Democratic Republic of Congo

Background: Since 1997, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly called Zaire) has been rent by ethnic strife and civil war, touched off by a massive inflow in 1994 of refugees from the fighting in Rwanda and Burundi. The government of former president Mobutu Sese Seko was toppled by a rebellion led by Laurent Kabila in May 1997. Kabila was assassinated on 16 January 2001 and his son Joseph Kabila was named head of state ten days later.
Location: Location: Central Africa, northeast of Angola. Area: Total: 2,345,410 sq km, water: 77,810 sq km, land: 2,267,600 sq km. Area - comparative: Slightly less than one-fourth the size of the US. Land boundaries: Total: 10,730 km; border countries: Angola 2,511 km (of which 225 km is the boundary of Angola's discontiguous Cabinda Province), Burundi 233 km, Central African Republic 1,577 km, Republic of the Congo 2,410 km, Rwanda 217 km, Sudan 628 km, Tanzania 459 km, Uganda 765 km, Zambia 1,930 km. Coastline: 37 km.
Climate and Terrain: Climate: Tropical; hot and humid in equatorial river basin; cooler and drier in southern highlands; cooler and wetter in eastern highlands. Terrain: Vast central basin is a low-lying plateau; mountains in east. Natural resources: Cobalt, copper, cadmium, petroleum, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, germanium, uranium, radium, bauxite, iron ore, coal, hydropower, timber.
People: Population: 56,625,039. Ethnic groups: Over 200 African ethnic groups of which the majority are Bantu. Religions: Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%, Muslim 10%, other syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs 10%. Languages: French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language),
Government: Government type: Dictatorship; presumably undergoing a transition to representative government. Capital: Kinshasa. Independence: 30 June 1960 (from Belgium).
Economy overview: The economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo - a nation endowed with vast potential wealth - has declined drastically since the mid-1980s. The war, which began in August 1998, has dramatically reduced national output and government revenue, has increased external debt, and has resulted in the deaths from war, famine, and disease of perhaps 3.5 million people. Industries: Mining (diamonds, copper, zinc), mineral processing, consumer products (including textiles, footwear, cigarettes, processed foods and beverages), cement.
Statistics: Telephones - main lines in use: 20,000. Telephones - mobile cellular: 15,000. Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM 11, shortwave 2. Radios: 18.03 million. Television broadcast stations: 4. Televisions: 6.478 million. Internet users: 6,000. Railways: Total: 4,772 km. Highways: Total: 157,000 km. Airports - with paved runways: 24, with unpaved runways: 205. Heliports: 1.