The Democratic Republic Of the Congo http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/africa/democratic-republic-of-congo/ By: Lizzy C. #4 and Lizzy L.#8 The Democratic Republic Of the Congo "Justice – Peace – Work“ (Motto)
The Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the third largest in Africa. It is located in central Africa. It is about one fourth the size of the United States. Its land area occupies about 875,520 square miles, and its total area amounts to about 905,568 square miles. The capital is Kinshasa. The prime minister of the country is currently Adolphe Muzito, governing the transitional government. This country has many interesting facts and information that we will inform you of. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/be.html http://www.topnews.in/regions/goma
Movement of People and Goods: Colonial Information and Additional History Previously the Belgian Congo, was colonized by Negrito people (Pygmies), who were forced into the mountains by Bantu and Nilotic attackers. The American reporter named Henry M. Stanley found his way to the Congo River in 1877 and started the inner core to the search. Commissioned by King Leopold II of the Belgians, Stanley created pacts with foreign generals that allowed the king to acquire personal ownership to the area at the Berlin Conference of 1885. Leopold gained a huge amount of money from ivory and rubber through Congolese slavery; about 10 million people died from enforced work, hunger, and straight forward killing throughout Leopold's period in power. His extreme brutality and misfortune he brought to the Congo became a worldwide result of célèbre, influencing Belgium to take over government and gain control of the Congo, which stayed a colony until a fight for freedom unwilling made Brussels grant independence on June 30, 1960. http://www.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/belgian_congo/index.html
In Other Words. . . . . . The Democratic Republic of the Congo was originally harshly controlled by King Leopold the second. Later Belgian, however gained control. The Democratic Republic of the Congo eventually was granted its independence, June of 1960, after putting up a fight. Its original name was Zaire prior to its independence. http://www.usafricaonline.com/2010/07/03/congo-fire-230killed/
More History Since the 19th century the cultural lifestyle have developed changes due to colonialism because of the efforts toward gaining independence, and fail of the Mobutu era, and the latest was the First and Second Congo Wars. However, through all these anxieties, the lifestyle of the Congo have obtained much of their distinctiveness. The country's 60 million civilians are mostly country area. The 30 percent who live in the city have been the most accepting to Western cultures. http://www.rechargebiomedical.com/blog/uncategorized/the-seven-deadliest-wars/
Continuation of Movement of People and Goods : Chief Exports & Imports Chief Export Information The country’s profit is earned almost completely from selling their prominent products, which are susceptible to quick changes worldwide price-ranges. The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s chief exports are coffee, sugarcane palm oil, rubber, tea, quinine, and cotton. Another additional export is petroleum. This product gives a large amount of the export’s income. Other chief exports include coffee, sugarcane palm oil, rubber, tea, quinine, and cotton. 6.1 billion Chief Import Information Democratic Republic of Congo’s major imports includes: Foodstuffs machinery transport equipment fuels consumer goods 5.2 billion http://www.internationalrivers.org/taxonomy/term/421 http://www.kcshop.com/imagegallery/CongoDemocraticRepublic.htm
Continuation of Movement of People and Goods: Top Travel Destinations The top travel destinations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are : Butembo Kolwezi Bunia Katanga Goma Kinshasa Lubumbashi Bukavu http://thepurplejournal.wordpress.com/2008/06/29/family-a-blessing/
Location: Coordinates and General Location The Democratic Republic of the Congo is located in central Africa. The coordinates are: 2°52′48″S 23°39′22″E / 2.88°S 23.656°E The Democratic Republic of the Congo http://www.countryreports.org/country.aspx?countryid=57&countryName=Democratic%20Republic%20of%20the%20Congo
Regions: Ethnic Groups There are many ethnic groups that live in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is a very diverse and integrated country. There are two hundred African ethnic groups, but most are Bantu. The four largest tribes are the Mongo, the Luba, the Kongo, and the Mangbetu Azande. Forty five percent of the population are Hamitic. There also a number of different religious groups in this country. These include: Catholic (50%) Protestant (20%) Kimbanguist (10%) Islam (10%) There are ten percent of people who practice other religions. _____________________________________ _________________________ http://jcp.bmj.com/content/62/1/35.full
Continuation of Regions: Bordering Bodies of Water and Countries The Democratic Republic of Congo is bordered by the Central African Republic, the Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, and the Atlantic Ocean. http://www.terredelsud.org/mbuji-mayieng.php http://www.virtualsources.com/Countries/Africa%20Countries/CongoDRC.htm
https://www. cia. gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/be https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/be.html
Place: Physical Features and Natural Resources The natural resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are cobalt, copper, niobium, tantalum, petroleum, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, uranium, coal, hydropower, and timber. The key physical features are Lake Tanganyika (32,00kmsq.), River Congo- Lualaba (4,630km), and the Nyamuragira volcano. http://schools-wikipedia.org/wp/c/Congo_River.htm http://historyofgeology.blogspot.com/2010/11/nyamuragira-and-nyiragongo-history-of.html http://community-2.webtv.net/VIP_Aquatics2/LakeTanganyika/page2.html
Continuation of Place : Where do most people live? Most people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo live in the mountains in the far east, or that is where the country is mostly populated. http://www.africa.travel-101.info/page/3/
Major Industries MAJOR INDUSTRIES: Agriculture Clothing Foodstuffs Forestry Mining Oil Refining Textiles.
The Trade Partners The country’s main trade partners are Belgium United States South Africa France Finland Zambia Kenya Germany China All of these flag images are from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/be.html
Human Environmental Interaction: Climate There are various climate zones in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The climate is in the tropical zone in the lower western and central regions. It is hot and humid. There is often a heavy rainfall, however during the months of October or November through May in the southern parts below the equator. In the month of April to November in the northern area, bordering the equator there is only one, main season. The northeastern regions, have reasonably moderate temperature and weather, however. Average yearly temperatures are 25°C (77°F) in the south central basin and 17° to 20°C (63° to 68°F) at altitudes of 5,000 ft. Average yearly rainfall in Kinshasa is 56 inches when in Lubumbashi it is 45 inches.
Continuation of Human Environmental Interaction: Climate Affects The climate does have an impact on the people of the country depending on what location they are within the country. The people of the western and central regions have to attire in light and cool clothing because of the hot and humid weather in which they are living in throughout the day. The warm weather results to there being a lot of farming. Due to the large amounts of rain forest one main occupation is hunting. People living in the northern parts are not affected to much by their weather because it is very moderate all year round. http://drccoalition.blogspot.com/2007/04/world-bank-threatens-congos-rainforest.html http://www.zeeburgnieuws.nl/nieuws/mb_forests.html http://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/5123612604/
People and Population Information The original language is French. But almost all Zaireans speak Bantu languages of the Niger-Congo family of languages with Lingala, Swahili, Kikongo and Tshiluba the most prominent. The overall facts and percentages of people who are literate or that can read and write: Age 15 and over can read and write French, Lingala, Kingwana, or Tshiluba. Total population: 67.2% Male: 80.9% Female: 54.1% (2001 est.) _________________________________________________ ( website updated January 13, 2011) The population has rose to 70,916,439 people Population growth rate-3.165% The population in the urban area 34% of the total population http://www.fotopedia.com/wiki/Demographics_of_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo
Sites http://www.southtravels.com/africa/drcongo/weather.html Congo, Democratic Republic of the : History, Geography, Government, and Culture — Infoplease.comhttp://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0198161.html?pageno=7#ixzz14hv1YN55 Democratic Republic of the Congo: Land and People — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0857520.html#ixzz14Ed78lOf Democratic Republic of the Congo: Economy — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0857521.html#ixzz14EdzIsRf www.wordtravels.com/.../Democratic+Republic...Congo/Climate www.globalgayz.com/.../Congo,%20The%20Democratic%20Republic%20of%20the/COD - e www.canadiancontent.net/.../Democratic-Republic-of-the-Congo.html - Cached - Similar https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ao.html www.africaguide.com/country/zaire/ - Cached - Similar