The Democratic

Republic of Congo
General Information
Area: 2 345 000 sq km

Capital: Kinshasa (pop. 8 million)

Population (2010 est.): 68 million

Ethnic groups: Approximately 250

African ethnic groups; the Luba, Kongo,
and Anamongo are some of the larger
groups.

Language: Official – French; National
languages - Lingala, Swahili, Kikongo,
Tshiluba. 
 Human Development Index
HDI component Poland DRC
GOVERNMENT
HDI value 0.795 0.239
Type: Republic;
Life expectancy 77.7 years 48 years
highly centralized with executive
at birth
power vested in the president.
Mean years of 10 years 3.8 years
Independence: June 30th 1960
schooling
(from Belgium) Expected years 15.2 years 7.8 years
of schooling
Per capita GDP (2009): $171 Gross national 17, 803 291
income per (2008 $) (2008 $)
capita
Currency: Congolese franc (FC).
The U.S. dollar is also used as HDI rank 41 168 (before
legal tender. (out of 169) Zimbabwe)

GNI measures the total income (excluding capital gain and

losses) of all economic agents residing within the territory
Age structure:
0-14 years: 44.4%
15-64 years: 53% People
65 years and over: 2.6%

• more than 200 ethnic groups HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION:

• about 700 dialects
Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life
Disappearance
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Arbitrary Arrest or Detention
Denial of Fair Public Trial
Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in
Internal Conflicts
Violation of Freedom of Speech and Press
Violation of Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and
Association
Women & Children harassment
 Poverty reduction and growth strategy
paper
• Promoting good governance and consolidating
peace through institutional capacity building
• Consolidating macroeconomic stability and
growth
• Improving access to social services and
reducing vulnerability
• Combatting HIV/AIDS
• Supporting dynamism at the community level
 Climate
• Tropical;
• Hot and humid in equatorial river basin; • Average annual precipitation
= 1,700 mm
• Cooler and drier in southern highlands;
• Humidity remains high and
• Cooler and wetter in eastern highlands; winds are light

Change in seasons! • Average temperature ranges

• North of Equator – in Kinshasa are from 18 to 32
• wet season April to October, dry season degrees Celsius 
December to February;

• South of Equator –
• wet season November to March, dry
season April to October
The rainforest of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is
known as the green heart of Africa. The remaining 60 million
hectares of rainforest in the country are of major importance
for biodiversity and the stabilisation of the global climate.

The expansion of infrastructure such as roads not only takes its

toll on communities, the forests and biodiversity. Taking a
170,000 hectare forest area which had been logged by the
Danzer timber company as an example, Greenpeace showed
that creating an infrastructure causes carbon dioxide emissions
two and a half times higher than would be suspected from
logging alone.
Congo River
Congo River

• 4 700 km long
• begins in northwest
Zambia as the Chambeshi
River
• ends in the Atlantic Ocean
• surrounded by rainforests
and towering grasses

• irrigating crops such as

tobacco, cotton, sugarcane
and peanut
• transport
• enormous hydropower
potential
 Tumba Lake
Lake Tumba and its surrounding swamp forests are home to a number of primates,
including bonobos, as well as forest elephants, buffaloes, leopards, hippos and
freshwater crocodiles.   

It covers around 72,543 km2 and encompasses a large collection of biodiversity.

Problem
-> how to conserve the
biodiversity of Lake Tumba
swamp forest while promoting
sustainable economic
development to alleviate
poverty? 
Wildlife
 okapi
rock hyrax

short antelope buffaloe

 Deforestration
A pattern of deforestation concentrated along the local roads
in the Nord-Ubangi and Mongala provinces 
 Sources
http://www.atlapedia.com/online/countries/DemRepCongo.htm
http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/democraticrepublicofcongo#a2
http://www.earthfacts.net/places/congorivercongobasin/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo_River
http://www.destination360.com/africa/tanzania/congo-river
http://www.globalissues.org/article/87/the-democratic-republic-of-congo#Effects
ontheEnvironmentandWildlife
http://www.photius.com/countries/congo_democratic_republic_of_the/governm
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http://drc.ushahidi.com/
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cg.html
http://www.everyculture.com/Bo-Co/Republic-of-Congo.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/07/congo-chimpanzees-bush
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