Congo, Democratic Republic

After obtaining independence in 1960, the Belgian Congo experienced a period of political and social instability that set the stage for the frequently brutal 32-year tenure of Colonel Joseph Mobutu, who changed the name of the country to Zaire. An influx of refugees from Rwanda and Burundi helped to topple Mobutu in 1997 and led to the establishment of the country as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DROC) under Laurent Kabila. The ensuing battle for power led to interference from Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Chad, and the Sudan before peace was [Page 342]declared in July 1991. By that time, 2.33 million Congolese has been displaced internally and another 412,000 had fled the country. Estimates place the total death count at 3.3 million people, with most dying from starvation and disease. Despite ongoing conflict in some areas, Joseph Kabila managed to effectuate a semblance of national unity after his father was assassinated in 2001.

With a per capita income of only $800, the DROC is the eleventh poorest country in the world. Over seventy percent of the population is severely undernourished. The ongoing political strife and government corruption have produced a weak infrastructure that has made in impossible for the government to realize full economic potential from the wealth of natural resources that include cobalt, copper, niobium, tantalum, petroleum, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, uranium, coal, hydropower, and timber.

Less than three percent of the land area of DROC is arable, but agriculture accounts for more than half the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Industry, on the other hand, produces only 11 percent of GDP. DROC has a distinct geography. In addition to straddling the equator, the country possesses a narrow strip of land that controls access to the lower Congo River and provides a 37-mile coast along the South Atlantic Ocean. Dense tropical rain forest spans the central river basin and the eastern highlands, covering almost one million square miles and comprising 47 percent of total African tropical forests. DROC shares land borders with Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, the Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. The low-lying plateau with its thick rainforest gives way to mountains in the east. Elevations range from sea level in the extreme west to 5,100 meters at Pic Marguerite on Mount Stanley in the northeast.

The tropical climate is generally hot and humid in the equatorial river basin. The southern highlands experience cool, dry weather, unlike the eastern highlands, where it is cooler and wetter. South of the Equator, the wet season (November to March) is followed by a six-month dry season. Elsewhere, a short dry season (December to February) is preceded by the wet season (April to October). Periodic droughts occur in the south. During the wet [Page 343]season, the Congo River is prone to flooding. The Great Rift Valley of the east is home to a number of active volcanoes.

The population of 62,600,000 is constantly threatened by poverty and disease. DROC has an HIV/AIDS rate of 4.2 percent. It is estimated that since 2003, the disease has killed 100,000 people, and 1.1 million others are living with it. Less than half the total population has sustained access to safe drinking water (29 percent in rural areas). Only 23 percent of rural residents have access to improved sanitation as compared to 29 percent of urban residents. Consequently, the Congolese have a very high risk of contracting food and waterborne diseases that include bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever as well as schistosomiasis, a disease caused by contact with infected water. Ricks of vectorborne diseases that include malaria, the plague, and African sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis) are high in some areas.

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