['This study aimed to determine the risk factors for diabetes mellitus (DM) in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.', 'Multilevel sampling identified 200 households (444 adults aged ≥ 20 years) from 20 neighbourhoods in the city of Bukavu, and 90 households (255 adults aged ≥ 20 years) from 10 villages in the Kaziba (South Kivu) chiefdom (the South Kivu VITARAA study). DM was defined as a personal history of the disorder or a casual glycaemia greater or equal to 200 mg/dL. Standardization according to age and sample readjustment based on the urban-rural distribution of the population was applied accordance with the typical Congolese population. The probability of DM was assessed by multiple logistic regressions.', 'Total prevalence of DM was 3.5%. DM was significantly more prevalent in urban areas (age-standardized prevalence: 4.0%) than in rural areas (1.7%). City-dwelling DM patients were characterized by higher rates of indices of abdominal obesity (P < 0.05) whereas, in rural areas, no patients were obese. In the study group as a whole, only 25.0% of diabetic patients were obese. On multivariate analyses, only age [adjusted OR (95% CI): 4.79 (1.60-14.25); P = 0.004] was independently associated with the prevalence of DM, while the effect of obesity was not significant [2.64 (0.99-7.02); P = 0.051].'] Are age and living in an urban environment major determinants of diabetes among South Kivu Congolese adults?