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U.S. Department of State

Diplomacy in Action

Congo (Kinshasa) (06/05)



Flag of Democratic Republic of the Congo is light blue with large yellow five-pointed star in center and columnar arrangement of six small yellow five-pointed stars along hoist side.


Democratic Republic of the Congo

Location: Central Africa. Bordering nations--Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia.
Area: 2.345 sq. km. (905,063 sq. mi.; about the size of the U.S. east of the Mississippi).
Cities: Capital--Kinshasa (pop. 6.5 million). Regional capitals--Bandundu, Bukavu, Goma, Kananga, Kindu, Kisangani, Lubumbashi, Matadi, Mbandaka, Mbuji-Mayi.
Terrain: Varies from tropical rainforests to mountainous terraces, plateau, savannas, dense grasslands, and mountains.
Climate: Equatorial; ranges from tropical rainforest in the Congo River basin, hot and humid in much of the north and west, cooler and drier in the south central area and the east.

Nationality: Noun and adjective--Congolese.
Population (2004 est.): 58 million.
Annual growth rate (2004 est.): 2.99%.
Education: Literacy (2004 est.)--65.5% in French or local language. Schooling (2000 est.)--none 41.7%, primary 42.2%, secondary 15.4%, university 0.7%.
Health (2004 est.): Infant mortality rate--94.69/1,000 live births. Life expectancy--49 yrs.

Type: Republic; highly centralized with executive power vested in the president.
Independence: June 30, 1960 (from Belgium).
Constitution: June 24, 1967; amended August 1974; revised February 15, 1978; amended April 1990; transitional constitution promulgated April 1994; Constitutional Act promulgated May 1997; draft constitution proposed but not finalized March 1998; transitional constitution adopted on April 2, 2003. A new constitution was passed by the transitional parliament on May 2005. It will now be up for approval through a national referendum at the end of 2005. To be implemented by July 2006.
Branches: Executive--President is head of state and head of government, assisted by four vice presidents. Cabinet is 35-member executive appointed by signatories to the December 17, 2002 all-inclusive agreement. There is no prime minister. Legislative--A transitional parliament, consisting of approximately 500 members, is based in Kinshasa; members are appointed by signatories to the December 17, 2002 all-inclusive agreement. Judicial--Supreme Court (Cour Supreme).
Administrative subdivisions: Ten provinces and the capital city, Kinshasa. A provincial governor, who is appointed and dismissed by the president, administers each province.
Political parties: President Joseph Kabila's party is Parti du Peuple pour la Reconstruction et le Developpement (PPRD). Main opposition parties include Union pour la Democratie et le Progres Social (UDPS), Forces du Futur (FDF), Forces Novatrices pour l'Union et la Solidarite (FONUS), Parti Democrate Social Chretien (PDSC), Mouvement Social Democratie et Developpement (MSDD), Mouvement Populaire de la Revolution--Fait Prive (MPR-FP), Union des Nationalistes et des Federalistes Congolais (UNAFEC), and Mouvement National Congolais/ Lumumba (MNC/L). Former rebel movements-turned-political parties include the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie (RCD), Mouvement pour la Liberation du Congo (MLC), and independent splinter groups of the RCD (RCD-ML, RCD-N).
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory.

GDP (2003): $5.6 billion.
Annual GDP growth rate (2003): 5%.
Per capita GDP (2003): $98.65.
Currency: Congolese franc (FC).
Trade: Exports (2002)--$1.040 billion. Products--diamonds, cobalt, copper, coffee, petroleum. Partners--E.U., Japan, South Africa, U.S., China. Imports (2002)--$1.216 billion. Products--consumer goods (food, textiles), capital equipment, refined petroleum products. Partners--E.U., China, South Africa, U.S.
Total external debt (2002): $8.211 billion. (Currently under revision due to HIPC decision point in 2003.)








Within the first year of independence, several events destabilized the country: the army mutinied; the governor of Katanga province attempted secession; a UN peacekeeping force was called in to restore order; Prime Minister Lumumba died under mysterious circumstances; and Col. Joseph D�sir� Mobutu (later Mobutu Sese Seko) took over the government and ceded it again to President Kasavubu.








In February 1999, Uganda backed the formation of a rebel group called the Mouvement pour la Liberation du Congo (MLC), which drew support from among ex-Mobutuists and ex-FAZ soldiers in Equateur province (Mobutu's home province). Together, Uganda and the MLC established control over the northern third of the D.R.C.




This partial agreement was never implemented, and negotiations resumed in South Africa in October 2002. This time, the talks led to an all-inclusive powersharing agreement, which was signed by delegates in Pretoria on December 17, 2002, and formally ratified by all parties on April 2, 2003. Following nominations by each of the various signatory groups, President Kabila on June 30, 2003 issued a decree that formally announced the transitional government lineup. The four vice presidents took the oath of office on July 17, 2003, and most incoming ministers assumed their new functions within days thereafter. This transitional government is slated to remain in place until local, legislative and presidential elections--the first since 1960--are held in 2005 and 2006.

Multi-party elections in the D.R.C. have not been held since 1960. A transitional constitution was adopted on April 2, 2003. Extensive executive, legislative, and military powers are vested in the president and vice presidents. The legislature does not have the power to overturn the government through a vote of no confidence. The judiciary is nominally independent; the president has the power to dismiss and appoint judges. The president is head of a 35-member cabinet of ministers.


Principal Government Officials
President--Joseph Kabila
Vice President--Jean-Pierre Bemba
Vice President--Azarias Ruberwa
Vice President--Abdoulaye Yerodia Ndombasi
Vice President--Arthur Z'Ahidi Ngoma

Key Ministers
Foreign Affairs--Raymond Ramazani
Defense--Adolphe Onusumba
Interior--Theophile Mbemba
Finance--Andre-Philippe Futa
Justice--Honorius Ksimba Ngoy
Information and Press--Henri Mova Sakanyi









D.R.C.'s relations with neighboring countries have often been driven by security concerns, leading to intricate and interlocking alliances. Domestic conflicts in the Central African Republic, Sudan, Uganda, Angola, Rwanda, and Burundi have at various times created bilateral and regional tensions. The current crisis in eastern D.R.C. has its roots both in the use of the Congo as a base by various insurgency groups attacking neighboring countries and in the absence of a strong Congolese Government with a military capable of securing Congo's borders. The war has been exacerbated and prolonged by the exploitation of Congo's resources by neighboring countries. Although 2003 and early 2004 saw a number of improvements in regional relations, mid-to-late 2004 was marked by increased tension between the D.R.C. and Rwanda.

Its dominating position in Central Africa makes stability in the D.R.C. an important element of overall stability in the region. The United States supports the transitional government and encourages peace, prosperity, democracy, and respect for human rights in the D.R.C. The United States remains a partner with the D.R.C. and other central African nations in their quest for stability and growth on the continent, and facilitated the signing of a tripartite agreement on regional security in the Great Lakes region between the D.R.C., Rwanda, and Uganda in October 2004. The United States also strongly supported U.N. efforts to create a Joint Verification Mechanism to monitor the border between the D.R.C. and Rwanda.


The United States appointed its current ambassador to the D.R.C. in 2004. The D.R.C. appointed its current ambassador to the United States in 2000. There is no current U.S. direct bilateral aid to the Government of the Congo. USAID's 2004 program in the D.R.C. totaled $120 million, for use by international and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for a wide range of relief and developmental activities throughout the country. The Congo has been on the State Department's travel advisory list since 1977.

Principal U.S. Officials
Ambassador--Roger Meece
Deputy Chief of Mission--Thomas Dougherty


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