Congo (Dem Rep) has many beautiful landscapes, with
lakes and forests, waterfalls and
wildlife. However, this is a vast country, with an almost non-existent transport infrastructure. It is mired in
conflict and a long and intricate history.
A five-year
civil war from 1998 to 2003 resulted in the deaths of around 3 million people, not only through the fighting itself, but also through hunger and disease.
Joseph Kabila, son of assassinated former president Laurent Kabila, was installed as
president in 2001 and elected by the people in
a historic presidential election in 2006. He now faces the formidable job of bringing back some level of normality to this scarred country, where the threat of civil war has not disappeared.
GeographyThe Democratic Republic of Congo is the third-largest country in Africa and is bordered to the north by the Central African Republic and Sudan, to the east by Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania, to the south by Zambia and Angola, and to the west by the Republic of Congo and the Angolan enclave, Cabinda. The country has a coastline of only 27km (17 miles), at the outlet of the Congo River, which flows into the Atlantic. The country straddles the equator and has widely differing geographical features, including mountain ranges in the north and west, a vast central plain through which the Congo River flows, and the volcanoes and lakes of the Kivu region. The river has given rise to extensive tropical rainforests on the western border with the Republic of Congo.
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