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Congo Democratic Republic
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Zaire (spelled Zaïre in French) was the name of the
Second Republic of Democratic Republic of the Congo between
1971 and 1997. Although it came into use in 1971, the name
Zaire is often still used for the portion of the Congo
controlled by Mobutu since 1965. This article addresses this
subsequent usage.
History
In 1960 the Belgian Congo gained its independence as the
"Republic of the Congo" from Belgium. This was the same name
as that of a former French colony, Congo, with which it
shares a border. In 1966 the Republic of the Congo added
Democratic to become Democratic Republic of the Congo.
However, the two countries are commonly distinguished by
their capitals: Congo-Kinshasa (then Congo-Léopoldville) and
Congo-Brazzaville.
Unrest and rebellion plagued the government until 1965, when
Lieutenant General Mobutu, by then commander in chief of the
national army, seized control of the country and declared
himself president for five years. Mobutu quickly
consolidated his power and was elected unopposed as
president in 1970.
The Second Republic
In retrospective justification of his 1965 seizure of
power, Mobutu later summed up the record of the First
Republic as one of "chaos, disorder, negligence, and
incompetence." Rejection of the legacy of the First Republic
went far beyond rhetoric. In the first two years of its
existence, the new regime turned to the urgent tasks of
political reconstruction and consolidation. Creating a new
basis of legitimacy for the state, in the form of a single
party, came next in Mobutu's order of priority. A third
imperative was to expand the reach of the state in the
social and political realms, a process that began in 1970
and culminated in the adoption of a new constitution in
1974. By 1976, however, this effort had begun to generate
its own inner contradictions, thus paving the way for the
resurrection of a Bula Matadi ("he who breaks rocks") system
of repression and brutality
The Democratic Republic of the Congo — also referred
to as DRC, DR Congo, Congo and Congo-Kinshasa, and formerly
Zaire — is a nation in central Africa and the third largest
country on the continent. It borders the Central African
Republic and Sudan on the north, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi,
and Tanzania on the east, Zambia and Angola on the south,
and the Republic of the Congo on the west[1]. The country
enjoys access to the sea through a narrow forty kilometre
stretch, following the Congo river into the Gulf of Guinea.
The name "Congo" (meaning "hunter") is coined after the
Bakongo tribe, living in the Congo river basin. Formerly,
the Belgian colony of the Belgian Congo, the country's
post-independence name was changed in 1971, from
Congo-Kinshasa (after its capital, to distinguish it from
the Republic of Congo, or Congo-Brazzaville) to Zaire, until
1997. Since 1998, the country has suffered greatly from the
devastating Second Congo War (sometimes referred to as the
African World War), the world's deadliest conflict since
World War II.
Zaire (1965–1996)
Main article: Zaire
Following five years of extreme instability and civil
unrest, Mobutu, now Lieutenant General, overthrew Kasavubu
in a 1965 coup d'état. A one-party system was established,
and Mobutu declared himself head of state. He would
occasionally hold elections in which he was the only
candidate. Relative peace and stability was achieved, but
Mobutu's government was accused of human rights violations,
repression, a cult of personality (every Congolese bank note
displayed his image, his portrait was displayed in all
public buildings, most businesses, and on billboards, and it
was common for ordinary people to wear his likeness on their
clothing) and excessive corruption — in 1984 he was said to
have four billion U.S. dollars, an amount close to the
country's national debt, stashed away in personal Swiss bank
accounts. In an effort to spread African national awareness,
starting on June 1, 1966, Mobutu renamed the nation's cities
(Leopoldville became Kinshasa [the country was now
Democratic Republic of The Congo–Kinshasa], Stanleyville
became Kisangani, and Elisabethville became Lumbumbashi).
This city-renaming campaign was completed in the 1970s. In
1971, he renamed the country the Republic of Zaire, its
fourth name change in eleven years and its sixth overall.
The Congo River became the Zaire River. In 1972, Mobutu
renamed himself Mobutu Sese Seko.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, U.S. relations
with Kinshasa cooled, as Mobutu was no longer deemed a
necessary Cold War ally, and his opponents within Zaire
stepped up demands for reform. This atmosphere contributed
to Mobutu declaring the Third Republic in 1990, whose
constitution was supposed to pave the way for democratic
reform. The reforms turned out to be largely cosmetic, and
Mobutu's rule continued until conflict forced him to flee
Zaire.
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Background:
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Since
1997 the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DROC;
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; his
regime was subsequently challenged by a Rwanda- and
Uganda-backed rebellion in August 1998. Troops from
Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Chad, and Sudan
intervened to support the Kinshasa regime. A
cease-fire was signed on 10 July 1999 by the DROC,
Zimbabwe, Angola, Uganda, Namibia, Rwanda, and
Congolese armed rebel groups, but sporadic fighting
continued. KABILA was assassinated on 16 January
2001 and his son Joseph KABILA was named head of
state ten days later. In October 2002, the new
president was successful in getting occupying
Rwandan forces to withdraw from eastern Congo; two
months later, an agreement was signed by all
remaining warring parties to end the fighting and
set up a government of national unity. |
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Location:
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Central Africa, northeast of Angola |
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Geographic coordinates:
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0 00
N, 25 00 E
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Map references:
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Africa |
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Area:
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total: 2,345,410 sq km
water: 77,810 sq km
land: 2,267,600 sq km
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Area - comparative:
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slightly less than one-fourth the size of the US
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Land boundaries:
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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 |
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Climate:
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tropical; hot and humid in equatorial river basin;
cooler and drier in southern highlands; cooler and
wetter in eastern highlands; north of Equator - wet
season April to October, dry season December to
February; south of Equator - wet season November to
March, dry season April to October |
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Terrain:
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vast
central basin is a low-lying plateau; mountains in
east |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pic Marguerite on Mont
Ngaliema (Mount Stanley) 5,110 m |
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Nationality:
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noun: Congolese (singular and plural)
adjective: Congolese or Congo
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Ethnic groups:
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over
200 African ethnic groups of which the majority are
Bantu; the four largest tribes - Mongo, Luba, Kongo
(all Bantu), and the Mangbetu-Azande (Hamitic) make
up about 45% of the population |
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Religions:
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Roman
Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%,
Muslim 10%, other syncretic sects and indigenous
beliefs 10% |
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Languages:
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French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade
language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or
Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba |
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Currency:
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Congolese franc (CDF)
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Currency code:
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CDF
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Exchange rates:
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Congolese francs per US dollar - 305 (January 2002),
21.82 (2000), 4.02 (1999), 1.61 (1998), 1.31 (1997)
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