ablished as a Belgian colony in 1908, the Republic of the Congo
gained its independence in 1960, but its early years were marred by
political and social instability. Col. Joseph MOBUTU seized power
and declared himself president in a November 1965 coup. He
subsequently changed his name - to MOBUTU Sese Seko - as well as
that of the country - to Zaire. MOBUTU retained his position for 32
years through several subsequent sham elections, as well as through
the use of brutal force. Ethnic strife and civil war, touched off by
a massive inflow of refugees in 1994 from fighting in Rwanda and
Burundi, led in May 1997 to the toppling of the MOBUTU regime by a
rebellion led by Laurent KABILA. He renamed the country the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), but in August 1998 his
regime was itself challenged by an insurrection backed by Rwanda and
Uganda. Troops from Angola, Chad, Namibia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe
intervened to support the Kinshasa regime. A cease-fire was signed
in July 1999 by the DRC, Congolese armed rebel groups, Angola,
Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zimbabwe but sporadic fighting
continued. Laurent KABILA was assassinated in January 2001 and his
son, Joseph KABILA, was named head of state. In October 2002, the
new president was successful in negotiating the withdrawal of
Rwandan forces occupying eastern Congo; two months later, the
Pretoria Accord was signed by all remaining warring parties to end
the fighting and establish a government of national unity. A
transitional government was set up in July 2003; with Joseph KABILA
as president and joined by four vice presidents representing the
former government, former rebel groups, and the political
opposition. The transitional government held a successful
constitutional referendum in December 2005 and elections for the
presidency, National Assembly, and provincial legislatures in 2006.
KABILA was inaugurated president in December 2006.

Geography Congo, Democratic Republic of the

Location:
Central Africa, northeast of Angola

Geographic coordinates:
0 00 N, 25 00 E

Map references:
Africa

Area:
total: 2,345,410 sq km
land: 2,267,600 sq km
water: 77,810 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly less than one-fourth the size of the US

Land boundaries:
total: 10,730 km
border countries: Angola 2,511 km (of which 225 km is the boundary
of Angola's discontiguous Cabinda Province),