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The Democratic Republic of Congo is located in Central Africa, northeast of Angola. It is the second largest country in Africa after Algeria.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was first established as an official Belgian colony in 1908. The country gained its independence in 1960.
The capital and largest city of DRC is Kinshasa. It’s also the second leading French-speaking city in the world. Once a site of fishing villages, the city is currently an urban area and has a population of over 11 million people.
Kinshasa is opposite Brazzaville, the Republic of the Congo’s capital city which is visible across the Congo River making them the two closest capital cities on Earth.
DRC has over 200 different languages making it one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world. The most common native languages are Kikongo in the southwest, Lingala in the northwest, Tshiluba in the centre and Swahili in the east. French is spoken and understood throughout the whole country.
Christianity is practiced by 80% of Congolese people. Denominations include Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20% and Kimbanguist 10% (a Christian-inspired Congolese church). Muslims form about 10% and the religious groups represented in much smaller numbers include Jehovah’s Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Orthodox Christians, and Jews.
The mining sector earns most of DRC’s revenues. Its untapped deposits of raw minerals are estimated to be worth in excess of US $24 trillion, which makes it one of the Africa’s richest countries in natural resources.
It has important deposits of valuable metals and minerals such as diamonds, gold, uranium, zinc and coltan (a metal used in electronic devices).
Natural landmarks make up the bulk of attractions found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These include volcanoes, vast lakes and waterfalls. Some of them are Congo River, active Nyiragongo Volcano, Lake Tanganyika, Zongo Falls and Kisatu Catholic Cathedral, just to mention a few.