Zaire - Democratic Republic of the Congo Share By Matt Rosenberg On May 17, 1997, the African country of Zaire became known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo . This name is not really new; before the country was called Zaire, it had been known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1971 the country and even the huge Congo River were renamed Zaire by former President Sese Seko Mobutu. In 1997 General Laurent Kabila took control of Zaire country and returned it to the name the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which it held prior to 1971. A new flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo of was also introduced to the world. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, the setting for Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, was called "Africa's most unstable country" in 1993. Their economic problems and government corruption required intervention from Western nations over the past few decades. The country is about half Catholic has 250 different ethnic groups within its borders.

There is inherent geographical confusion in this change due to the fact that the Democratic Republic of the Congo's western neighbor is known as the Republic of the Congo , a name which it has held since 1991. continue reading below our video What are the Seven Wonders of the World Major differences exist between the two equatorial Congo neighbors. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is much larger in both population and area. The population of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is about 69 million but the Republic of the Congo has a mere 4 million. The area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is over 905,000 square miles (2.3 million square kilometers) but the Republic of the Congo has 132,000 square miles (342,000 square kilometers). The Democratic Republic of the Congo holds 65% of the world's cobalt reserves and both countries rely on oil, sugar, and other natural resources. The official language of both Congos is French.

These two timelines of Congolese history might help sort out the history of their names: Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) 1877 - Henry Stanley explores the region for Belgium 1908 - Becomes Belgian Congo June 30, 1960 - Independence for the Republic of the Congo 1964 - Becomes People's Republic of the Congo 1966 - Mobutu takes control and the country becomes the Democratic Republic of the Congo October 27, 1971 - Becomes Republic of Zaire 1996 - Mobutu is in Europe with prostate cancer so rebels, led by General Laurent Kabila attacked the Zairian army March 1997 - Mobutu returns from Europe May 17, 1997 - Kabila and his troops take the capital, Kinshasa and Mobutu goes into exile. Zaire becomes the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

There is worldwide confusion about the change September 7, 1997 - Mobutu died in Morocco Republic of the Congo 1885 - Becomes the French territory Middle Congo 1910 - The territory of French Equatorial Africa is created, Middle Congo is a district 1960 - Independence for the Republic of the Congo 1970 - Becomes the People's Republic of the Congo 1991 - Name returns to the Republic of the Congo Zaire/Democratic Republic of the Congo - FPIF Foreign Policy In Focus Zaire/Democratic Republic of the Congo Mobutu’s departure has raised Congolese hopes for a better future, but many are concerned about reported rebel human rights abuses and an ambiguous commitment to democracy. Key Points During the cold war, the U.S. viewed Mobutu Sese Seko as a valued anticommunist ally. Despite the country’s vast resources, Mobutu’s rule by theft impoverished most Congolese, forcing many to engage in corrupt practices. Mobutu’s departure has raised Congolese hopes for a better future, but many are concerned about reported rebel human rights abuses and an ambiguous commitment to democracy.

In September 1996, an ethnic revolt against human rights abuses erupted in eastern Zaire. This rapidly developed into a nationwide rebellion against Zairean President Mobutu Sese Seko’s 32-year dictatorship. On May 17, 1997, a rebel alliance supported by Rwanda, Uganda, and Angola seized Kinshasa, the capital city, barely a day after Mobutu fled. It quickly reinstated the country’s pre-1971 name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and appointed a new government. Mobutu’s departure closed the chapter on Washington’s last remaining cold war client in Africa. Recruited by the CIA in the late 1950s when his country was still a Belgian colony, Mobutu helped overthrow Patrice Lumumba, the Congo’s first and only democratically elected prime minister. Wary of Lumumba’s populism and willingness to accept Soviet aid, the U.S. and other Western powers encouraged Mobutu and others to contrive Lumumba’s death. Thousands of Congolese lost their lives in the bitter five-year civil war that followed. In 1965 Mobutu, with CIA help, seized power in a coup.

Perfecting a system of rule by theft (called kleptocracy), Mobutu pillaged the public sector, harassing or jailing those who objected. In some years he and his cronies siphoned off up to 50% of Zaire’s capital budget as well as hundreds of millions in mineral export revenues, foreign aid and loans, and private investment (some guaranteed by the U.S. Eximbank). The effects were catastrophic. Despite vast mineral wealth (diamonds, cobalt, copper), oil deposits, and immense hydroelectric and agricultural potential, Zaire’s per capita income has dropped almost two-thirds since independence in 1960 and is listed as the lowest of all 174 countries in the UNDP’s 1996 Human Development Report. Mobutu’s impact on people’s daily lives was devastating. Extensive corruption crippled public services, from repairing roads to running schools and hospitals. Workers, their salaries stolen, were forced into the system of corruption just to survive. Nurses sometimes demanded payment before giving shots, while soldiers and police routinely extorted bribes from passersby. Nevertheless, the U.S. continued to view Mobutu as a useful ally against both global communism and radical African movements.

He was vital to the U.S.-backed UNITA rebels’ efforts to overthrow the leftist MPLA government in neighboring Angola. Popular protest exploded in 1990, forcing Mobutu to agree to end his one-party rule. During this period, Zaire’s emerging civil society—a lively mix of grassroots women’s, human rights, and development groups—initiated many projects to provide basic services (schools, clinics, community radio stations) and to nurture a new politics of accountability. But Mobutu continued to delay Zaire’s transition to democracy, maneuvering to ensure his own election. In 1994 over 1 million Hutu refugees, some of them armed, fled to eastern Zaire following the genocide in Rwanda. Rather than disarming these exiles, Mobutu’s military ignored refugee raids back into Rwanda and even sold the Hutus arms. When Mobutu’s forces in eastern Zaire began seizing property and deporting Zairean Tutsis (known as the Banyamulenge), this ethnic minority rebelled.

In mid-October 1996 the Banyamulenge joined three other anti-Mobutu rebel groups in an Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Zaire/Congo. The ADFL is headed by Laurent Kabila, a follower of Lumumba who had waged a bush war in eastern Zaire against Mobutu since the mid-1960s. Many Congolese initially praised the well-disciplined ADFL rebels for forcing rapacious government soldiers to flee and banning most bribetaking and intimidation, all of which improved people’s daily security. Congolese widely celebrated Mobutu’s exit and welcomed Kabila’s promise to organize national elections by April 1999. But some remain concerned over the ADFL’s ban on all political activities and parties, continued blocking of access to Hutu Rwandan refugees and possible involvement in refugee massacres. Still others from Kinshasa’s traditional political parties have condemned his large number of Tutsi advisers, controversial among the many Congolese who view all ethnic Tutsis as foreigners without citizenship rights. Problems with Current U.S. Policy Key Problems The U.S. has lacked any coherent policy toward the Congo since the end of the cold war.

Up to now the U.S. has failed to insist on rigorous preconditions to ensure truly free and fair elections and full accountability for human rights abuses. Many corporations courting the Congo’s new government benefitted from Mobutu’s corrupt rule, or from World Bank and IMF funds used to compensate them for money stolen by Mobutu. In recent years U.S. policy has stressed the need for good governance in Africa. Most Africans view this as a supreme irony given Washington’s quarter-century of active support for Africa’s most notorious and antidemocratic ruling crook, Mobutu. Between 1962 and 1991, the U.S. directly supported Mobutu (with close to $150 million in CIA bribes and secret payments) and his government (with more than $1.03 billion in development aid and $227.4 million in military assistance). It even provided transport for foreign troops used to suppress anti-Mobutu rebellions in 1977 and 1978. The U.S.

also helped funnel World Bank loans and IMF credits to Mobutu’s government, even though internal documents reveal that these agencies knew in advance the money was likely to be stolen and the loans unlikely to be repaid. Mobutu used IMF and World Bank loans to repay Zaire’s private creditors, thereby transforming private debt into public debt now amounting to almost $14 billion. Mobutu reciprocated by providing bases and supply routes for UNITA rebels and by backing the U.S. in various arenas. For instance, as chair of the UN Security Council in the months immediately prior to the Gulf War, Zaire was crucial in rallying support for the U.S.-led military operation. By the late 1980s, Mobutu’s scale of corruption and human rights abuses had become a growing political embarrassment to the U.S. In 1990, the outbreak of widespread popular protests against his rule moved the U.S. Congress to cut all bilateral aid to Zaire and begin demanding that he step down. During this period, Mobutu, in line with economic liberalization policies championed by the U.S. and the World Bank, privatized many state enterprises he’d nationalized decades earlier.

By selling them to supporters at bargain prices, Mobutu transferred dwindling public resources into the hands of many of the same people who’d already looted the public coffers. During the next two years, the U.S. embassy initiated contacts with Zaire’s opposition political parties. The U.S., France, and Belgium briefly worked in tandem, cutting all development aid and downgrading diplomatic contacts to pressure Mobutu to relinquish power. But they failed to persuade him to cede control over two vital pillars of his power: Zaire’s elite military units and the central bank. In 1993 the Clinton administration refused to replace its outgoing ambassador to Zaire and barred Mobutu and his closest associates from visiting the U.S. But Washington ignored calls to apply a more potent lever: a freeze on the overseas assets of Mobutu and his close cronies. It also accepted a Mobutu designate, Kengo wa Dondo, as prime minister rather than the person chosen by Zaire’s parliament, veteran anti-Mobutu opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi. U.S. policy toward Zaire has been largely reactive since 1993, with policymakers divided over how to respond to developments.

Ironically, the massive influx of refugees following the 1994 Rwanda genocide forced an end to Mobutu’s diplomatic isolation. But even as it called for change in Zaire, the U.S. unduly distanced itself from opposition leaders like Tshisekedi, who has considerable political support in Kinshasa, Kasai, and eastern Congo. U.S. officials were even less attuned to Congo’s vibrant civil society groups, many of whom had distanced themselves from Kinshasa-based political maneuverings and built up significant public support as a result of their grassroots human rights, civic education, and development work. Until late 1996, the U.S. appeared to acquiesce to flawed election arrangements likely to favor Mobutu. Not until many months after the 1996 rebellion began did the U.S. actively press for a transition government to facilitate Mobutu’s departure. Even then, active shuttle diplomacy in April by U.S. Ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson only built on prior efforts by Nelson Mandela. U.S. officials admit that given U.S. support for Mobutu, they have limited influence or credibility with the ADFL. (U.S.

and western mining companies who eagerly sought and even signed investment agreements with the cash-strapped rebel movement before it took Kinshasa, however, may carry more weight.) The U.S. has been unwilling to challenge the Rwandan government over its reported involvement in massacres of Hutu refugees inside ex-Zaire and implicitly sanctioned Rwandan and Ugandan covert support for the ADFL military advance. They are less happy that the Angolan government, which also aided the ADFL, is now trying to eliminate UNITA forces, which had long used Zaire as a rear base. The advance of Angolan army forces into UNITA-held areas in May risks unravelling the fragile Angola peace agreement. Relieved that Kinshasa fell with relatively little bloodshed, U.S. officials welcomed the ADFL’s inclusion of several non-Alliance members in its new government. United for decades around the need to oust Mobutu, Congolese remain divided on other issues. Some anti-Mobutu politicians and grassroots activists feel inadequately represented in the new government. The Congo will need ongoing dialogue and mutual accommodation among the new government, other former opposition politicians, and civil society to reconcile competing views and to create the basis for long term stability.

Toward a New Foreign Policy Key Recommendations The U.S. should support inclusion of Congo’s civil society and other anti-Mobutu forces in new democratic structures and should back African efforts to help the Congolese rebuild their country. The U.S. should insist that all parties guilty of human rights abuses be held accountable, in the Congo and elsewhere in Central Africa. The U.S. should help the new Congolese government locate and reclaim wealth stolen by Mobutu and his cronies, and should support measures to write off Zaire’s foreign debt. The rebel victory has decisively ended Mobutu’s kleptocratic rule and opened new possibilities for the Congo’s future. How can the U.S. best assist the Congolese in rebuilding their country while making some amends for its own role in creating and perpetuating Mobutu’s misrule? First, the U.S. should offer critical support to the new government being formed. The new government has stressed its desire to end corruption and rapidly rehabilitate the economy but lacks expertise in many areas. The U.S. should encourage it to draw on such expertise available elsewhere in Africa. Some have questioned the ADFL’s support for democracy after it banned all political activities and parties.

Others, including Nelson Mandela, argue it deserves more time to develop a vision and strategy for national reconciliation and recovery. The U.S. should insist on concrete progress towards democratic participation—including local and regional elections that would most empower grassroots communities—without trying to dictate specific solutions. It should, however, insist on international access and humanitarian aid to those refugees still in the Congo. It is vital that negotiations on the transition to a democratic, post-Mobutu era not be limited to dialogue between Kabila and Kinshasa-based politicians alone. Human rights and women’s groups, development groups, and community peace campaigns in cities and rural areas across the country’s vastness had already begun to create democracy, transparency, and accountability at a grassroots level. The U.S. should encourage a transition process that enables these embryonic democratic experiences to trickle up and help shape national politics. Second, accountability for human rights abuses in the Congo must be evenhandedly, not selectively, applied. Many actors—including rebel and splinter groups, Zairean army soldiers, armed Rwandan refugees implicated in the 1994 genocide, Mobutu-allied mercenaries, and Rwandan or Ugandan ADFL allies—have been implicated in such abuses.

Genuinely impartial inquiry into all human rights violations by all parties through international or national truth commissions is vital. This will help counter the culture of impunity in a region already awash with reciprocal killings and ethnic cleansings, while contributing to national cohesion. Coming to power after 32 years of dictatorship, the new ADFL-dominated government will be closely scrutinized on human rights. But to focus excessively on ADFL abuses alone, as some parties (notably the French) have sought to do, is akin to focusing solely on the human rights violations of South Africa’s African National Congress while ignoring the pervasive horrors of apartheid that made the ANC’s struggle necessary. Lastly, the U.S. must acknowledge and make amends for its own crimes in Zaire. The U.S., Western European governments, the World Bank, the IMF, and many international corporations knowingly conspired to loot Zaire. They all lent money to Zaire by the millions, carefully monitored Mobutu and his friends as they stole it, then cynically demanded its repayment. Mobutu, of course, obliged, squeezing debt service funds from a destitute population in his periodic bouts of structural adjustment.

The debts are owed by Mobutu and his close associates, not by the Congo. Just as the U.S. supports efforts to reclaim wealth seized by the Nazis, it must help the new Congo reclaim its stolen wealth. The country’s almost $14 billion in foreign debt, if not totally forgiven, should be repaid by those corporations and individuals who conspired in Mobutu’s criminal pillage. This would free up resources earmarked for debt repayment but desperately needed to reconstruct roads, telephone systems, sewers, and other basic public services. The U.S. should join and assist in a systematic global search to locate and reclaim for the Congolese people the bank accounts, palaces and villas, and other wealth that Mobutu and his cronies have stashed around the world. Switzerland has already frozen all such assets; several other European governments are currently trying to identify other stolen wealth. Despite the end of open fighting in the Congo, the country remains linked to a series of volatile localized conflicts stretching from the Horn of Africa through Central Africa to Angola, each with spillover effects (refugee flows, economic effects, growing militarization) on neighboring countries. U.S.

involvement in the Congo will not be effective unless linked to expanded diplomatic efforts to resolve these conflicts and to address their political and economic causes. Written by Carole J. L. Collins. Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) | history - geography - capital at Kinshasa | Britannica.com Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) capital at Kinshasa Alternative Titles: Congo-Kinshasa, DRC, Republic of the Congo, République Démocratique du Congo, République du Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Capital at Kinshasa National anthem of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Official name République Democratique du Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo) Form of government unitary multiparty republic with two legislative houses (Senate [108]; National Assembly [500]) Head of state Literacy: percentage of population age 15 and over literate Male: (2010) 76.9% Country Data Overview (PDF) Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), country located in central Africa .

Officially known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the country has a 25-mile (40-km) coastline on the Atlantic Ocean but is otherwise landlocked. It is the second largest country on the continent; only Algeria is larger. The capital, Kinshasa , is located on the Congo River about 320 miles (515 km) from its mouth. The largest city in central Africa, it serves as the country’s official administrative, economic, and cultural centre. The country is often referred to by its acronym , the DRC, or called Congo (Kinshasa), with the capital added parenthetically, to distinguish it from the other Congo republic, which is officially called the Republic of the Congo and is often referred to as Congo (Brazzaville). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Elephants wade across a stream in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. © Carmen Redondo/Corbis Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960. From 1971 to 1997 the country was officially the Republic of Zaire, a change made by then ruler Gen.

Mobutu Sese Seko to give the country what he thought was a more authentic African name. “Zaire” is a variation of a term meaning “great river” in local African languages; like the country’s current name, it refers to the Congo River , which drains a large basin that lies mostly in the republic. Unlike Zaire, however, the name Congo has origins in the colonial period, when Europeans identified the river with the kingdom of the Kongo people, who live near its mouth. Following the overthrow of Mobutu in 1997, the country’s name prior to 1971, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was reinstated. Congo subsequently was plunged into a devastating civil war; the conflict officially ended in 2003, although fighting continued in the eastern part of the country. Related People Congo is rich in natural resources. It boasts vast deposits of industrial diamonds, cobalt , and copper; one of the largest forest reserves in Africa; and about half of the hydroelectric potential of the continent.

Land Congo is bounded to the north by the Central African Republic and South Sudan ; to the east by Uganda , Rwanda , Burundi , and Tanzania ; to the southeast by Zambia ; and to the southwest by Angola . To the west are the country’s short Atlantic coastline, the Angolan exclave of Cabinda , and Congo (Brazzaville) . Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Relief The country’s major topographical features include a large river basin, a major valley, high plateaus, three mountain ranges, and a low coastal plain. Most of the country is composed of the central Congo basin , a vast rolling plain with an average elevation of about 1,700 feet (520 metres) above sea level. The lowest point of 1,109 feet (338 metres) occurs at Lake Mai-Ndombe (formerly Lake Leopold II), and the highest point of 2,296 feet (700 metres) is reached in the hills of Mobayi-Mbongo and Zongo in the north. The basin may once have been an inland sea whose only vestiges are Lakes Tumba and Mai-Ndombe in the west-central region.

African Leaders: Part One The north-south Western Rift Valley , the western arm of the East African Rift System , forms the country’s eastern border and includes Lakes Albert , Edward , Kivu , Tanganyika , and Mweru . This part of the country is the highest and most rugged, with striking chains of mountains. The Mitumba Mountains stretch along the Western Rift Valley, rising to an elevation of 9,800 feet (2,990 metres). The snow-covered peaks of the Ruwenzori Range between Lakes Albert and Edward lie astride the Ugandan border and mark the country’s highest elevation of 16,763 feet (5,109 metres) at Margherita Peak . The volcanic Virunga Mountains stretch across the Western Rift Valley north of Lake Kivu. Mount Nyiragongo, an active volcano, is situated in the Virunga Mountains, Dem. Rep. of the Congo. Maik Bunschkowski Tanzania High plateaus border almost every other side of the central basin. In the north the Ubangi-Uele plateaus form the divide between the Nile and Congo river basins.

Rising to between 3,000 and 4,000 feet (915 and 1,220 metres), these plateaus also separate the central basin from the vast plains of the Lake Chad system. In the south the plateaus begin at the lower terraces of the Lulua and Lunda river valleys and rise gradually toward the east. In the southeast the ridges of the plateaus of Katanga (Shaba) province tower over the region; they include Kundelungu at 5,250 feet (1,600 metres), Mitumba at 4,920 feet (1,500 metres), and Hakansson at 3,610 feet (1,100 metres). The Katanga plateaus reach as far north as the Lukuga River and contain the Manika Plateau, the Kibara and the Bia mountains, and the high plains of Marungu. The northern escarpment of the Angola Plateau rises in the southwest, while in the far west a coastal plateau zone includes the hill country of Mayumbe and the Cristal Mountains . A narrow coastal plain lies between the Cristal Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean.

Drainage and soils The Congo River, including its 1,336,000-square-mile (3,460,000-square-km) basin, is the country’s main drainage system. The river rises in the high Katanga plateaus and flows north and then south in a great arc, crossing the Equator twice. The lower river flows southwestward to empty into the Atlantic Ocean below Matadi . Along its course, the Congo passes through alluvial lands and swamps and is fed by the waters of many lakes and tributaries. The most important lakes are Mai-Ndombe and Tumba; the major tributaries are the Lomami , Aruwimi, and Ubangi rivers and those of the great Kasai River system. In addition, the Lukuga River links the basin to the Western Rift Valley. The Congo River basin and its drainage network. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. The Enya people fishing in the rapids of the Congo River near Kisangani, Dem. Rep. of the Congo. SuperStock Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest Soils are of two types: those of the equatorial areas and those of the drier savanna (grassland) regions.

Equatorial soils occur in the warm, humid lowlands of the central basin, which receive abundant precipitation throughout the year and are covered mainly with thick forests. This soil is almost fixed in place because of the lack of erosion in the forests. In swampy areas the very thick soil is constantly nourished by humus, the organic material resulting from the decomposition of plant or animal matter. Savanna soils are threatened by erosion, but the river valleys contain rich and fertile alluvial soils. The highlands of the Great Lakes region in eastern Congo are partly covered with rich soil derived from volcanic lava. This is the country’s most productive agricultural area. Climate Most of Congo lies within the inner humid tropical, or equatorial, climatic region extending five degrees north and south of the Equator. Southern Congo and the far north have somewhat drier subequatorial climates. The seasonally mobile intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) is a major determinant of the climate. Along this zone the trade winds originating in the Northern and Southern hemispheres meet, forcing unstable tropical air aloft. The air that is forced upward is cooled, and the resulting condensation produces prolonged and heavy precipitation.

In July and August this zone of maximum precipitation occurs in the north; it then shifts into central Congo in September and October. Between November and February the southern parts of the country receive maximum precipitation. Thereafter the ITCZ moves northward again, crossing central Congo in March and April, so this zone has two rainfall maxima. The extreme eastern highlands lie outside the path of the ITCZ and are subject to the influence of the southeastern trade winds alone. In addition to the ITCZ, elevation and proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and its maritime influences also act as factors of climatic differentiation. The country is divided into four major climatic regions. In the equatorial climate zone, temperatures are hot, the average monthly temperature rarely dropping below the mid-70s F (low to mid-20s C). Humidity is high, and it rains throughout the year. Annual precipitation at Eala, for example, averages 71 inches (1,800 mm). The tropical or subequatorial climate zone, marked by distinct dry and rainy seasons, is found north and south of the equatorial region. The dry season lasts from four to seven months (usually April to October), depending largely on distance from the Equator.

In Kananga about 63 inches (1,600 mm) of precipitation falls annually. Short dry spells of several weeks’ duration may occur during the rainy season. Related Topics Democratic Republic of the Congo Country History A to Z Democratic Republic of the Congo Once the Kongo kingdom, Belgium's King Leopold II claimed most of the Congo basin in 1876 - the most brutal of all European colonial experiments. Belgium took over the country in 1908, after international outcry, as the Belgian Congo. Independence was achieved in 1960 under the name Congo-Kinshasa. The country was renamed Zaire in 1971 and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (or DRC) in 1997. Sign Up for Our Free Newsletters Thanks, You're in! The Congo - definition of The Congo by The Free Dictionary The Congo - definition of The Congo by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Thesaurus , Encyclopedia , Wikipedia . Congo top: Democratic Republic of the Congo bottom: Republic of the Congo Con·go (kŏng′gō) 1.

Officially Democratic Republic of the Congo.Formerly (1971-1997) Za·ire (zī′îr, zä-îr′)and (1960-1971) Congoand (1908-1960) Belgian Congoand (1885-1908) Congo Free State. A country of central Africa astride the equator. Inhabited originally by Pygmy peoples and later by migrating Bantu and Nilotic groups, the region came under the control of Leopold II of Belgium in the late 1870s and was annexed outright in 1908. Full independence was achieved in 1960. Army general Mobutu Sese Seko took control of the country in 1965, ruling until his ouster by rebel forces in 1997. Kinshasa is the capital and the largest city. 2. Officially Republic of the Congo. A country of west-central Africa with a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean. It was part of French Equatorial Africa before becoming independent in 1960.

A Marxist state was established in 1970, but in the early 1990s Marxism was abandoned in favor of a multiparty system, and a new constitution was adopted. Brazzaville is the capital and the largest city. Congo (ˈkɒŋɡəʊ) n 1. (Placename) Democratic Republic of Congo a republic in S central Africa, with a narrow strip of land along the Congo estuary leading to the Atlantic in the west: Congo Free State established in 1885, with Leopold II of Belgium as absolute monarch; became the Belgian Congo colony in 1908; gained independence in 1960, followed by civil war and the secession of Katanga (until 1963); President Mobutu Sese Seko seized power in 1965; declared a one-party state in 1978, and was overthrown by rebels in 1997. The country consists chiefly of the Congo basin, with large areas of dense tropical forest and marshes, and the Mitumba highlands reaching over 5000 m (16 000 ft) in the east.

Official language: French. Religion: Christian majority, animist minority. Currency: Congolese franc. Capital: Kinshasa. Pop: 75 507 308 (2013 est). Area: 2 344 116 sq km (905 063 sq miles). Former names: Congo Free State (1885–1908), Belgian Congo (1908–60), Congo-Kinshasa (1960–71) or Zaïre (1971–97) 2. (Placename) Republic of Congo another name for Congo-Brazzaville 3. (Placename) the second longest river in Africa, rising as the Lualaba on the Katanga plateau in the Democratic Republic of Congo and flowing in a wide northerly curve to the Atlantic: forms the border between Congo-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Length: about 4800 km (3000 miles). Area of basin: about 3 000 000 sq km (1 425 000 sq miles).

Former Zaïrese name (1971–97): Zaïre 4. (Peoples) a variant spelling of Kongo 5. (Languages) a variant spelling of Kongo Con•go (ˈkɒŋ goʊ) n. 1. Republic of the, a republic in central Africa, W of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: a former French territory; gained independence 1960. 2,716,814; 124,504 sq. mi. (322,463 sq. km). Cap.: Brazzaville. Formerly, French Congo , Middle Congo. 2. Democratic Republic of the, a republic in central Africa: a former Belgian colony; gained independence 1960. 50,481,305; 905,063 sq. mi. (2,344,113 sq. km). Cap.: Kinshasa. Formerly, Zaire, Belgian Congo, Congo Free State. 3. Also called Zaire. a river in central Africa, flowing in a great loop from SE Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Atlantic. ab.

3000 mi. (4800 km) long. Con`go•lese′ (-gəˈliz, -ˈlis) adj., n., pl. -lese. ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend: Congo, Democratic Republic of - GAMEO Congo, Democratic Republic of [ edit ] Introduction The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), known as the Congo Free State (1885-1908), Belgian Congo (1908-1960), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1960-1971), and as the Republic of Zaire (1971-1997), is located in Central Africa , with a short Atlantic coastline (37 km). It is the third largest country in Africa by area (2,345,409 km2) and the 12th largest in the world. With an estimated population in 2010 of 70,916,439, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the nineteenth most populous nation in the world.

Congo borders the Central African Republic and Sudan to the north; Uganda , Rwanda, and Burundi in the east; Zambia and Angola to the south; the Atlantic Ocean to the west; and is separated from Tanzania by Lake Tanganyika in the east. The Congo Free State was formed in 1885 as the personal private property of King Leopold II of Belgium . Belgium took over the free state as a Belgian colony in 1908, and Congo became independent from Belgium on 30 June 1960. Congo's history since independence has been one of violence and corruption. The Second Congo War, beginning in 1998, devastated the country and is sometimes referred to as the "African World War". The war is the world's deadliest conflict since World War II, killing 5.4 million people. Christianity is the majority religion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, followed by about 90% of the population. Recent figures show that 55% are Roman Catholic and 35% are Protestant, with Animism accounting for 2.4%.

[ edit ] Mennonite Activity in Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been an area of major Mennonite interest and ministry in the 20th century. The Congo Inland Mission (CIM), known since 1971 as the Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission (AIMM), placed its first missionaries in the West Kasai region of south central Congo in 1912. Already in 1913, Aaron A. and Ernestina Janzen , a Mennonite Brethren couple from Mountain Lake , Minnesota applied for service with the CIM and served until 1920. Upon returning to the Congo, they opened an independent work at Kafumba, a location south of Kikwit along the Kwilu River in an unevangelized area later known as Bandundu Province. Following World War II, some small faith missions of that region were no longer able to keep pace with the changes and demands of work of the post-war era and appealed to other missions to assume responsibility for the ministries they had launched.

It was at this juncture that the Mennonite Brethren Board of Missions and Services (BOMAS) decided to assume responsibility for the Kafumba work pioneered by the Janzens, and at the same time, to broaden their ministry to cover some of the areas which were being relinquished by other missions. From its administrative base at Kikwit, the BOMAS ministry was eventually extended to incorporate mission posts at Matende, Kipungu, Lusemvu, Kajiji, and Panzi, all of which were located in the southern part of Kwilu Province. CIM ministry began at a place called Djoko Punda (known during the Belgian era as Charlesville ). Located at the farthest navigable point inland on the Kasai River, among a mix of Lulua and Baluba people, it quickly became the post of supply for the new CIM work as well as its first point of evangelism. A primary school was early established; it was quickly followed by the mission's first Bible school. A second CIM mission post was also immediately established several days trek south of Djoko near a village called Kalamba .

This location was deliberately selected since it was adjacent to the home village of the king of the Lulua people. In 1946 the decision was made to move the station some 11 miles (18 km) to the northwest where it was renamed Mutena. This post remains an important center of the Communauté Mennonite au Congo (Congo Mennonite Church). With the end of World War I and the arrival of new missionaries, high priority was given to a ministry among the Baphende people to the south and west of Djoko. A hardy, industrious, and agrarian people, they had no resident witness to the gospel among them. After some exploratory evangelistic trips made by missionaries and national Christians, a site was chosen near Nyanga village some 100 miles (160 km) southwest of Djoko. By 1920 the first new missionaries took up residence at this third post. Following the pattern established at the previous two stations, primary education and the dispensing of basic medications soon became part of the ministry along with Bible instruction and apprenticeship in evangelism for new converts.

Since the majority of the Baphende people lived to the west of the Loange River in neighboring Kwilu Province (later known as Bandundu Province), plans were early laid to situate a fourth post somewhere in the tribal area west of the river. By 1923 further missionary personnel arrived and the first team was placed adjacent to a large village called Mukedi , the location of an influential paramount chief of the area. Thus by the late 1920s the CIM work was based at four stations in two provinces. A notable feature of the broader Congo mission scene by this time was the emergence of a strong and influential inter-mission organization known as the Congo Protestant Council (CPC). A large country with a great variety of ethnic groups, Congo early attracted a growing number of Protestant missions. This mission community eventually reached a total of some 55 different organizations sponsored by a mix of European and North American Protestant church groups. Of whatever origin or theological stance, all quickly encountered the aggressive and combative personnel of the Roman Catholic missions. The Protestant missions, of whatever origin or persuasion, early discovered that there was much to he gained by closing ranks and in dealing with the government and the favored Roman Catholic Church from a stance of solidarity.

A CPC office was soon established in the capital of the Belgian Congo, Leopoldville (known as Kinshasa after political independence), as annual consultative assemblies became traditional. CIM and the Mennonite Brethren Mission early joined this council and participated actively in meetings and special commissions. World War II brought with it several far-reaching changes for mission work in Congo. The colonial administrators had recruited Congolese troops who were sent to fight in North Africa. As these troops were eventually brought back home and discharged, they returned to their home villages with greatly broadened understandings and aspirations. Some even dared to express the opinion that the Belgian colonial rule under which they lived was not something to be simply accepted forever. Mennonite Churches in Congo and Angola, 1980s. Mennonite Encyclopedia, v. 5, p. 955. In Belgium also there was dramatic post-war change.

Angered by what they considered to have been collaboration on the part of King Leopold III with the German occupation forces during the war, the Belgians not only insisted that he yield his throne to his son but on the occasion of the first elections they repudiated the Catholic party which had long dominated the Belgian political scene replacing it with a new coalition government made up of Socialists and Liberals. Among the changes which the new administration introduced was the offer to Protestant missions in the Congo of government subsidies for medical and educational work which met government standards. After some debate, the great majority of the Protestant missions in Congo opted to apply for these funds. There promptly followed a major expansion of Protestant educational and medical work across the land, an expansion in which the CIM and BOMAS fully shared. Not only was this a time of new financial resources from a new and sympathetic colonial regime, but it was also the time of a surge of new missionary recruits. In the West Kasai, CIM had already pinpointed areas where its ministry was still inadequate. Some 75 miles (120 km) northwest of Djoko was a large ethnic group known as the Bashilele.

Until the late 1940s, CIM's ministry among them had been largely limited to regional school centers and periodic evangelistic trips. With much encouragement from the Congolese believers of the area, the decision was made in 1950 to establish a fifth station at a place called Banga. At the same time, there was growing concern for a rapidly expanding diamond mining center called Tshikapa that was located along the Kasai River between Djoko and Mutena. Already the site of a large Catholic mission, CIM efforts to minister to the steadily growing number of Mennonite Christians living in work camps at Tshikapa consistently encountered frustrating limitations. Parallel requests to secure a plot of ground in the vicinity were also denied. Finally, in 1950, through the intervention of the CPC secretary in Kinshasa, government permission to occupy a hillside five miles across the river from the diamond center was granted. Taking its name from an adjacent village, the sixth CIM station was called Kalonda. To the west in Bandundu Province, where a cluster of small faith missions were having difficulty coping with the new postwar era, opportunity also came to the CIM to acquire two new mission posts.

Near the Angolan border in Kahemba territory was Kamayala, a mission post established under the auspices of the Unevangelized Tribes Mission in 1930 by two extraordinary sisters, Bertha and Mary Miller. This mission, like others, also made an appeal to other organizations to assume responsibility for ongoing ministry. The CIM responded in 1952, thus beginning its first ministry among Chokwe and Lunda people. Between Kamayala and Mukedi was Kandala, a station which had been started in 1926 by a pioneering Canadian Baptist couple, Percy and Rosalie Near, and was also situated among the Baphende people. The Nears approached CIM about assuming leadership for the work. Terms were agreed upon and the first CIM personnel arrived on the station in 1954. CIM and Mennonite Brethren (MB) areas lay side-by-side in Congo and eventually gave rise to three autonomous Mennonite churches. All are part of the national Congolese church, the Eglise du Christ au Congo.

Stemming from the work of the CIM were the: Communauté Mennonite au Congo and ECZ: Communauté Evangélique Mennonite (Democratic Republic of Congo) . The church which grew out of the work of the Mennonite Brethren came to be known as Communauté des Églises de Frères Mennonites au Congo . CIM and MB missionaries were partners in several cooperative ventures across the years, notably in a four-year teacher training school at Nyanga in the early 1950s; a missionary children's school at Kajiji, 1954-60; and a pastoral training school, also at Kajiji, 1963-68. Both Mennonite missions were founding partners of the Theological Institute of Kinshasa (Institut Supérieur Théologique de Kinshasa; ISTK), a venture in which 10 other mission groups originally shared. Both CIM and BOMAS provided teaching staff for this school after it opened. All three Mennonite churches sent pastoral candidates there for training.

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) first became involved in Congo in the 1950s, when a few North American conscientious objectors were sent as alternative service volunteers. In the aftermath of political independence (1960), MCC teamed with the Congo Protestant Council to form the Congo Protestant Relief Association (CPRA), which became a channel for relief supplies for various areas where local populations were displaced by political unrest. Known as ZPRA, this cooperative project with Zaire (Congo) mission and church communities continues. It was also in the 1960s that Congo became one of the areas selected by MCC administrators for service for Pax and Teachers Abroad Program (TAP) personnel. During that decade a steady stream of young people came to Congo, where they served in a wide variety of roles with Mennonite and other missions. MCC eventually moved beyond construction sites and schoolrooms to cooperative efforts with Congo Mennonite churches in various rural development projects. By the 1980s , MCC collaborated with the three Zaire (Congo) churches in helping to sponsor seminars for pastors on a variety of topics including issues of peace, justice, and development.

French-speaking Mennonites from Europe and North America were resource people for these much appreciated sessions. The three Mennonite churches in Congo are situated in a land of great potential, and they are confronted by formidable problems. Economic inflation and devaluation of national currency have been steady since the 1970s; dishonesty and graft have surfaced at many levels of public life. All of this exerted tremendous pressure upon the Christian community of the country. In the midst of grievous social and economic problems, however, it is heartening to note that wherever pockets of stability and integrity are found, invariably they are church-related. Both in terms of political development and church growth on the continent of Africa, more will be heard from Congo and its Mennonite churches in coming years. [ edit ] 2014 Update Between 1978 and 2012 the following Anabaptist denominations were active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Denominations [ edit ] Bibliography Juhnke, James C. A People of Mission: A History of General Conference Mennonite Overseas Missions. Newton, KS: Faith and Life, 1979. Keidel, Levi. Caught in the Crossfire.

Scottdale, 1979. Kraybill, Paul N., ed. Mennonite World Handbook. Lombard, IL: Mennonite World Conference, 1978: 104-116. Lichdi, Diether Götz, ed. Mennonite World Handbook 1990: Mennonites in Global Witness. Carol Stream, IL: Mennonite World Conference, 1990. Mennonite World Conference. "2000 Africa Mennonite & Brethren in Christ Churches." Web. 2 March 2011. . [Broken Link]. Mennonite World Conference. "Mennonite and Brethren in Christ Churches Worldwide, 2006: Africa." Web. 2 March 2011. . [Broken Link]. Mennonite World Conference. "World Directory 2012: Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and Related Churches." Web. cmm.org/sites/default/files/website_files/mwc_world_directory_w_links.pdf. Mennonite World Handbook Supplement.

Strasbourg, France, and Lombard, IL: Mennonite World Conference, 1984: 19-21. Toews, John B. The Mennonite Brethren Church in Zaire. Fresno: Board of Christian Literature, 1978. Wikipedia. "Democratic Republic of the Congo." Web. 7 March 2011. . Author(s) Democratic Republic of the Congo « World Without Genocide - Working to create a World Without Genocide Democratic Republic of the Congo Congo Since 1996, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC; Congo) has been embroiled in violence that has killed as many as 6 million people. The conflict has been the world’s bloodiest since World War II. The First and Second Congo Wars, which sparked the violence, involved multiple foreign armies and investors from Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Chad, Libya, and Sudan, among others, and has been so devastating that it is sometimes called the “African World War.” Fighting continues in the eastern parts of the country, destroying infrastructure, causing physical and psychological damage to civilians, and creating human rights violations on a mass scale.

Rape is being used as a weapon of war, and large-scale plunder and murder are also occurring as part of efforts to displace people on resource-rich land. Today, most of the fighting is taking place in North and South Kivu, on the DRC/Rwanda border. Some fighting is political, resulting from unrest caused by Hutu refugees from the Rwandan genocide now living in DRC, while other fighting results from an international demand for natural resources. DRC has large quantities of gold, copper, diamonds, and coltan (a mineral used in cell phones), which many parties desire to control for monetary reasons. However, money from the sales of these resources has not reached average citizens. Currently the education, healthcare, legal, and road systems are in shambles. The DRC, formerly known as Zaire, is located in Central Africa. To the north, it is bordered by the Central African Republic and Sudan; to the east, by Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania; and to the south by Zambia and Angola. The capital city, Kinshasa, is located in the far western area of the country.

DRC covers about 905,000 square miles and has a population of 63 million people. Although citizens of the DRC are among the poorest in the world, having the second lowest GDP per capita globally, the country is widely considered to be the richest country in the world regarding natural resources, with untapped deposits of raw minerals estimated to be worth in excess of US $24 trillion. Rwandan refugees fleeing to the Democratic Republic of the Congo The violence in DRC is closely related to the genocide that occurred in Rwanda in 1994. In this genocide, groups of hard-line, militant Hutus, known as the Interahamwe, slaughtered ethnic Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus. The RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front), a Tutsi-led militia, defeated the Hutu movement and came to power in July 1994. Immediately following the RPF takeover, nearly 2 million Hutus fled into neighboring countries to avoid potential Tutsi retribution. Their refugee presence in Zaire (DRC), among other factors, led to the first Congo War in 1996.

FDLR The Second Congo War, or African World War, began in 1998. Although the war was declared over in 2003, eastern Congo continues to be extremely unstable. A proxy war between Rwanda and the Kinshasa government continued in the east until the end of 2008. Congolese Tutsi warlord General Laurent Nkunda waged a campaign to destroy Hutu rebels from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). He accused the Congolese government of backing the FDLR. A change in the conflict came about in late 2008 when Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo joined forces to combat the FDLR in North and South Kivu provinces. But the bitter conflict has continued unabated and Congolese government troops, backed by thousands of U.N. peacekeepers, have failed to defeat the FDLR rebels. Tensions are still high on the Rwandan border, where Rwanda’s Tutsis still feel threatened by Hutu rebels. Since the majority of the forces in the DRC’s conflict were non-governmental militias, disarming or controlling them since the ceasefires were signed has proved difficult.

Conflict continues over the plentiful natural resources in the DRC. Violence is especially prevalent in the East, which is rich in minerals, diamonds, and timber. Learn more about conflict minerals and what you can do to reduce the impact on Congo by clicking here . LRA Victim The Lord’s Resistance Army has expanded its operations from northern Uganda into the DRC. The LRA is notorious for kidnapping children, forcing them to kill and maim innocent victims, and enslaving young girls as concubines. Attacks by the LRA are currently spreading fear and the threat of famine through northeast DRC as the LRA extends its abduction and terror raids across the region. New conflicts between the LRA and FARDC have left thousands of civilians dead. It is estimated that 6 million have died as a result of the conflict, and an estimated 45,000 more die each month. The death toll is due to widespread disease and famine; reports indicate that almost half of the individuals who have died are children under the age of 5. The long and brutal conflict in the DRC has caused massive suffering for civilians, with estimates of millions dead either directly or indirectly as a result of the fighting.

There have been frequent reports of weapon bearers killing civilians, and destroying property. Child suffers from diarrhea in Congo Those who are not subject to violence must contend with poverty, famine, and disease. Hundreds of thousands of people have been impoverished by the violence. Infant and child mortality rates are extremely high as a result of famine and malnutrition. An estimated 3.4 million people have been displaced within the DRC and 2 million have become refugees in neighboring Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. The prevalence of rape and other forms of sexual violence is considered the worst in the world. In May 2011, the New York Times reported that a woman is raped every minute in the Congo. Aside from the severe physical and psychological trauma experienced by rape victims, sexual violence has contributed to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, especially HIV/AIDS. In 2003, Sinafasi Makelo, a representative of Mbuti pygmies, told the UN’s Indigenous People’s Forum that, during the war, his people were hunted down and eaten as though they were game animals.

In neighboring North Kivu province there has been cannibalism by a group known as Les Effaceurs (“the erasers”), who wanted to clear the land of people to open it up for mineral exploitation. Both sides of the war regarded the Mbuti as “subhuman” and expendable. MONUC The UN’s current mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, called MONUC, is entering its thirteenth year. MONUC is the UN’s largest and longest-lasting mission to date. It is mandated to protect civilians and also help in the reconstruction of the country. With 18,000 people, MONUC is spread thinly across northeastern Congo and is largely unable to halt attacks. Rebels continue to kill and plunder natural resources with impunity. Some claim the rebels are supported by an international crime network stretching through Africa to Western Europe and North America. The international community’s support for political and diplomatic efforts to end the war has been relatively consistent, but no effective steps have been taken to abide by repeated pledges to demand accountability for the war crimes and crimes against humanity that are routinely committed in Congo. United Nations Security Council and the U.N.

Secretary-General have frequently denounced human rights abuses and the humanitarian disaster that the war unleashed on the local population. But they have shown little will to tackle the responsibility of occupying powers for the atrocities taking place in areas under their control, areas where the worst violence in the country took place. On March 14, 2012, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a ‘guilty’ verdict against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo on charges of rape, murder, and the use of child soldiers, the first verdict for the ICC. Download a one page PDF summary of this information here .

Mobutu Sese Seko | president of Zaire | Britannica.com president of Zaire Alternative Titles: Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, Mobutu Sese Seko Koko Ngbendu Wa Za Banga Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Koko Ngbendu Wa Za Banga born Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir Mobutu Sese Seko, also called Mobutu Sese Seko Koko Ngbendu Wa Za Banga, original name Joseph (-Désiré) Mobutu (born October 14, 1930, Lisala, Belgian Congo [now Democratic Republic of the Congo]—died September 7, 1997, Rabat , Morocco ), president of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) who seized power in a 1965 coup and ruled for some 32 years before being ousted in a rebellion in 1997. Mobutu Sese Seko. Frank Hall/U.S.

Department of Defense Mobutu was educated in missionary schools and began his career in 1949 in the Belgian Congolese army, the Force Publique, rising from a clerk to a sergeant major, the highest rank then open to Africans. While still in the army, Mobutu contributed articles to newspapers in Léopoldville (now Kinshasa). After his discharge in 1956 he became a reporter for the daily L’Avenir (“The Future”) and later editor of the weekly Actualités Africaines. Through his press contacts Mobutu met the Congolese nationalist leader Patrice Lumumba , whose Congolese National Movement (Mouvement National Congolais; MNC) he joined soon after it was launched in 1958. In 1960 Mobutu represented Lumumba at the Brussels Round Table Conference on Congo independence until the release of Lumumba, who had been jailed for his nationalist activities in the Congo. During the conference, Mobutu supported Lumumba’s proposals (which were adopted) for a strongly centralized state for the independent Congo.

When the Congo became independent on June 30, 1960, the coalition government of President Joseph Kasavubu and Premier Lumumba appointed Mobutu secretary of state for national defense. Eight days later the Congo’s Force Publique mutinied against its Belgian officers. As one of the few officers with any control over the army (gained by liberally dispensing commissions and back pay to the mutineers), Mobutu was in a position to influence the developing power struggle between Kasavubu and Lumumba. Mobutu covertly supported Kasavubu’s attempt to dismiss Lumumba. When Lumumba rallied his forces to oust Kasavubu in September 1960, Mobutu seized control of the government and announced that he was “neutralizing” all politicians. In February 1961, however, Mobutu turned over the government to Kasavubu, who made Mobutu commander in chief of the armed forces. Many believe that Mobutu bore some responsibility for the death of Lumumba, who was arrested by Mobutu’s troops and flown to Katanga , where, it is believed, he was killed by Congolese or Katangese troops.

As commander in chief Mobutu reorganized the army. In 1965, after a power struggle had developed between President Kasavubu and his premier, Moise Tshombe , Mobutu removed Kasavubu in a coup and assumed the presidency. Two years later Mobutu put down an uprising led by white mercenaries attached to the Congolese army. His efforts to revive the Congo’s economy included such measures as nationalizing the Katanga copper mines and encouraging foreign investment. Agricultural revitalization lagged, however, and consequently, the need for food imports increased. Britannica Stories Queen Elizabeth I’s Skirt Found As president, Mobutu moved to Africanize names. The name of the country was changed in October 1971 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo [Kinshasa]) to the Republic of Zaire (the country reverted to its earlier name in 1997).

In January 1972 he changed his own name from Joseph-Désiré Mobutu to Mobutu Sese Seko Koko Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (“The all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, will go from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his wake”). Mobutu attempted to soften the military nature of his regime by filling government posts with civilians. He sought to build popular support through his Popular Movement of the Revolution (Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution; MPR), which until 1990 was the country’s only legal party. Opposition to his rule came from numerous Congolese exiles, ethnic groups that had played decisive roles in previous governments, small farmers who gained no share in the attempted economic revival, and some university students. He also faced a continuing threat of attacks on the Shaba region (Mobutu’s Africanized name for the Katanga province) by Katangese rebels based in Angola .

Question: By what name was the Democratic Republic of the Congo known between 1971 and 1997?
Answer: Zaire