Category: Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a country in Central Africa, formerly Zaire. There are 71 million residents (2015). The capital is Kinshasa, one of the 20 largest cities in the world, with more than 9 million residents. To the west is the Republic of Congo, another country, on the other side of the Congo River. At the end of the 15th century, the Congo coast was visited by the Portuguese. At the end of the 19th century, the Belgians came to dominate the region, which came to be called the Free State of Congo. In 1908, the name changed to Belgian Congo. Independence was achieved in 1960 under the name of the Republic of Congo. It started to adopt the name of Democratic Republic of Congo, in 1964, changed to Zaire, in 1971. In 1997, it returned to the previous and current name.