Country profile: Democratic Republic of Congo (BBC News)

The five-year conflict pitted government forces, supported by Angola,
Namibia and Zimbabwe, against rebels backed by Uganda and Rwanda.
Despite a peace deal and the formation of a transitional government in
2003, the threat of civil war remains.

The war claimed an estimated three million lives, either as a direct
result of fighting or because of disease and malnutrition. It has been
called possibly the worst emergency to unfold in Africa in recent
decades.

 

The war had an economic as well as a political side. Fighting was
fuelled by the country's vast mineral wealth, with all sides taking
advantage of the anarchy to plunder natural resources.

 

The history of DR Congo
has been one of civil war and corruption. After independence in 1960,
the country immediately faced an army mutiny and an attempt at
secession by its mineral-rich province of Katanga.

A year later, its prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, was seized and killed by troops loyal to army chief Joseph Mobutu.

In 1965 Mobutu seized power, later renaming the country Zaire and
himself Mobutu Sese Seko. He turned Zaire into a springboard for
operations against Soviet-backed Angola and thereby ensured US backing.
But he also made Zaire synonymous with corruption.

 

After the Cold War, Zaire ceased to be of interest to the US. Thus,
when in 1997 neighbouring Rwanda invaded it to flush out extremist Hutu
militias, it gave a boost to the anti-Mobutu rebels, who quickly
captured the capital, Kinshasa, installed Laurent Kabila as president
and renamed the country DR Congo.

Nonetheless, DR Congo's troubles continued. A rift between
Mr Kabila and his former allies sparked a new rebellion, backed by
Rwanda and Uganda. Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe took Kabila's side,
turning the country into a vast battleground.

Despite coup attempts and sporadic violence a fragile
peace has held since the formal end of the war. But the Kinshasa
government has no control over large parts of the country and tension
remains high in the east.

 

Moreover, the lot of
DR Congo's citizens is little improved. The Crisis Group, a
Brussels-based think-tank, said in 2005 that 1,000 people were dying
every day from war-related causes, including disease, hunger and
violence.

 

• Full name:

  Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Population:

  62.6 million (UN, 2007)

• Capital:

  Kinshasa

• Area:

  2.34 million sq km (905,354 sq miles)

• Major languages:

  French, Lingala, Kiswahili, Kikongo, Tshiluba

• Major religions:

  Christianity, Islam

• Life expectancy:

  45 years (men), 48 years (women) (UN)

• Monetary unit:

  1 Congolese franc = 100 centimes

• Main exports:

  Diamonds, copper, coffee, cobalt, crude oil

• GNI per capita:

  US $120 (World Bank, 2006)

• Internet domain:

  .cd

• International dialling code:

  +243

 

President:

Joseph Kabila

Joseph Kabila became Congo's president when his father Laurent was
assassinated in 2001. He gained a mandate through the ballot box to
rule the vast country as its elected leader in an election in 2006.

 

The historic presidential election was intended to bring a new era of
stability after years of war, dictatorship and chaos. The vote was
generally praised by international monitors.

Mr Kabila has enjoyed the clear support of western
governments such as the US and France, regional allies such as South
Africa and Angola and businessmen and mining magnates who have signed
multi-million dollar deals under his rule.

He is a former guerrilla fighter who participated in nearly a decade of war that ravaged the country.

He fought alongside his father in a military campaign from the east
that toppled dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997 after more than 20 years
as the despotic, whimsical and corrupt leader of the nation he had
renamed Zaire.

But when Laurent Kabila was killed by a bodyguard in
2001, his soft-spoken, publicity-shy son, who received military
training in China, was thrust into the political limelight and
installed as the world's youngest head of state.

He swapped his military fatigues for elegant business
suits, but – in contrast to his chubby, jovial and temperamental father
– remained a reserved figure.

Mr Kabila has promised to rule by consensus to try to heal the still raw scars of Congo's many conflicts.

Though revered in the Swahili-speaking east, where he is widely
credited with helping to end Congo's 1998-2003 war, he is less liked in
the west.

Joseph Kabila is the eldest of 10 children fathered by
Laurent Kabila. He spent much of his early life in East Africa, where
his dissident father lived in exile.

 

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.

There are several daily newspapers and many more
sporadic publications. In addition, there are dozens of private TV
stations and more than 100 private radio stations, some of which
broadcast news.

Radio is the dominant medium; a handful of stations,
including state-run RTNC, broadcast across the country. Three TV
channels have near-national coverage.

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.

In 2007 Monuc said it was "gravely alarmed" at the
rising incidence of hate speech, including in newspapers and in TV and
radio commentaries.

The BBC is available on FM in Kinshasa (92.6),
Lubumbashi (92.0) and Kisangani (92.0). Listeners in the capital can
hear Radio France Internationale broadcasts from neighbouring
Brazzaville.

The press

• Le Potentiel

  – daily

• La Reference Plus

  – daily

• L'Avenir

  – daily

• Le Soft

  – weekly

• Le Palmares – daily

• L'Observateur

  – daily

• Elima – evening daily

• Boyoma – daily

• Mjumbe – daily

Television

• Radio-Television Nationale Congolaise (RTNC) – state-run terrestrial and satellite TV with near-national coverage

• RTGA

  – private

• Digital Congo – private, near-national coverage

• Raga TV – private, near-national coverage

Radio

• La Voix du Congo – operated by RTNC, broadcasting in French, Swahili, Lingala, Tshiluba and Kikongo

• Radio Okapi

  – UN-backed politically-independent network, on FM and shortwave

• Raga FM – private, carries some BBC World Service output

• Top Congo FM

  – private

News agencies

• Agence Congolaise de Presse (ACP)

  – state-controlled