Democratic Republic of the Congo

Established as a Belgian colony in 1908, the Republic of the Congo gained its independence in 1960, but its early years were marred by political and social instability. Col. Joseph MOBUTU seized power and declared himself president in a November 1965 coup. He subsequently changed his name - to MOBUTU Sese Seko - as well as that of the country - to Zaire. MOBUTU retained his position for 32 years through several sham elections, as well as through brutal force. Ethnic strife and civil war, touched off by a massive inflow of refugees in 1994 from fighting in Rwanda and Burundi, led in May 1997 to the toppling of the MOBUTU regime by a rebellion backed by Rwanda and Uganda and fronted by Laurent KABILA. He renamed the country the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), but in August 1998 his regime was itself challenged by a second insurrection again backed by Rwanda and Uganda. Troops from Angola, Chad, Namibia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe intervened to support KABILA's regime. A cease-fire was signed in July 1999 by the DRC, Congolese armed rebel groups, Angola, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zimbabwe but sporadic fighting continued. Laurent KABILA was assassinated in January 2001 and his son, Joseph KABILA, was named head of state. In October 2002, the new president was successful in negotiating the withdrawal of Rwandan forces occupying eastern Congo; two months later, the Pretoria Accord was signed by all remaining warring parties to end the fighting and establish a government of national unity. A transitional government was set up in July 2003. Joseph KABILA as president and four vice presidents represented the former government, former rebel groups, the political opposition, and civil society. The transitional government held a successful constitutional referendum in December 2005 and elections for the presidency, National Assembly, and provincial legislatures in 2006. The National Assembly was installed in September 2006 and KABILA was inaugurated president in December 2006. Provincial assemblies were constituted in early 2007, and elected governors and national senators in January 2007.
==Economical characteristics==
* Currency: Congolese franc (ISO code: CDF)
* Central bank discount rate: NA% (31 December 2008)
* Commercial banks lending rate: NA%
* Stock of money (M1): $613.9 million (31 December 2008)
* Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $947.8 million (31 December 2008)
===Statistics===
Statistic / Year 	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
GDP (USD)World Bank. "Democratic Republic of the Congo: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01. 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Govt. debt (% of GDP)World Bank. "Democratic Republic of the Congo: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01. 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)World Bank. "Democratic Republic of the Congo: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01. 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)World Bank. "Democratic Republic of the Congo: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Debt to revenue (years) 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
==References==
Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.
==External links==
* Democratic Republic of the Congo on Wikipedia
* Central bank of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Country profile (pdf) from the Enterprise Studies page (part of the The World Bank Group)
* BBC country profile
Category:Countries