The Congo-Kinshasa

Over a period from 1960-1965, the first Republic of the Congo experienced a period of serious crisis. There was a terrible war for power that displayed senseless violence and the desperation to rule. There were many internal conflicts among the people. The country eventually gained independence from Belgium. For many countries this would be a time for celebration. Unfortunately for the people of the Congo this became a time to forget. Almost immediately after independence and the general elections, the country went into civil war. Major developed cities like Katanga and Kasai wanted to be independent from the Lumumba government. Different factions started to fight the government and Katanga and Kasai tried to secede from the rest

The Congo River Basin is also known as the Cuvette, which is French for "Basin." Rainfall is very plentiful in the Cuvette and it is dominated by dense rainforests. Though rain is plentiful the soil in this region is unfertile therefore resulting in a low population and very few farms.

For centuries, the Congolese people have lived in a war torn society that just does

Sub point 1: Problem 2: Another huge problem is their lack of education. In another website called Education in Democratic Republic of the Congo, updated on April 19, 2017 by the USAID, 3.5 million children of primary school age are not enrolled in school. This issue is also largely affecting their health issue as well, because people have no knowledge of how to prevent diseases from spreading into their bodies, such as malaria as mentioned earlier. For most of us, who had K-12 education without any restrictions, these problems might be totally unimaginable.

creates a lack of understanding between the social groups in the Congo and their own

At these moments, life in the Congo is a living nightmare. The eastern provinces of the Congo see violence every day. Women are getting raped at alarming rates. Children are constantly abused and forced to become child soldiers. There are no sources of medicine or even clean water. Anyone can get murdered at any time, and no one is even safe in their own homes.

Today, the Congo is an undeveloped, poor, and corrupt country. The life expectancy is around 43 years due to the lack of protection and unhealthy living conditions. According to The World Bank, around 64 percent of the whole population is living in poverty. In fact, it is the seventh poorest country in the world, just below Madagascar, as well as being the third least developed country under Cape Verde (Nations Online). This is because “The Republic of the Congo still struggles with their economy due to its historical inability to form on its own” (Mckinley). After the Congo was finally able to gain independence from Belgium, they were unable to keep strong markets. This inevitably led to an increase of poverty. Additionally, a country’s GDP (gross domestic product) per capita can determine how well a country is doing economically. The GDP per capita is calculated by dividing total gross domestic product by the total population in the country. Today, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has a GDP per capita of 484.21 USD. This is relatively low compared to other countries; for example, the United States of America’s GDP per capita is around 53,041.98 USD (World Bank). After Belgium granted the Congolese independence, years of being under Belgian control resulted in an inhibition to develop. The African country “were not yet ready for independence”(Scheyven). Their monarchy was inexperienced, which caused an

Few places are more treacherous than the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Africa. For two decades, near-steady warfare has claimed millions of lives in the area.

The story unfolds around the turn of the twentieth century when European powers began to explore and colonize Sub-Saharan Africa. Belgian king Leopold II laid individual claim to the enormous chunk of land surrounding the Congo River and proceeded to strip the land of its resources, including, but not limited to, rubber, ivory, and people using a deadly system of forced labor. Under the ironic and spurious guise of humanitarianism, Leopold built himself an empire in central Africa, lining his pockets and satisfying his egotism, becoming the largest individual landowner in the world, while the brutality of his reign slashed the Congolese population by 10 million people, or approximately in half (Hochschild, 233). The narrative is uplifting at points as it also tells the story of the courageous few Africans, Europeans, and Americans that stood up to Leopold in what, in hindsight, was the first major humanitarian effort of the twentieth century (Straus).

The Congolese were forced to work their hardest every single day just for the Belgians benefit. As I stated, the Belgians wanted better productivity, and in order to do that, each Congolese person has to follow their orders and meet their quota. The Belgians are very strict about expectations because King Leopold was in a hurry in developing the economy and keeping up with the other big countries like the British and America. The Congolese people was always overly stressed out because if they don’t meet their quota, they would get punished. And of course, people would not meet their expectations once in a while due to nature, for example not finding enough rubber trees to harvest the

The Democratic Republic of Congo can be found in Central Africa near Angola, Rwanda, and The Republic of Congo. Formally, The Democratic Republic of Congo was part of the Republic of Congo, which was originally a Belgian colony in 1908. After gaining independence in 1960, a nationalist movement formed during a time of crisis and Joseph Mobutu became president in a November 1965. During Mobutu’s thirty-five year presidency, many citizens from Rwanda arrived after the massacre of the Tutsi. The castaways that were pro-genocide reformed and in consequence began making attacks, and despite attempts to counter many residents’ lives were ended. The Congo, then Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo, entered its First War whereabouts

From 1908-1960 it was “Belgian Congo”, the world’s first privately owned colony owned by King Leopold II of Belgium. He made money from harvesting rubber. To do this he developed a system of forced labor in which his army would take captive women and force men to harvest the rubber in the rain forest. Many women hostages starved, the men were worked to death, there was no one in the village to plant crops, or hunt or fish which led to famine, which in turn led to disease. Many people were shot by soldiers during rebellions while others fled to avoid conscription and died in the rain forests. Estimates are that this cut the Congo’s population in half. After the Kings death, it became Belgian Congo and the government realized this was not a sustainable system and if they were to have an economically stable work force they had to put an infrastructure in place to support them. In Belgium, the colonial period in the Congo was largely whitewashed. The Royal Museum for Central Africa which is the world’s largest african focused museum, and until the 1990s it mentioned nothing of the millions who died due to the forced labor system. The government also whitewashed that history through the Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences, formerly Royal Academy of Colonial Sciences, in which a biographical encyclopaedia was developed devoted to those working in the Congo during the colonial period and historical

The structure of the Democratic Republic of the Congo government is slowly going down hill. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is not actually democratic. For decades citizens have had dictatorship. Citizens of the Congo have not had any choice

The Democratic Republic of Congo is a young and embattled nation that is attempting to rise up out of a long history of merciless abuse. I believe the problems began from its very inception. It's the place King Leopold of Belgium took control of an area the measure of France and Germany combined, and built on empire on forced labor. The DRC was doomed from the very start. Progress toward competent governance in Africa has been hindered again and again by the endeavors of head of state to stay in power after their established terms lapse. These so called statesmen are for themselves, lining their own pockets. They have become as bad if not worse than the former colonial government because they are doing it to their own people. Do you think there

For, years the Congo has been in a bloody civil war that has ravaged the nation. Consequently, this is because of three minerals: Tungsten, , and Gold. Sadly, each of which can be found in your technology. The government has perilously fought rebel militia groups in which try and control these prized resources for the accumulation of great wealth and power. Whenever you purchase conflict minerals, you are funding war leaders. The money they earn is used to buy guns which consequently, give them more authority. Currently, the Congo’s government is struggling to control these terrorists, day by day the rebels have more money for firearms- day by day their guns get bigger and more powerful. Because of this, these groups have caused the death of over 5 million citizens. Let’s just put that into perspective, it’s more people than the whole city of Los