Congo, Democratic Republic of the
Top Sights & Landmarks
Background
Bantu, Sudanic, and other migrants from West and Northeastern Africa arrived in the Congo River Basin between 2000 B.C. and A.D. 500. The territory that is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo has more than 200 ethnic groups that trace their histories to many communal organizations and kingdoms. The Kingdom of Kongo, for example, ruled the area around the mouth of the Congo River from the 14th to 19th centuries. Meanwhile, the Kingdoms of Luba and Lunda, located to the south and east, were also notable political groupings in the territory and ruled from the 16th and 17th centuries to the 19th century. European prospectors in the Congo Basin invaded and splintered these kingdoms in the late 1800’s, sponsored by King LEOPOLD II of Belgium, and the kingdoms were eventually forced to grant Leopold the rights to the Congo territory as his private property. During this period, known as the Congo Free State, the king's private colonial military forced the local population to produce rubber. From 1885 to 1908, millions of Congolese people died as a result of disease and inhumane treatment. International condemnation finally forced LEOPOLD to cede the land to the state of Belgium, creating the Belgian Congo. The Republic of the Congo gained its independence from Belgium in 1960, but its early years were marred by instability. Col. Joseph MOBUTU seized power and declared himself president in a 1965 coup. He subsequently changed his name to MOBUTU Sese Seko and the country's name to Zaire. MOBUTU retained his position for 32 years, using sham elections and brute force. In 1994, a massive inflow of refugees from conflict in neighboring Rwanda and Burundi sparked ethnic strife and civil war. A rebellion backed by Rwanda and Uganda and fronted by Laurent KABILA toppled the MOBUTU regime in 1997. KABILA renamed the country the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In 1998, another insurrection -- again backed by Rwanda and Uganda -- challenged the KABILA regime, but troops from Angola, Chad, Namibia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe helped quell the uprising. In 2001, KABILA was assassinated, and his son, Joseph KABILA, was named head of state. In 2002, the new president negotiated the withdrawal of Rwandan forces occupying the eastern DRC; the remaining warring parties subsequently signed the Pretoria Accord to end the fighting and establish a government of national unity. KABILA was elected as president in 2006 and 2011. The DRC constitution barred him from running for a third term, so in 2016, the DRC Government delayed national elections for two years. This fueled significant civil and political unrest, with sporadic street protests and exacerbation of tensions in the eastern DRC regions. The results of the 2018 elections were disputed, but opposition candidate Felix TSHISEKEDI, son of long-time opposition leader Etienne TSHISEKEDI, was announced as the election winner. This was the first transfer of power to an opposition candidate without significant violence or a coup since 1960. In 2023, the DRC held its fourth electoral cycle since independence; TSHISEKEDI was proclaimed the winner despite some allegations of fraud, with his Sacred Union alliance retaining a large parliamentary majority. The DRC continues to experience violence -- particularly in the East -- perpetrated by more than 100 armed groups active in the region, including the March 23 (M23) rebel group, the ISIS-affiliated Allied Democratic Forces (ADF, or ISIS-DRC), the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), and assorted local militias known as Mai Mai militias. The UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) has operated in the region since 1999 and is the largest and most expensive UN peacekeeping mission in the world.
Location
Central Africa, northeast of Angola
Area
Elevation
Detailed Geography Information
Coastline
37 km
Geography - note
note 1: second-largest country in Africa (after Algeria) and largest country in sub-Saharan Africa; straddles the equator; dense tropical rainforest in central river basin and eastern highlands; the narrow strip of land that controls the lower Congo River is the DRC's only outlet to the South Atlantic Ocean note 2: the Congo River, most of which flows through the DRC, has never been accurately measured along much of its length because of its speed, cataracts, rapids, and turbulence; nonetheless, it is conceded to be the deepest river in the world, with estimates of the point of greatest depth varying between 220 and 250 meters
Irrigated land
110 sq km (2012)
Land boundaries
Major aquifers
Congo Basin
Major lakes (area sq km)
fresh water lake(s): Lake Tanganyika (shared with Burundi, Tanzania, and Zambia) - 32,000 sq km; Lake Albert (shared with Uganda) - 5,590 sq km; Lake Mweru (shared with Zambia) - 4,350 sq km; Lac Mai-Ndombe - 2,300 sq km; Lake Kivu (shared with Rwanda) - 2,220 sq km; Lake Edward (shared with Uganda) - 2,150 sq km; Lac Tumba - 500 sq km; Lac Upemba - 530 sq km
Major rivers (by length in km)
Zaïre (Congo) river mouth (shared with Zambia [s], Angola, and Republic of Congo) - 2,920 km; Ubangi river mouth (shared with Central African Republic [s] and Republic of Congo) - 2,270 km note: [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth
Major watersheds (area sq km)
Atlantic Ocean drainage: Congo (3,730,881 sq km), (Mediterranean Sea) Nile (3,254,853 sq km) Indian Ocean drainage: Zambezi (1,332,412 sq km)
Maritime claims
territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: since 2011, the DRC has had a Common Interest Zone agreement with Angola for the mutual development of off-shore resources
Natural hazards
periodic droughts in south; Congo River floods (seasonal); active volcanoes in the east along the Great Rift Valley volcanism: the active volcano Nyiragongo (3,470 m) poses a major threat to the city of Goma, home to a quarter of a million people; it produces unusually fast-moving lava, known to travel up to 100 km/hr; Nyiragongo has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; its neighbor Nyamuragira is Africa's most active volcano; Visoke is the only other historically active volcano
Natural resources
Terrain
vast central basin is a low-lying plateau; mountains in east
Population & Growth
Age Distribution
Demographic Longevity
Vital Dynamics
Detailed People & Society Information
Alcohol consumption per capita
0.56 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
25% (2023 est.)
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
58.2% (2018 est.)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio: 92.1 (2025 est.) youth dependency ratio: 87.3 (2025 est.) elderly dependency ratio: 4.8 (2025 est.) potential support ratio: 20.8 (2025 est.)
Education expenditure
2.8% of GDP (2022 est.) 13.5% national budget (2017 est.)
Ethnic groups
Gross reproduction rate
2.67 (2025 est.)
Health expenditure
3.8% of GDP (2021) 4% of national budget (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate
total: 55.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.) male: 62.9 deaths/1,000 live births female: 51.9 deaths/1,000 live births
Languages
Literacy
total population: 73.6% (2018 est.) male: 87.5% (2018 est.) female: 61.6% (2018 est.)
Major urban areas - population
16.316 million KINSHASA (capital), 2.892 million Mbuji-Mayi, 2.812 million Lubumbashi, 1.664 million Kananga, 1.423 million Kisangani, 1.249 million Bukavu (2023)
Maternal mortality ratio
427 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth
19.9 years (2013/14 est.) note: data represents median age at first birth among women 20-49
Nationality
noun: Congolese (singular and plural) adjective: Congolese or Congo
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
6.7% (2016)
Physician density
0.21 physicians/1,000 population (2022)
Population distribution
urban clusters are spread throughout the country, particularly in the northeast along the border with Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi; the largest city is the capital, Kinshasha, located in the west along the Congo River; the south is least densely populated, as shown in this population distribution map
Refugees and internally displaced persons
Religions
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female 0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
Tobacco use
total: 10.4% (2025 est.) male: 18.8% (2025 est.) female: 2.3% (2025 est.)
Climate & Issues
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)
Land Cover
Air & Carbon Emissions
Water Resources & Use
Detailed Environmental Information
International environmental agreements
Urbanization
urban population: 47.4% of total population (2023) rate of urbanization: 4.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Waste and recycling
municipal solid waste generated annually: 14.385 million tons (2024 est.) percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 6.4% (2022 est.)
Capital & State Profile
Executive Branch
Legislative Branch
National Identity & Symbols
sky-blue field divided diagonally from the lower-left corner to the upper-right corner by a red stripe bordered with two narrow yellow stripes; a five-pointed yellow star is in the upper-left corner
Detailed Government Information
Administrative divisions
26 provinces; Bas-Uele (Lower Uele), Equateur, Haut-Katanga (Upper Katanga), Haut-Lomami (Upper Lomami), Haut-Uele (Upper Uele), Ituri, Kasai, Kasai-Central, Kasai-Oriental (East Kasai), Kinshasa, Kongo Central, Kwango, Kwilu, Lomami, Lualaba, Mai-Ndombe, Maniema, Mongala, Nord-Kivu (North Kivu), Nord-Ubangi (North Ubangi), Sankuru, Sud-Kivu (South Kivu), Sud-Ubangi (South Ubangi), Tanganyika, Tshopo, Tshuapa
Citizenship
citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of the Democratic Republic of the Congo dual citizenship recognized: no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years
Constitution
history: several previous; latest adopted 13 May 2005, approved by referendum 18-19 December 2005, promulgated 18 February 2006 amendment process: proposed by the president of the republic, by the government, by either house of Parliament, or by public petition; agreement on the substance of a proposed bill requires absolute majority vote in both houses; passage requires a referendum only if both houses in joint meeting fail to achieve three-fifths majority vote; constitutional articles, including the form of government, universal suffrage, judicial independence, political pluralism, and personal freedoms, cannot be amended
Country name
conventional long form: Democratic Republic of the Congo conventional short form: DRC local long form: République démocratique du Congo local short form: RDC former: Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Congo/Leopoldville, Congo/Kinshasa, Zaire abbreviation: DRC (or DROC) etymology: named for the Congo River, most of which lies within the DRC; the river name derives from Kongo, a Bantu kingdom in the area
International law organization participation
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
International organization participation
Judicial branch
highest court(s): Court of Cassation or Cour de Cassation (consists of 26 justices and organized into legislative and judiciary sections); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 judges) judge selection and term of office: Court of Cassation judges nominated by the Judicial Service Council, an independent body of public prosecutors and selected judges of the lower courts; judge tenure NA; Constitutional Court judges - 3 nominated by the president, 3 by the Judicial Service Council, and 3 by the legislature; judges appointed by the president to serve 9-year non-renewable terms with one third of the membership renewed every 3 years subordinate courts: State Security Court; Court of Appeals (organized into administrative and judiciary sections); Tribunal de Grande Instance; magistrates' courts; customary courts
Legal system
civil law system primarily based on Belgian law, but also customary and tribal law
National heritage
total World Heritage Sites: 5 (all natural) selected World Heritage Site locales: Garamba National Park; Kahuzi-Biega National Park; Okapi Wildlife Reserve; Salonga National Park; Virunga National Park
Political parties
Christian Democrat Party or PDC Congolese Rally for Democracy or RCD Convention of Christian Democrats or CDC Engagement for Citizenship and Development or ECIDE Forces of Renewal or FR Movement for the Liberation of the Congo or MLC Nouvel Elan Our Congo or CNB ("Congo Na Biso") People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy or PPRD Social Movement for Renewal or MSR Together for Change ("Ensemble") Unified Lumumbist Party or PALU Union for the Congolese Nation or UNC Union for Democracy and Social Progress or UDPS
Suffrage
18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Economic Overview
very poor, large, natural resource-rich sub-Saharan country; possesses the world’s second largest rainforest; increasing Chinese extractive sector trade; massive decrease in government investments; increasing current account deficit and public debts
Size & Performance
GDP Sector Breakdown
Trade Balance
Budget Balance
Export Profile
Top Export Partners
Major Export Commodities
Import Profile
Top Import Partners
Major Import Commodities
Labor & Employment
Income Inequality
Family Income / Consumption Share
Detailed Economic Data
Agricultural products
Current account balance
-$3.883 billion (2023 est.) -$3.148 billion (2022 est.) -$587.407 million (2021 est.) note: balance of payments - net trade and primary/secondary income in current dollars
Debt - external
$7.926 billion (2023 est.) note: present value of external debt in current US dollars
Exchange rates
Congolese francs (CDF) per US dollar - Exchange rates: 2,340.036 (2023 est.) 2,006.708 (2022 est.) 1,989.391 (2021 est.) 1,851.122 (2020 est.) 1,647.76 (2019 est.)
GDP - composition, by end use
Industrial production growth rate
10.1% (2024 est.) note: annual % change in industrial value added based on constant local currency
Industries
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
41.5% (2017 est.) 2.9% (2016 est.) 0.7% (2015 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices
Public debt
16% of GDP (2022 est.) note: central government debt as a % of GDP
Remittances
4.9% of GDP (2023 est.) 5% of GDP (2022 est.) 2.4% of GDP (2021 est.) note: personal transfers and compensation between resident and non-resident individuals/households/entities
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold
$5.104 billion (2023 est.) $4.378 billion (2022 est.) $3.467 billion (2021 est.) note: holdings of gold (year-end prices)/foreign exchange/special drawing rights in current dollars
Taxes and other revenues
11.4% (of GDP) (2022 est.) note: central government tax revenue as a % of GDP
Grid Infrastructure
Generation Mix
Fossil Fuels Production
Intensity & Nuclear
Digital Access
Active internet users as a percentage of the total population.
Fixed Broadband
Mobile Cellular
Broadcast Media
Aviation
Railways
Ports & Harbors
Merchant Marine
Military Expenditures
Active Duty Strengths
estimated 100-150,000 active FARDC (2025)
Service & Defense Details
Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Forces d'Armees de la Republique Democratique du Congo, FARDC): Land Forces (Forces Terrestres), National Navy (La Marine Nationale), Congolese Air Force (Force Aerienne Congolaise, FAC); Republican Guard (Garde Républicaine, GR) Ministry of Interior: Congolese National Police (Police Nationale Congolaise, PNC) (2025) note: the Republican Guard is overseen by the office of the presidency rather than the FARDC; it focuses on protecting the president and government institutions and enforcing internal security note 2: community-based self-defense groups, known as Wazalendo militias, are also active in areas contested by illegal armed groups, such as M23
the FARDC is equipped mostly with Soviet-era and older French armaments; in recent years, it has received some more modern equipment, such as armored vehicles and armed drones, from China, South Africa, Turkey, and the UAE (2025)
the FARDC’s primary focus is internal security and conducting operations against rebels and other illegal armed groups (IOGs) operating in the DRC, particularly in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu, where more than 15 significant and cohesive IOGs operate; there is also IOG-related violence in Maniema, Kasai, Kasai Central, and Tanganyika provinces; some estimates place over 100 IOGs operating in the country, including organized militias, such as the Nduma Defense of Congo-Renewal (NDC-R), which operates in North Kivu; Mai Mai groups (local militias that operate variously as self-defense networks and criminal rackets); and foreign-origin groups seeking safe haven and resources, such as the Ugandan-origin Allied Democratic Forces (ADF; aka Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham in the DRC), the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), multiple groups originating from Burundi, the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), and the Rwandan-backed March 23 Movement (aka M23 or Congolese Revolutionary Army); the FARDC incorporates some non-state armed groups and has been accused of collaborating with some IOGs, such as the NDC-R the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has operated in the central and eastern parts of the country since 1999; its mandate had been extended to the end of 2026; MONUSCO includes a Force Intervention Brigade (FIB), the first ever UN peacekeeping force specifically tasked to carry out targeted offensive operations to neutralize and disarm groups considered a threat to state authority and civilian security (2025)
18-35 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; 18-45 years of age for compulsory military service for men; it is unclear how much conscription is used (2025) note: in eastern Congo, fighters from armed groups, including some associated with government security forces, have been accused of forced recruitment of child soldiers