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Dem. Republic Congo

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Republique Democratique du Congo Kinshasa - capital city

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (French: République démocratique du Congo), is a country in central Africa with a small length of Atlantic coastline. It is the third largest country (by area) in Africa. (Wikipedia.org)

In order to distinguish it from the neighbouring Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is often referred to as DR Congo, DRC, or RDC, or is called Congo-Kinshasa after the capital Kinshasa (in contrast to Congo-Brazzaville for its neighbour). (Wikipedia.org)

The name "Congo" refers to the river Congo, also known as the river Zaire. (The river name Congo is related to the name of the Bakongo ethnic group). (Wikipedia.org)

The Democratic Republic of the Congo was formerly, in turn, the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Congo-Léopoldville, Congo-Kinshasa, and Zaire (or Zaïre in French). Though it is located in the Central African UN subregion, the nation is economically and regionally affiliated with Southern Africa as a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). (Wikipedia.org)

DR Congo borders the Central African Republic and Sudan on the North; Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi on the East; Zambia and Angola on the South; the Republic of the Congo on the West; and is separated from Tanzania by Lake Tanganyika on the East.The country enjoys access to the ocean through a 40-kilometre (25 mile) stretch of Atlantic coastline at Muanda and the roughly nine-kilometre wide mouth of the Congo river which opens into the Gulf of Guinea. (Wikipedia.org)

Kinshasa (formerly French: Léopoldville, and Dutch: Leopoldstad) is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is also known as Congo Kinshasa. The city is located on the Congo River. (Wikipedia.org)

Once a site of fishing villages, Kinshasa is now an urban area with a population of nearly 8 million in 2007. The city of Brazzaville (about 1.5 million inhabitants in 2007 with its suburbs),capital of the Republic of Congo, lies just across the Congo River from Kinshasa. Together with Brazzaville, the combined conurbation of Kinshasa-Brazzaville has thus nearly 11 million inhabitants. Because the administrative boundaries cover such a vast area, over 60% of the city's land is rural in nature. (Wikipedia.org)

Kinshasa ties with Johannesburg for the status of the second largest city in sub-Saharan Africa and the third largest in the whole continent after Lagos and Cairo. It is often considered the second largest francophone city in the world after Paris, though on criteria such as number of native speakers Montreal retains this distinction, as African languages, especially Lingala, are more widely spoken in Kinshasa than French is. If current demographic trends continue, Kinshasa will surpass Paris in population before 2020. (Wikipedia.org)

Residents of Kinshasa are known as Kinois (French) or Kinshasans (English). (Wikipedia.org)