The Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo Virginia Paige Pruett

Table of Contents • Taken Over • Independence • Congo Wars (1 & 2) • Culture • Tribes • Instruments • Food • Religion • Economy • Closing

King Leopold II Take Over In 1885 King Leopold II took over the area known as the Congo Free State. While it appeared to be the property of Belgium, it was actually the personal property of King Leopold. He used the Congo Free State as to make money, when his began to murder and abuse the people of the Congo Free state, he pretended not to notice. After his death though, thing began to change for the better.

Independence After many series of unrest and riots, Belgians realized they couldn’t preserve control of such a vast country. They publicized on January 27, 1960 that they would surrender control in six months. The Congo was granted its independence on June 30, 1960, adopting the name “Republic of the Congo”. As the French colony of Middle Congo also chose the name Republic of Congo upon receiving its independence, the two countries were more commonly known as Congo- Leopoldville and Congo-Brazzaville, after their capital cities. The name was changed to Zaire in 1966 by President Mobutu.

Congo Wars (1 & 2) By 1996, tensions from the neighboring Rwanda war and genocide had spilled over to Zaire. Rwandan Hutumilitary forces, who’d cowardly ran from Rwanda following the ascension of a Tutsi-led government, had been using Hutu refugee camps in eastern Zaire as a basis for invasion against Rwanda. These Hutu military forces soon allied with the Zairian armed forces (FAZ) to launch a campaign against Congolese ethnic Tutsis in eastern Zaire. In turn, these Tutsis formed a military to defend themselves against attacks. When the Zairian government began to escalate its massacres in November 1996, the Tutsi militias erupted in rebellion against Mobutu.

Congo Wars (1 & 2) continued… Tutsi military was rapidly joined by various opposing groups and supported by several countries, including Rwanda and Uganda. This partnership, led by Laurent-DesireKabila, was soon known as the Alliance des ForcesDemocratiques pour la Liberation du Congo Zaire (AFDL). The AFDL, with an extensive goal of banishing Mobutu, made momentous military gains in 1997. Following failed peace talks between Mobutu and Kabila in May 1997, Mobutu left the country, and Kabila marched unopposed to Kinshasa on May 20. Kabila named himself president, consolidated power around himself and the AFDL, and reverted the name of the country to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Culture The Democratic Republic Congo people (Congolese) have a variety of different ethnicities and cultures. This was brought on after many invasions on their country and the multiple wars. Although, two of the most prominent ethnicities are the Pygmies and the Zulus.

Tribes Zulu: The Zulu are the largest ethnic group in South Africa. They are well known for their beautiful brightly colored beads, baskets, and carvings. Pygmies: There are many different 'Pygmy' people – such as the Bambuti, the Batwa, the Bayaka and the Bagyeli – who live scattered over a huge area in central and western Africa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo , Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. Zulu Beadwork Pygmy Tribe Dancing

Instruments The traditional music of the Democratic Republic of Congo is Folk. To create the sound they want they use instruments like the thumb piano and an assortment of drums such as the congas. Congas Thumb Piano

Food Fufu : A sticky dough- like ball made with cassava flour and usually served with a light soup. Pilipili: An extremely spicy pepper served with almost every dish Ndakala: A small pan fried fish

Religion The two main religions are Christianity and Islam, although most are Catholic with little to no atheist. Both religions are monotheistic, meaning they believe in only one god. Their holy books the bible (Christianity) and the torah (Islam) are similar. They have their roots back to Abraham and share multiple common beliefs. Although, despite these many similarities, their theologies are quite different and have many differences too. Islamic Symbol Christian Cross

Economy After decades of horrid abuse the Democratic republic of Congo’s economy is finally recovering. The country has immense potential to become quite wealthy. They have a wonderful agriculture! They grow crops like cassava, coffee, tea, and cotton and raise animals. Their mining companies alone would be enough to make them one of the richest countries in the world with minerals such as gold, silver, and diamonds. But they still have a long way to go especially after the economy collapsed in the 1990’s. CassavaRoot Raw Diamonds

Closing The Democratic Republic of Congo was an incredibly interesting country to research. They have suffered civil wars and atrocious leaders, and are just now starting to grasp the idea of stability. I believe this country could one day be quite powerful with their many produces and rare resources, but not until they realize what it is they have been doing that just isn’t working and find a suitable leader. Sadly though, this could take years, if not decades to complete such a task.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo