The Democratic Republic of Congo

2161 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on dictatorship in the congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo Formerly known as Zaire, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DROC) is located in the center of Africa bordered by nine different countries and one territory. (Lerner, 10) The bordering countries are Central African Republic and Sudan at the northern boarder, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Burundi on the eastern boarder, Zambia and Angola directly South of DROC and Congo on the Western boarder. DROC is about one third the size of the United States; consisting of 905,365 square miles of territory it is also the third largest country within the African continent, smaller only to Sudan and Algeria. (Background Notes, 1) Much like the United States DROC has one major capital and small city capitals. The major capital of the country is Kinshasa, holding a population of 6.55 million alone. The city capitals throughout the country are, Bandundu, Bukavu, Goma, Kananga, Kindu, Kisangani, Lubumbashi, Matadi, Mbandaka, and Mbuji-Mayi. (Background Notes, 1) The climates within the DROC are very different due to the country being half to the north of the equator and half to the south. The northern portion of the country tends to be cold and dry, whereas the equatorial areas and southern half are hot and humid. DROC has great wealth of natural resource. Large copper deposits exist in the Shaba region, which also has reserves of cobalt, cadmium, uranium, tin, silver, and gold. (Lerner, 18) In-fact their main export commodities include cobalt, copper, crude oil, cut diamonds, gold, petroleum prodicts, synthetic lubricants, tea and coffee. (Mbendi Profile, 9) There are four major geographical regions in the country of DROC; these are the Congo River Basin, the Northern Uplands, the Eastern Hi... ... middle of paper ... ...essive State." Colorado: Westview Press 1993 Schatzberg, Michael. "The Dialectics of Oppression in Zaire." Indiana: Indiana University Press 1988 Nelson, Samuel H. "Colonialism in the Congo Basin 1880-1940." Athens: Center for International Studies 1994 Merriam, Alan P. "Congo: Background of Conflict." Northwestern University Press 1961 INTERNET SOURCES CITED Rosenberg, Matt. "About the Human Internet." Home Page. 14 April 2001 Funk and Wangalls. "Congo, Democratic Republic of the." Versaware Inc. 2001 Information Source: MBendi "MBendi Information for Africa" Modified: 13.Feb.2001 1995-2001, The Africa Guide. "Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire)- Introduction." 13 April 2001 Bureau of African Affairs Home Page. "Background Notes: Congo." U.S. Department of State, January 2000 Bureau of African Affairs

Show More
Related

  • King Leopold's Ghost Summary

    884 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book mainly chronicles the efforts of King Leopold II of Belgium which is to make the Congo into a colonial empire. During the period that the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized for himself the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Poisonwood Bible

    520 Words  | 2 Pages

    Inquiry Contract Research Essay The Poisonwood Bible took place in the Congo during the 1960’s, which was a time of political unrest for the Congolese. The Congo gained their independence from the Belgians in 1960, and elected their first Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba. Lumumba wanted complete control of the country, including it’s natural resources, of which the United States had “gained strategic stake in” (Nzongola-Ntalaja) because it included uranium mines. At this time, America was in the midst of the Cold War with the USSR, so the control of these mines for America was critical, especially because they believed Lumumba was siding with the Soviets.

    Read More

  • Baldwin's Views on Struggles of Blacks in America

    1533 Words  | 4 Pages

    McLaughlin, Kathleen. ?U.N. Jobs Easing Plight in Congo? New York Times 22 Jan. 1961: 8.

    Read More

  • Heart of Darkness and Wide Sargasso Sea: Depiction and Effect Due to Colonization

    1988 Words  | 4 Pages

    Zins, Henryk S. "Joseph Conrad and the Early British Critics of Colonialism in the Congo." Lubelskie Materiały Neofilologiczne 22.(1998): 155-169. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Sun. 08 May 2011.

    Read More

  • Patrice Lumumba

    2995 Words  | 6 Pages

    Since the late 1800’s, almost all of Africa had been under European colonial rule, but this changed drastically in 1960. Sixteen African nations gained their independence that year, including the former Belgian Congo, which became the Democratic Republic of the Congo on June 30. One of the key personalities that made this possible was Patrice Lumumba, who experienced widespread support in gaining independence and became the first Prime Minister of the DROC. However, he lost much of this support once he was in office, and lasted fewer than 200 days. Lumumba’s ability to communicate was a key reason for his success and failure.

    Read More

  • The Kingdom of Rwanda

    1317 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rwanda stands as a beautiful country with huge mountains and deep valleys. Most of the countryside rests with full of grasslands and plenty of farmland. The divide between the Congo and Nile drainage systems extends from north to south through western Rwanda at an average elevation of almost 9,000 feet. On the western slopes of this ridgeline, the land slopes abruptly toward Lake Kivu and the Ruzizi River valley, which form the western boundary line with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) and constitutes part of the Great Rift Valley (Bureau of African Affairs).

    Read More

  • The Congo Free State

    1971 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... attention allowed economic exploitation in the Congo and its people devastated by human rights abuses, and even today the lack of international attention has caused many conflicts in and around the Congo. The economic exploitation of the Congo during colonial times robbed the country of wealth which could have been used to develop the land, and the lack of wealth has contributed to Congo’s poor standing in the world today. Lastly, the human rights abuses in the Congo Free State contributed to economic and political troubles during the colonial period and has continued into the present day, as human rights abuses are still prevalent in that region of Africa. Due to the lack of international attention, economic exploitation, and human rights abuses, the Congo Free State was harmful to the Congo region of Africa and its legacy continues to harm that region of Africa.

    Read More

  • Physical Landscape of Ethiopia

    985 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ethiopia is a completely landlocked country. Access to the Red Sea is blocked its former autonomous region, Eritrea, which is located to the north of this country. The small country of Djibouti is located to Ethiopia’s northern borders, alongside Eritrea. Preventing access to the Indian Ocean is Somalia on Ethiopia’s eastern border. Lying on Ethiopia’s southern border is Kenya. On the south western border sits South Sudan and Sudan covers the north western border (Ofcansky and Berry).

    Read More

  • Poverty In Africa Essay

    1353 Words  | 3 Pages

    At the height of the conflict, about one third of the country's people were displaced. The chronic financial crisis became severe and the economy was close to collapsing. Poverty has become deeper in the rural areas of the Congo where poor people are now powerless, vulnerable and isolated. This is a big contributor to the poverty Congo is experiencing today, because little has improved and won’t improve until these problems are fixed. Overall, Central Africa’s dependence on agriculture could improve the wellbeing of the people but a long history of corruption, violence, and prevalent transportation issues have hindered an improvement in the economy resulting in poverty in the region.

    Read More

  • Race And Revolution: Lumumba, By Franz Fanon

    3724 Words  | 8 Pages

    One can easily note the physical and sexual violence brought upon the people (black and white) of Congo after independence, but we must locate the other forms of violence in order to bring the entire story of Patrice Lumumba to light. The director’s attempt at bringing the story of Patrice Lumumba to the “silver screen” had political intentions.

    Read More

  • The Republic of Cameroon

    1868 Words  | 4 Pages

    The name of my country is the Republic of Cameroon. Cameroon, which is located in Central Africa, shares its border with the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Nigeria. Cameroon has an area of 183,568 square miles. Tennessee is 42,180 square miles which means Cameroon is roughly 4.35x the size of Tennessee or a little bigger than California which is 163,695 square miles. Cameroon has a diverse terrain with coastal plain in the southwest, dissected plateau in the center, mountains in the west, and plains in the north. It has been called “Africa in miniature” because of this diverse terrain. Cameroon’s highest point is Fako on Mt. Cameroon (4,095m), and its lowest point is at the Atlantic Ocean (0m). The percentage of arable land in Cameroon is 13.04% (“Africa: Cameroon”). Cameroon’s climate varies across the country. It is tropical along the coast and has little rain for parts of the year and is hot in the north (Africa: Cameroon”). The north has a single wet season and high temperatures. This wet season is from May to the end of September. The south has a moderate climate with fairly constant temperatures and two wet seasons with heavy, regular rains. These wet seasons include a short rainy season from March to June and the big rains come between August and September (“Cameroon Climate and Weather”).

    Read More

  • Alternative Theories To Profit Maximization

    1736 Words  | 4 Pages

    [4] Angola News Online, Edition #16 8 June 1998, [internet] Accessed on: 13th November 2005, http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Newsletters/angno16.html

    Read More

  • The Congo Crisis

    2492 Words  | 5 Pages

    Over a period from 1960-1965, the first Republic of the Congo experienced a period of serious crisis. There was a terrible war for power that displayed senseless violence and the desperation to rule. There were many internal conflicts among the people. The country eventually gained independence from Belgium. For many countries this would be a time for celebration. Unfortunately for the people of the Congo this became a time to forget. Almost immediately after independence and the general elections, the country went into civil war. Major developed cities like Katanga and Kasai wanted to be independent from the Lumumba government. Different factions started to fight the government and Katanga and Kasai tried to secede from the rest of the country out of fear of the mutinous army that was out of control looting and killing.

    Read More

  • The Effects of the Berlin Conference on Africa

    2036 Words  | 5 Pages

    Web. The Web. The Web. 9 Mar. 2011. The. http://www.wcl.american.edu/humright/center/rwanda/lesson.cfm>. Middleton, John.

    Read More

  • Imperialism in Heart of Darkness

    809 Words  | 2 Pages

    As Marlow passes through the waters of the Congo, it is easily visible the trouble of the natives. “Black shapes crouched, lay, sat between the trees, leaning against the trunks, clinging to the earth half coming out, half effaced with the dim light, in all the attitudes of pain, abandonment, and despair.” (20) Show that the holding of these colonies has started. The soldiers have come in and taken the inhabitants and are destroying them and taking from them the one thing they deserve over everything, life. The imperialists seem to not care about the Africans and are just there for their land.

    Read More

More about The Democratic Republic of Congo

Open Document