The Democratic Republic of the Congo (), commonly referred to as DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa or the DRC, is a country in central Africa. It was known as Zaïre from 1971 to 1997. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world. With a population of over 71 million, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the nineteenth most populous nation in the world, the fourth most populous nation in Africa, as well as the most populous Francophone (French-speaking) country.
DRC borders the Central African Republic and South Sudan to the north; Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi in the east; Zambia and Angola to the south; the Republic of the Congo, the Angolan exclave of Cabinda, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. It is separated from Tanzania by Lake Tanganyika in the east. The country has access to the ocean through a stretch of Atlantic coastline at Muanda and the roughly 9 km wide mouth of the Congo River which opens into the Gulf of Guinea. It has the second-highest total Christian population in Africa.
When the Belgian Congo became independent, its leaders fought each other. The Soviet Union and later the United Nations helped destroy the groups who wanted independence from the new country.
The Second Congo War, beginning in 1998, devastated the country. It involved nine African nations and some twenty armed groups. Despite the signing of peace accords in 2003, fighting continues in the east of the country. There, the prevalence of rape and other sexual violence is described as the worst in the world. The war is the world's deadliest conflict since World War II, killing 5.4 million people since 1998. The vast majority died from conditions of malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo was formerly, in chronological order, the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Congo-Léopoldville, Congo-Kinshasa, and Zaire ("Zaïre" in French). Though it is in the Central African United Nations subregion, the nation is also economically and regionally affiliated with Southern Africa as a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The country is bordered by Angola, the South Atlantic Ocean, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania across Lake Tanganyika, and Zambia.
The capital of the CAR is Kinshasa.
World Heritage Sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo include Virunga National Park (1979), Garamba National Park (1980),
Kahuzi-Biega National Park (1980), Salonga National Park (1984) and Okapi Wildlife Reserve (1996).
The country is divided into twenty six provinces. The provinces are then divided into districts. The districts are divided into territories.
Spotted hyena
The spotted hyena ("Crocuta crocuta") is a species of hyena (or "hyaena" in British English). They are often called the laughing hyena. They are found almost everywhere in Sub-Saharan Africa. There are between 27,000 and 47,000 individuals, though their population is getting smaller in the wild. This is because of habitat loss and illegal hunting. They lived in Europe for at least a million years until the end of the Pleistocene.
The spotted hyena is the largest member of the Hyaenidae. They are the most social Carnivora animals, with various group sizes. Hyenas are pack hunters. Their behaviors are still not well understand. However, their social system is not cooperative but competitive. Females take care of their own cubs only, and males are not interested in helping females with their cubs. Females are larger than males and they can control them. The females are the only mammalian species not to have a vaginal opening.
The spotted hyena is a successful scavenger as well as hunter They can eat skin, bone and other animal waste. Spotted hyenas hunt with a family group of about two to five other hyenas. The family lives in large communities (called "clans") which may have up to 80 individuals.
They run around herds of animals and choose one to attack. After they have selected their prey, they chase them for a long time. They can run at speeds up to 60 km/h. Humans have known spotted hyenas for a long time. In the Upper Paleolithic, humans made paintings of hyenas in caves. Spotted hyenas have a negative reputation in Western culture and African folklore. In African folklore, spotted hyenas are described as ugly and scared animals. In Western culture, they are seen as greedy, stupid, foolish, powerful and a dangerous animal.
Aardwolf
The aardwolf ("Proteles cristata") is a small, insectivorous mammal, native to East Africa and Southern Africa. Its name means "earth wolf" in the Afrikaans / Dutch language. It is also called "maanhaar jackal" in Afrikaans, or "civet hyena", based on the secretions (civet) from their anal glands.
The aardwolf is in the same family as the hyenas. Unlike many of its relatives in the order Carnivora, the aardwolf does not hunt large animals, or even eat meat on a regular basis; instead it eats insects, mainly termites – one aardwolf can eat about 250,000 termites during a single night by using its long, sticky tongue to capture them.
The aardwolf lives in the scrublands of eastern and southern Africa – these are open lands covered with stunted trees and shrubs. The aardwolf is nocturnal, resting in burrows during the day and coming out at night to eat.
Anal gland scent-marking plays an important role in mating-season in both sexes as it is the primarily communication method.
Notes
Waterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury is a town in the state of Connecticut. More than one hundred thousand people live there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterbury,_Connecticut
Blue cheese
Blue cheese is a type of cheese with a fungus called "Penicillium" added to it. The mold makes patches or veins of it look blue. The cheese can be made from cow's milk, sheep's milk, or goat's milk. Types of it include Roquefort cheese, Stilton cheese, and Gorgonzola cheese. These names should only be used for cheeses that are made in certain areas and are protected by the European Union.
Elektra
Elektra of Mycenae was the daughter of King Agamemnon of Mycenae and Klytaimnestra. She had a brother, Orestes, and two sisters, Iphigeneia and Chrysothemis.
After the Trojan War, Agamemnon was killed by Klytaimnestra and her lover Aegisthos because Agamemnon sacrificed Iphigeneia for good winds to sail. Elektra helped Orestes to kill their mother Klytaimnestra and her lover, to avenge their father's death.
Insulin
Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas in the body that controls the glucose level in the blood.
People who cannot make insulin in their bodies, or who make it but their body cannot use it properly, have the disease diabetes. When blood glucose levels fall below a certain level, the human body begins to use stored sugar as an energy source through glycogenolysis. This process breaks down the glycogen stored in the liver and muscles into glucose which can then be used as an energy source. Insulin is a central metabolic control mechanism. Insulin is also used as a control signal to other body systems (such as amino acid uptake by body cells). In addition, it has several other anabolic effects throughout the body. Insulin affects vascular compliance and cognition.
Human insulin is a peptide hormone composed of 51 amino acids and has a molecular weight of 5808 Da. The islets of Langerhans in the pancreas produces insulin. The name comes from the Latin "insula" for "island". Insulin's structure varies slightly between species of animals. Insulin from different animal sources has different effects on the human carbohydrate metabolism process. Porcine insulin is especially close to the human version. So, people with diabetes can take in insulin extracted from pigs instead of producing their own insulin.