Democratic Republic of Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) is a large African country on the equator with a small coastline where the Congo River empties to the Atlantic Ocean, with a population of 60.7 million and capital city of Kinshasa. The country of Republic of Congo (or Congo) neighbors just to the west and north.

DR Congo, which has vast economic resources, has been in a five year war which has been called Africa's world war where around three million people have died, not only from direct fighting but also from resulting disease and starvation. The country now has the United Nations' largest peacekeeping force.

Deforestation
"Among the major timber firms in the DRC is an American company called Safbois, owned by a secretive family firm called the Blattner Group."

Media
The BBC says of the country's media:


 * The Congolese media operate against a backdrop of political power struggles and violent unrest. Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders says media workers face arrest, threats and violence. Reporters exposing corruption are at particular risk. Nonetheless, the press has been able to criticise government bodies, and some publications serve as mouthpieces for opposition parties.


 * The UN Mission in DR Congo (Monuc) and a Swiss-based organisation, Fondation Hirondelle, launched Radio Okapi in 2002. The network's mostly-Congolese staff broadcast news, music and information about Monuc. It aims to promote dialogue across the political divide and has become one of the country's leading radio stations.

Leaders

 * Joseph Kabila, President since 2001 when his father was assassinated. Was elected in 2006.

Critical Books

 * Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, The Congo from Leopold to Kabila: A People's History (Zed, 2002).
 * Samuel Nelson, Colonialism in the Congo Basin, 1880-1940 (Ohio University Press, 1994).
 * Ludo Martens, Pierre Mulele and the Kwilu Peasant Uprising in Zaire (Zed, 1993).

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Congo Basin Forest Partnership
 * Fortunat Lumu
 * HEAL Africa
 * Souls in Stride
 * Feronia - major oil palm producer

External articles

 * Martin Plaut, "DR Congo: Path to peace?", BBC, December 24, 2007.

External resources

 * Timeline: Democratic Republic of Congo, BBC, accessed March 2008.
 * DR Congo: Voices of violence, BBC, October 17, 2007.
 * Björn Aust and Willem Jaspers, "From Resource War to ‘Violent Peace’: Transition in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)", paper 50, BICC.