pictured).

The DRC has been the setting for

the works of many well-known 

foreign authors. The most famous 

example is Joseph Conrad’s Heart 

of Darkness (1899), which tells the 

story of a European trader. More recently, VS Naipaul’s A Bend 

in the River (1979), captures the saga of an Indian shopkeeper

in Kisangani, while Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible

(1998) chronicles an American missionary family in the DRC.

AESTHETICS &

RECREATION
Arts and Crafts

Congolese arts and crafts historically have served both 

practical and spiritual purposes. Many ethnic groups created 

wooden masks to be worn during important ceremonies and 

rituals, such as ancestor worship, initiations, 

and funerals (see p1-2 of Religion and 

Spirituality and p3-4 of Family and Kinship). In 

the 20th century these masks became wellknown worldwide and even inspired such 

world-famous artists as Pablo Picasso (Photo: 

19th-century wooden carving from the Kongo 

ethnic group).

Another art form traditionally common in the 

DRC are wooden sculptures carved into 

human or human-like shapes, often with 

exaggerated facial features or body parts. Although the designs 

of such sculptures varied by region and ethnic group, many 

groups believed these sculptures contained spiritual power. For 

example, members of the Kongo ethnic group believed that 

their elaborate nkisi nkondi statues had the power to absorb 

curses of evil spirits and thereby render those curses harmless. 

Other groups carved statues of great kings that were meant to 

embody the souls of those kings once they passed away. After 

Christianity arrived in the region (see p2 of Religion and 

Spirituality), copper and ivory crucifixes became common 

objects of art.

Today most of the DRC’s traditional arts and crafts are made 

specifically for tourists’ sales, although some art forms such as 

pottery, beaded jewelry, and baskets and mats woven from 

raffia palm fibers continue to serve practical purposes. 

Modern Art: Many contemporary artists in the DRC depict the 

history and struggles of the Congolese people in their works. 

Chéri Samba, the founder of the modern painting movement in 

the DRC, often uses bright colors to evoke societal themes. His 

famous painting “Little Kadogo,” for example, depicts a child 

soldier surrounded by tropical flowers. By contrast, Bodys Isek 

Kingelez, a sculptor, uses everyday objects like cardboard, tin 

foil, and bottle caps to create scenes such as “Ville Fantome” 

(Phantom City), a model of Kinshasa.

AESTHETICS &

RECREATION
Sustenance Overview

While traditional Congolese cuisine is flavorful and varied, many 

of the DRC’s inhabitants do not have access to nutritious foods 

on a daily basis. This insufficient diet leads to issues such as 

protein deficiency and the DRC’s generally poor health status. 

Dining Customs

Congolese typically eat two meals daily: a light breakfast in the 

morning and a heartier main meal in the late afternoon or early 

evening. In rural parts of the country, families typically dine while 

sitting on the floor and share a communal bowl. Each member 

takes food from the portion of the bowl directly in front of him. By 

contrast, many city dwellers prefer to eat sitting at a table and 

using utensils. Traditionally, men eat first, followed by women 

and children. When a host offers food to guests, they customarily 

accept by first showing reluctance as a sign of humility. 

Diet

Most Congolese obtain the bulk of their 

calories from starches, vegetables, and 

fruits, consuming only modest amounts of 

protein. The largest meal typically 

consists of a starch served with vegetable 

sauce, which only occasionally contains 

pieces of meat or fish. Breakfast usually 

consists of simple foods, such as tea and 

bread, or food left over from the previous 

day’s main meal. Popular snacks include 

fruit, honeycomb, and palm nuts (Photo: Women making 

cassava fufu). 

Starch: Congolese eat a variety of starches, including cassava

(also called manioc), corn, plantains (a type of banana), sweet 

potatoes, and yams. Although rice is also available in the DRC, 

only wealthy people can afford it. Congolese most commonly 

prepare starch by soaking, boiling, and then pounding it into a 

paste known as fufu. Then, while eating, they scoop fufu into a 

ball and dip it into an accompanying stew or sauce. Congolese 

also prepare cassava, the most popular starch, by grinding it into 

10. SUSTENANCE AND HEALTH

SUSTENANCE

& HEALTH
kwanga (flour) and then using the kwanga to make bread. 

Alternative preparations of other starches vary by region.

Fruits and Vegetables: Congolese enjoy a variety of fruits and 

vegetables. Popular fruits include bananas, mangoes, oranges, 

pawpaws (papayas), and plantains, while popular vegetables 

include eggplant, pumpkin, okra, onions, and wild mushrooms.

Protein: The popularity of different protein sources varies 

regionally in the DRC. For example, inhabitants of the Kasai 

region commonly eat insects, including ants, caterpillars, 

crickets, grasshoppers, and grubs. By contrast, the people of 

Equateur Province prefer bushmeat 

(a catch-all term used for many types 

of wild game, including antelope, 

monkey, porcupine, and snake). 

Congolese who live near rivers or the 

ocean get much of their protein from 

fish, especially perch and prawns, 

and often engage in small-scale fish 

farming. While meats like beef and 

pork are hard to find outside urban 

areas, many rural Congolese enjoy chicken and goat. Due to the 

high cost of meat, Congolese use it sparingly when cooking. 

Some Congolese eat meat only on special occasions.

Popular Dishes: Despite the scarcity of protein in the DRC, its 

“national dish” is a chicken-based stew. Known as moambé, it 

contains chicken, palm oil, peanuts, and tomatoes, and usually 

is served with fufu. Other popular dishes typically consist of 

vegetables and starches wrapped in leaves and then smoked or 

grilled.

Beverages

Popular non-alcoholic beverages include herbal tea, especially 

lemongrass tea, and soft drinks, such as Coca-Cola and Fanta. 

Since the DRC’s tap water is not safe to drink, bottled water is 

also popular and widely available. Congolese also consume a 

range of alcoholic beverages. In addition to traditional options 

like palm wine and traditionally brewed beer, local brands 

(Primus and Skol) offer German- and Belgian-style beer.

SUSTENANCE

& HEALTH
Health Overview

The Congolese face major health challenges. At just 56.93

years, their life expectancy is below the sub-Saharan African 

average of 59 years and far below the global average of 71

years. Similarly, the DRC’s maternal and infant mortality rates 

are among the world’s highest—approximately 7 in 10 newborns 

die before age 5. Although adequate medical care is available in 

Kinshasa and some other cities, rural areas face a severe 

shortage of supplies, medical personnel, and other resources. 

This problem is compounded by the DRC’s ongoing instability 

and violence (see p7-8 of Political and Social Relations).

Traditional Medicine

Traditional medicine comprises knowledge, skills, and practices 

that are used to pursue holistic health and are derived from the 

beliefs, theories, and experiences of indigenous populations. In 

the DRC, many people seek medical treatment from ngangas

(traditional healers) because they tend to be more convenient 

and less expensive than Western-style doctors. The Congolese 

government acknowledges that traditional remedies can be as 

effective as conventional remedies for certain conditions and 

supports their use in those cases. Although ngangas dispense 

herbal medicine, they also treat illness by communicating with 

ancestral spirits (see p1&6 of Religion and Spirituality). For 

example, ngangas sometimes perform rituals in which they utter 

certain phrases, sacrifice chickens, or 

consult nkisis (containers filled with ritual 

objects and medicines).

Modern Healthcare System

The DRC’s Ministry of Health oversees 

the country’s healthcare system, which in 

2012 comprised a total of 393 general 

hospitals and 8,266 lower-level health 

facilities. Nearly all of the DRC’s health 

facilities are located near urban areas. 

Since few Congolese have access to 

health insurance, most people pay out-ofpocket or depend upon free services run by non-governmental 

organizations (NGOs) or religious groups. Medicine is typically 

scarce and expensive, and patients often must supply their own 

bandages and surgical materials.

SUSTENANCE

& HEALTH
Infectious Diseases

Malaria: According to the DRC’s Ministry of Health, malaria is 

the country’s leading cause of death. Moreover, it accounts for 

about 40% of deaths among children under age 5. The disease 

is endemic to most of the DRC and is transmitted year-round.

Tuberculosis (TB): TB is also a leading cause of death in the 

DRC. In 2014 the country had 240,000 reported cases, which 

led to about 52,000 deaths. Moreover, in 2014 the DRC and only

4 other countries accounted for 1/3 of the world’s new TB cases. 

Preventing TB transmission is complicated because the 

bacterium that causes the disease spreads through the air and 

does not always cause obvious symptoms.

HIV/AIDS: Although the DRC’s HIV prevalence rate of 1.04% is 

lower than the sub-Saharan African average of 5%, the spread 

of the disease has increased due to internal displacement and 

ongoing sexual violence (see p2 Sex and Gender). Moreover, 

few HIV-positive pregnant women 

receive the treatment needed to prevent 

mother-to-child transmission. 

Other Diseases: Ebola virus disease 

(EVD), which humans most commonly 

contract by handling or eating meat 

infected with the Ebola virus, is a major 

concern in the DRC due to bushmeat’s 

continued popularity (see p2 above). 

EVD causes fever and hemorrhaging 

and is fatal in many cases. In the DRC’s 

most recent 2012 outbreak, 77 infections resulted in 36 deaths. 

Some diseases that have been eradicated in much of the 

world—including plague, polio, and whooping cough— remain a 

serious concern in the DRC.

Other Health Challenges

According to a 2014 report, 23.4% Congolese children are 

malnourished and suffer stunted development as a result. In 

addition, outbreaks of cholera and schistosomiasis (a disease 

caused by parasitic worms) remain common due to the DRC’s 

lack of adequate sanitation and drinking water. Onchocerciasis, 

also known as river blindness, is also a significant problem. 

SUSTENANCE

& HEALTH
Overview

Due to armed conflict, political instability, and a drop in foreign 

aid following the Cold War (see p9 of History and Myth), the 

DRC’s economy contracted sharply between 1989 and 2001. 

During that period, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) 

nearly halved, shrinking by an average rate of 5% per year.

Growth returned in 2002 with the accession of Joseph Kabila 

and a ceasefire in the Second Congo War (see p10 of History 

and Myth), although the economy still faces serious challenges.

The foremost concern is likely the DRC’s reliance upon minerals, 

which are a major source of income but cause problems in 

several ways. Mineral wealth tends to promote conflict by luring 

both state and non-state groups into pursuing a share of the 

profits. Moreover, mineral wealth encourages activities that 

harm the environment (see p3 of Political and Social Relations) 

and presents opportunities for corruption on the part of 

government officials. Finally, the Congolese government’s 

reliance on mineral income ties the 

national budget to volatile commodity 

prices, making it harder for the 

government to plan for the future and 

restrain the growth of already massive 

public debts (Photo: A street in 

Kinshasa).

Perhaps the most serious drawback 

associated with the DRC’s mineral 

wealth is the government’s reliance 

on it rather than tax revenue. Consequently, politicians have little

incentive to provide the Congolese population public services 

and a physical infrastructure since they were not taxed 

accordingly. This situation is especially problematic because the

DRC’s infrastructure is insufficient (see p1-2 Technology and 

Material), and its people are among the poorest in the world. The 

DRC has the world’s 2nd lowest GDP per person and ties for 

last in the United Nations’ (UN) Human Development Index 

(HDI), which ranks countries by their standard of living.

11. ECONOMICS AND RESOURCES

ECONOMICS & 

RESOURCES
Agriculture

Accounting for about 20.3% 

of total GDP, the DRC’s

agricultural sector consists 

mostly of subsistence 

farming and some cashcrop cultivation. Primary 

food crops include cassava 

(a fibrous root), plantains (a 

starchy type of banana), 

beans, corn, yams, 

peanuts, and rice (see p1-2 

of Sustenance and Health). 

Coffee, grown primarily in 

the North and East, is the leading cash crop followed by cotton

and cocoa. Since 77% of the DRC is woodland, the country also 

exports timber species such as ebony, eucalyptus, mahogany, 

and teak.

Livestock and Fishing: DRC’s animal husbandry has been 

victim to an often fatal infection transmitted by the tsetse fly. 

Nevertheless, 7% of the DRC is covered by pastureland, where 

farmers raise animals such as ducks, chickens, goats, and

cattle. The DRC also has substantial fish stocks, although the 

size of the industry is unknown because most fishing occurs on 

a small scale for private consumption (see p2 of Sustenance and 

Health). Common species include Nile perch (also known as 

capitaine), catfish, and eels.

Services

Although the services sector technically constitutes about 46.2% 

of the DRC’s GDP, it is difficult to measure because much of its

activity occurs in the vast, unregulated informal economy. For 

urban residents, in particular, small-scale service occupations in 

the informal economy—for example, minor retail trade—are the 

most common way to make a living.

Tourism: The DRC’s recent history of conflict has all but 

destroyed the country’s tourism industry, despite the fact that the 

DRC has several potential attractions. Most notably is its 

population of lowland gorillas, which live mostly in Kahuzi-Biéga

National Park in the eastern DRC.

ECONOMICS & 

RESOURCES
Industry

Although the industrial sector is 

the smallest at 33.5% of GDP, it 

accounts for the country’s primary

exports—diamonds, copper, and 

cobalt. In conjunction with foreign 

mining firms, a state-owned entity 

called Gécamines (a French 

abbreviation for “General Quarries 

and Mines”) mines most of the 

DRC’s copper and cobalt in 

Katanga Province in the South. By contrast, small-scale 

artisanal miners unearth most diamonds in the two Kasai 

provinces, which are located north of Katanga (Photo: Residue 

from a mine in Lubumbashi).

The Kivu provinces in the East also have substantial deposits of 

gold, tin, and coltan (an ore containing elements used in the 

manufacture of smartphones and other electronics). Although 

the DRC once derived a large share of its export earnings from 

these minerals, that share has declined due to illegal mining by 

Rwandan, Ugandan, and rebel combatants. In most cases, 

illegally mined minerals are smuggled into Rwanda or Uganda 

for re-export.

Oil: With about 180 million barrels of proven reserves, the DRC 

is Africa’s 16th largest crude oil producer. Although most of the 

DRC’s oil currently comes from Atlantic Ocean offshore wells, 

new reserves discovered in the East offer hope for future 

exploitation. The DRC has one oil refinery near Moanda on the 

Atlantic Coast. 

Other Minerals: The DRC also has large deposits of zinc, iron 

ore, silver, uranium, coal, manganese, and bauxite. Of note, 

Congolese uranium was used in Fat Man and Little Boy, the 

atomic bombs that the US detonated during World War II.

Manufacturing: Constituting only a small part of the Congolese 

economy, manufacturing output has declined significantly since 

independence. Located primarily in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi, 

Congolese manufacturers make processed foods, bottled 

beverages, cigarettes, clothing, shoes, building materials, tires, 

and paints primarily for the domestic market.

ECONOMICS & 

RESOURCES
Currency

The DRC’s official currency is the 

Congolese Franc (CF), consisting

of 100 centimes issued in 13 

banknotes ranging in value from CF 

0.01-CF 500. Since the DRC has 

difficulty controlling inflation, the 

value of the Congolese Franc 

varies widely. Since 2010, it has stabilized at an average rate of 

approximately CF 925 per US$1. Due to the Congolese Franc’s 

instability, the US dollar is used widely as an unofficial currency 

in the DRC. Merchants tend to prefer US dollars but often insist 

on high-denomination bills in mint condition.

Foreign Trade

The DRC’s exports totaled $12.4 billion in 2015, consisting

predominantly of minerals. The largest purchasers of Congolese 

goods were China (39%), Zambia (25%), Italy (9%), and 

Belgium (4%). The DRC’s imports totaled $12.34 billion in 2015 

and consisted mostly of food, fuel, and machinery. The DRC’s 

main suppliers were China (20%), South Africa (18%) Zambia 

(16%), Belgium (6%), and Zimbabwe (5%). 

China: China and the DRC have expanded trade ties in recent 

years. China is drawn to the DRC primarily because of its coltan

reserves, which are a potential source to sustain China’s 

electronics manufacturing industry. In return, China in 2008 

announced a $9 billion program in the DRC that is projected to 

produce 5,000 housing units, 177 health centers, 4,350 mi of 

roadways, 2,000 mi of railways, 2 dams, and 2 universities. 

Foreign Aid

With Joseph Kabila’s accession to power in 2001 (see History 

and Myth), foreign donors who had shunned the DRC during the 

Mobutu and elder Kabila regimes returned to the country in 

force, especially after the restoration of multi-party elections in 

2006. In 2014 the DRC received disbursements of $2.4 billion in 

official development assistance. The largest single-party donor 

was the US, which contributed approximately 15% of the total. 

Other large donors included the International Development 

Association (22%), the European Union (12%), the UK (11%), 

and Belgium (6%). 

ECONOMICS & 

RESOURCES
Overview

Government mismanagement and nearly continuous conflict left 

DRC’s infrastructure neglected for many years. With the help of 

Chinese investment in recent years, efforts to renovate and 

expand the country’s transit links are now underway. (see p4 of 

Economics and Resources).

Transportation

Since private cars and public transport are uncommon in the 

DRC, Congolese typically travel on foot for journeys less than 5 

mi and on ramshackle mini-buses for longer overland trips. 

Although some taxis are available in major cities, most of them 

are poorly maintained. All modes of transport in the DRC tend to 

be overcrowded.

Riverborne Travel: As the Congo River wends its way through 

much of the DRC, riverborne travel is common. For short trips in 

remote regions, the most common vessel is the pirogue, or 

dugout canoe. For longer journeys, riverboats and barges are 

popular choices. In Kinshasa, both a public ferry and fast 

motorboats are available to cross the river to Brazzaville, the 

capital of the neighboring Republic 

of the Congo.

Roadways: Although the DRC has 

more than 95,000 mi of roadways, 

only about 2% of them are paved. 

Consequently, much of the DRC’s 

road network becomes impassable 

from flooding during the rainy 

season (see p3-4 of Political and 

Social Relations). Besides, other 

modes of transport are more popular because the road network 

is small and incomplete. As of 2010 only 2 of 10 provincial 

capitals—Matadi and Bandundu—were linked by road to 

Kinshasa, making long-distance road travel impractical. Due to 

Chinese investment (see p4 of Economics and Resources), the 

DRC’s road network is currently in the process of being 

renovated and expanded.

12. TECHNOLOGY AND MATERIAL

TECHNOLOGY

& MATERIAL
Railways: The DRC has about 2,500 mi of railways. Built mainly 

to bypass unnavigable portions of the Congo River, the DRC’s 

railways do not form a continuous network. Although limited 

passenger service is available, the rail system is used primarily 

for hauling mineral freight (see p3 of Economics and 

Resources). Like the road network, the DRC’s railways are being 

renovated and expanded with Chinese aid. 

Waterways and Ports: Due mostly to the Congo River and its 

tributaries, the DRC has around 9,300 mi of navigable inland 

waterways. The Congo River alone has 2 main navigable 

sections: the middle Congo extends more than 1,000 mi 

between Kisangani in the East and Kinshasa in the West, while 

the lower Congo extends around 100 mi from Matadi in the East 

to the Atlantic Ocean in the West. These port cities serve as 

primary transport hubs. Due partly to the Congo River’s 

substantial width, it has only 2 

bridges each at Kinshasa and 

Bukama to the southeast. 

Airways: Of DRC’s 200 or so

airports and airstrips, only 26 

have paved runways. Located 15 

mi east of Kinshasa, Aéroport de 

N’djili (N’djili Airport—pictured) is 

the country’s main international 

transit hub. Lubumbashi and 

Goma are also important hubs. 

Air transit historically has been important in the DRC due to the 

country’s large size and the dangers associated with overland 

travel. Yet, the DRC’s airlines have some of the worst aviation 

safety records in the world—over 300 fatalities occurred 

between 2000 and 2008.

Energy

Since electricity is rare in small towns and villages, most ruraldwelling Congolese use wood as their main source of domestic 

fuel. While urban-dwelling Congolese typically have access to 

electricity, power outages are common even in the largest cities. 

Generating electricity mainly through hydropower plants, the 

DRC produces more electricity than it consumes. The most 

productive plants are the Inga I and II plants near Matadi.

TECHNOLOGY

& MATERIAL
Media

While the DRC’s constitution guarantees freedom of expression 

and of the press, both rights are subject to some restrictions. 

While it is illegal to publically insult the head-of-state, Congolese 

can openly express their political 

views as long as it is not through the 

media. The government sometimes 

uses legal threats or assault to 

pressure journalists into selfcensoring. In mid-2012, for example, 

the government threatened treason 

charges against journalists who 

failed to report “responsibly,” or as 

the government expected, about violence in the eastern DRC 

(see p7-8 of Political and Social Relations).

Print Media: There are approximately 450 registered papers in 

the DRC. The most popular daily paper is Le Potentiel, which 

typically takes an opposition stance. Other popular opposition 

papers include Le Phare and La Reference Plus. The leading 

pro-government papers are L’Avenir and Le Palmares. 

Radio and TV: Radio is the DRC’s most popular medium due to 

its accessibility and low cost. The only station with national reach 

is Radio Okapi, which is operated by MONUSCO, a UN 

peacekeeping force (see Political and Social Relations, p5).

While the DRC has a state TV broadcaster called Radio 

Television Nationale Congolaise (RTNC), it ceased national 

broadcasts in the late 1990s and now broadcasts only locally.

Telecommunications

Mobile phones are more readily available than wired and have 

undergone rapid growth in recent years. Although in 2000 there 

were only 15,000 mobile subscriptions, by 2014 that number had 

grown to 37.1 million, or about 1 in 2 Congolese.

Internet: Although usage increased by a factor of 120 between 

2000 and 2012, only a small minority (about 1.7% in 2012) of the 

Congolese population uses the Internet. As there were only 

21,248 broadband connections in 2012, the DRC’s average 

download speeds are among the world’s slowest and about 40 

times slower than those of the US.

TECHNOLOGY

& MATERIAL
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