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136-561: The history of Bralirwa goes back to 1957. The management of the breweries of the Congo and Burundi , then under the management of Brasseries de Leopoldville (Brewery of Kinshasa), decided to build another brewery in the Eastern region. The city of Gisenyi , on the northern shores of Lake Kivu , was selected to house the new brewery. Gisenyi was selected for two reasons: (a) It was easily accessible, by water, land and air and (b) Lake Kivu has

272-1005: A League of Nations mandate over the previously German colony of Ruanda-Urundi . During World War II , the Belgian Congo provided a crucial source of income for the Belgian government in exile in London, and the Force Publique again participated in Allied campaigns in Africa . Belgian Congolese forces under the command of Belgian officers notably fought against the Italian colonial army in Ethiopia in Asosa , Bortaï and Saïo under Major-General Auguste-Eduard Gilliaert . In May 1960,

408-677: A Marxist–Leninist one-party state . It embarked on an ambitious programme of nationalisation , and the domestic private sector was essentially abolished. Privately owned enterprises were nationalised and incorporated into a single umbrella of state-owned enterprises known as Unidades Economicas Estatais (UEE). Under the MPLA, Angola experienced a significant degree of modern industrialisation . However, corruption and graft also increased and public resources were either allocated inefficiently or simply embezzled by officials for personal enrichment. The ruling party survived an attempted coup d'état by

544-410: A kleptocracy as Mobutu and his associates embezzled government funds. In a campaign to identify himself with African nationalism, starting on 1 June 1966, Mobutu renamed the nation's cities: Léopoldville became Kinshasa (the country was known as Congo-Kinshasa), Stanleyville became Kisangani , Elisabethville became Lubumbashi , and Coquilhatville became Mbandaka . In 1971, Mobutu renamed the country

680-477: A camp in Damba , where 26% died. Under colonial law, black Angolans were forbidden from forming political parties or labour unions. The first nationalist movements did not take root until after World War II , spearheaded by a largely Westernised and Portuguese-speaking urban class, which included many mestiços . During the early 1960s they were joined by other associations stemming from ad hoc labour activism in

816-621: A campaign against Congolese ethnic Tutsis in eastern Zaire. A coalition of Rwandan and Ugandan armies invaded Zaire to overthrow the government of Mobutu, launching the First Congo War. The coalition allied with some opposition figures, led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila , becoming the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo . In 1997 Mobutu fled and Kabila marched into Kinshasa, naming himself as president and reverting

952-782: A ceasefire, a plane crash near Ndola resulted in the death of Dag Hammarskjöld , the Secretary-General of the United Nations , along with all 15 passengers, setting off a succession crisis. Amidst widespread confusion and chaos, a temporary government was led by technicians (the Collège des commissaires généraux ). Katangan secession ended in January 1963 with the assistance of UN forces . Several short-lived governments of Joseph Ileo , Cyrille Adoula , and Moise Kapenda Tshombe took over in quick succession. Meanwhile, in

1088-593: A consequence of exploitation and disease. In some areas the population declined dramatically – it has been estimated that sleeping sickness and smallpox killed nearly half the population in the areas surrounding the lower Congo River. News of the abuses began to circulate. In 1904, the British consul at Boma in the Congo, Roger Casement , was instructed by the British government to investigate. His report, called

1224-686: A growing nationalist movement, the Mouvement National Congolais led by Patrice Lumumba , won the parliamentary elections . Lumumba became the first Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, on 24 June 1960. The parliament elected Joseph Kasa-Vubu as president , of the Alliance des Bakongo ( ABAKO ) party. Other parties that emerged included the Parti Solidaire Africain led by Antoine Gizenga , and

1360-579: A joint Anglo-Belgian-Portuguese invasion of German colonial territory in 1916 and 1917 during the East African campaign . The Force Publique gained a notable victory when it marched into Tabora in September 1916 under the command of General Charles Tombeur after heavy fighting. After 1918, Belgium was rewarded for the participation of the Force Publique in the East African campaign with

1496-460: A lack of infrastructure, corruption, and centuries of both commercial and colonial extraction and exploitation, followed by more than 60 years of independence, with little widespread development. Besides the capital Kinshasa, the two next largest cities, Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi , are both mining communities. The DRC's largest export is raw minerals, with China accepting over 50% of its exports in 2019. In 2021, DR Congo's level of human development

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1632-568: A large quantity of proven reserves of methane gas, a source of alternative energy. The brewery became operational in 1959 and began producing Primus beer, the only brand produced until 1987. In 1987, a new premium local beer brand, Mützig was introduced. In 1989, Bralirwa began making Guinness under license. In 1971, the Heineken Group , a Dutch brewing conglomerate , acquired a 70 percent majority shareholding in Bralirwa. With

1768-648: A monopoly over violence and resource extraction. The most violent of these concession regions, were surrounding rubber plantations. Concession regions would align with villages, employing local chiefs to aid in enforce strict quotas. Failure to comply or to meet quotas would result in kidnaping of family, held ransom until quotas could be met or physical violence. Violence was carried out by "village sentries," European militias employed to ensure collection. These sentries were granted full impunity for violence, without proper oversight were known to kill and eat underperforming workers. During 1885–1908, millions of Congolese died as

1904-465: A power base among a large expatriate community from related families, clans, and traditions. People on both sides of the border spoke mutually intelligible dialects and enjoyed shared ties to the historical Kingdom of Kongo. Though as foreigners skilled Angolans could not take advantage of Mobutu Sese Seko 's state employment programme, some found work as middlemen for the absentee owners of various lucrative private ventures. The migrants eventually formed

2040-649: A precedent for the bitter factional strife which would later ignite the Angolan Civil War . Throughout the war of independence, the three rival nationalist movements were severely hampered by political and military factionalism, as well as their inability to unite guerrilla efforts against the Portuguese. Between 1961 and 1975 the MPLA, UNITA, and the FNLA competed for influence in the Angolan population and

2176-601: A result of protective tariffs , leading to increased development, and a wave of new Portuguese immigrants. Between 1939 and 1943, Portuguese army operations against the Mucubal, who they accused of rebellion and cattle-thieving, resulted in hundreds of Mucubal killed. During the campaign, 3,529 were taken prisoner, 20% of whom were women and children, and imprisoned in concentration camps. Many died in captivity from undernourishment, violence and forced labor. Around 600 were sent to Sao Tome and Principe . Hundreds were also sent to

2312-583: A skirmish in the Moxico province . UNITA and the MPLA consented to the Luena Memorandum of Understanding in April; UNITA agreed to give up its armed wing. With the elections in 2008 and 2012 , an MPLA-ruled dominant-party system emerged, with UNITA and the FNLA as opposition parties. Angola has a serious humanitarian crisis; the result of the prolonged war, of the abundance of minefields , and

2448-578: A third even further east and south around the Upemba Depression . By the 13th century there were three main confederations of states in the western Congo Basin around Pool Malebo. In the east were the Seven Kingdoms of Kongo dia Nlaza , considered to be the oldest and most powerful, which likely included Nsundi , Mbata , Mpangu , and possibly Kundi and Okanga . South of these was Mpemba which stretched from modern-day Angola to

2584-418: A thousand Cuban soldiers in the country. They were kept supplied by a massive airbridge carried out with Soviet aircraft. The persistent buildup of Cuban and Soviet military aid allowed the MPLA to drive its opponents from Luanda and blunt an abortive intervention by Zairean and South African troops, which had deployed in a belated attempt to assist the FNLA and UNITA. The FNLA was largely annihilated after

2720-613: Is a member of the United Nations , Non-Aligned Movement , African Union , COMESA , Southern African Development Community , Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie , and Economic Community of Central African States . The Democratic Republic of the Congo is named after the Congo River , which flows through the country. The Congo River is the world's deepest river and the world's third-largest river by discharge . The Comité d'études du haut Congo ("Committee for

2856-445: Is around 53% of the total land area, equivalent to 66,607,380 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 79,262,780 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 65,800,190 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 807,200 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 40% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 3% of

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2992-436: The 2018 general election , in the country's first peaceful transition of power since independence, Kabila was succeeded as president in a highly contentious election won by Félix Tshisekedi , who has served as president since. Since 2015, eastern Congo has been the site of an ongoing military conflict . The Democratic Republic of the Congo is extremely rich in natural resources but has suffered from political instability,

3128-534: The Atlantic slave trade continued until after Brazil's independence in the 1820s. Despite Portugal's territorial claims in Angola, its control over much of the country's vast interior was minimal. In the 16th century Portugal gained control of the coast through a series of treaties and wars. Life for European colonists was difficult and progress was slow. John Iliffe notes that "Portuguese records of Angola from

3264-469: The Casement Report , confirmed the accusations of humanitarian abuses. The Belgian Parliament forced Leopold II to set up an independent commission of inquiry. Its findings confirmed Casement's report of abuses, concluding that the population of the Congo had been "reduced by half" during this period. Determining precisely how many people died is impossible, as no accurate records exist. In 1908,

3400-592: The Conference of Berlin in 1885 and made the land his private property. He named it the Congo Free State . Leopold's regime began various infrastructure projects, such as the construction of the railway that ran from the coast to the capital of Leopoldville (now Kinshasa), which took eight years to complete. In the Free State, colonists coerced the local population into producing rubber, for which

3536-602: The Congo Free State , Belgian Congo , the Republic of the Congo-Léopoldville , the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Zaire , before returning to its current name the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the time of independence, the country was named the Republic of the Congo-Léopoldville to distinguish it from its neighbour Congo , officially the Republic of the Congo . With

3672-567: The Congo River . It included various kingdoms such as Mpemba Kasi and Vunda . To its west across the Congo River was a confederation of three small states; Vungu (its leader), Kakongo , and Ngoyo . The Kingdom of Kongo was founded in the 14th century and dominated the western region. The empire of Mwene Muji was founded around Lake Mai-Ndombe. From the Upemba Depression the Luba Empire and Lunda Empire emerged in

3808-507: The Garamba National Park . The war in the Congo has been described as the bloodiest war since World War II. In 2009, The New York Times reported that people in the Congo continued to die at a rate of an estimated 45,000 per month  – estimates of the number who have died from the long conflict range from 900,000 to 5,400,000. The death toll is caused by widespread disease and famine; reports indicate that almost half of

3944-527: The Kongo language (also called Kikongo ). According to American writer Samuel Henry Nelson: "It is probable that the word 'Kongo' itself implies a public gathering and that it is based on the root konga , 'to gather' (trans[itive])." The modern name of the Kongo people, Bakongo , was introduced in the early 20th century. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been known in the past as, in chronological order,

4080-521: The Kwanza River in the south. The Portuguese established their primary early trading post at Soyo , which is now the northernmost city in Angola apart from the Cabinda exclave . Paulo Dias de Novais founded São Paulo de Loanda ( Luanda ) in 1575 with a hundred families of settlers and four hundred soldiers. Benguela was fortified in 1587 and became a township in 1617. An authoritarian state,

4216-539: The Maoist -oriented Communist Organisation of Angola (OCA) in 1977, which was suppressed after a series of bloody political purges left thousands of OCA supporters dead. The MPLA abandoned its former Marxist ideology at its third party congress in 1990, and declared social democracy to be its new platform. Angola subsequently became a member of the International Monetary Fund ; restrictions on

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4352-629: The National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), which began an armed rebellion against the government. In March 2009, after a deal between the DRC and Rwanda, Rwandan troops entered the DRC and arrested Nkunda and were allowed to pursue FDLR militants. The CNDP signed a peace treaty with the government in which it agreed to become a political party and to have its soldiers integrated into

4488-682: The Norwegian Refugee Council , the situation in the DRC became much worse in 2016 and 2017 and is a major moral and humanitarian challenge comparable to the wars in Syria and Yemen, which receive much more attention. Women and children are abused sexually and "abused in all possible manners". Besides the conflict in North Kivu , violence increased in the Kasai region . The armed groups were after gold, diamonds, oil, and cobalt to line

4624-591: The Republic of Zaire , its fourth name change in eleven years and its sixth overall. The Congo River was renamed the Zaire River. During the 1970s and 1980s, Mobutu was invited to visit the United States on several occasions, meeting with U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon , Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush . Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union U.S. relations with Mobutu cooled, as he

4760-558: The Republic of the Congo , and Gabon . It established trade routes with other city-states and civilisations up and down the coast of southwestern and western Africa. Its traders even reached Great Zimbabwe and the Mutapa Empire , although the kingdom engaged in little or no trans-oceanic trade. To its south lay the Kingdom of Ndongo , from which the area of the later Portuguese colony was sometimes known as Dongo . Next to that

4896-520: The Second Congo War from 1998 to 2003, which resulted in the deaths of 5.4 million people and the assassination of President Laurent-Désiré Kabila . The war ended under President Joseph Kabila , who governed the country from 2001 to 2019 and under whom human rights in the country remained poor and included frequent abuses such as forced disappearances , torture, arbitrary imprisonment and restrictions on civil liberties. Following

5032-729: The Soviet Union and Cuba ; the insurgent National Union for the Total Independence of Angola , an originally Maoist and later anti-communist group supported by the United States and South Africa ; the militant organization National Liberation Front of Angola , backed by Zaire ; and the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda seeking the independence of the Cabinda exclave, also backed by Zaire. Since

5168-630: The United Arab Republic . The MPLA attempted to move its headquarters from Conakry to Léopoldville in October 1961, renewing efforts to create a common front with the FNLA, then known as the Union of Angolan Peoples (UPA) and its leader Holden Roberto . Roberto turned down the offer. When the MPLA first attempted to insert its own insurgents into Angola, the cadres were ambushed and annihilated by UPA partisans on Roberto's orders—setting

5304-465: The highlands , between the Kwanza and Lucala rivers, was nominally a possession of the Kingdom of Kongo . But in the 16th century it was seeking greater independence. Modern Angola was populated predominantly by nomadic Khoi and San peoples prior to the first Bantu migrations . The Khoi and San peoples were hunter-gatherers , rather than practicing pastoralism or cultivation of crops. In

5440-453: The "Democratic Republic of the Congo". In 1971 Mobutu changed the name again, this time to "Republic of Zaire". Mobutu had the staunch support of the United States because of his opposition to communism ; the U.S. believed that his administration would serve as an effective counter to communist movements in Africa. A single-party system was established, and Mobutu declared himself head of state . He periodically held elections in which he

5576-516: The 100,000 Europeans who had remained behind after independence fled the country. After the United Nations rejected Lumumba's call for help to put down the secessionist movements, Lumumba asked for assistance from the Soviet Union, who accepted and sent military supplies and advisers. On 23 August, the Congolese armed forces invaded South Kasai . Lumumba was dismissed from office on 5 September 1960 by Kasa-Vubu who publicly blamed him for massacres by

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5712-432: The 15th and 17th centuries respectfully dominated the eastern region. Belgian exploration and administration took place from the 1870s until the 1920s. It was first led by Henry Morton Stanley , who undertook his explorations under the sponsorship of King Leopold II of Belgium . The eastern regions of the precolonial Congo were heavily disrupted by constant slave raiding , mainly from Arab–Swahili slave traders such as

5848-723: The 16th century show that a great famine occurred on average every seventy years; accompanied by epidemic disease, it might kill one-third or one-half of the population, destroying the demographic growth of a generation and forcing colonists back into the river valleys". During the Portuguese Restoration War , the Dutch West India Company occupied the principal settlement of Luanda in 1641, using alliances with local peoples to carry out attacks against Portuguese holdings elsewhere. A fleet under Salvador de Sá retook Luanda in 1648; reconquest of

5984-469: The 1988 discovery of the Semliki harpoon at Katanda , one of the oldest barbed harpoons ever found, believed to have been used to catch giant river catfish . Bantu peoples reached Central Africa at some point during the first millennium BC, then gradually started to expand southward. Their propagation was accelerated by the adoption of pastoralism and of Iron Age techniques. The people living in

6120-519: The Atlantic Ocean. Thus, at Soyo , at the mouth of the Congo River , the average annual temperature is about 26 °C, but it is under 16 °C at Huambo on the temperate central plateau. The coolest months are July and August (in the middle of the dry season), when frost may sometimes form at higher altitudes. The Angolan government is composed of three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial. The executive branch of

6256-591: The Belgian Congo and the majority of Leopold II's administration with him. Opening up the Congo and its natural and mineral riches to the Belgian economy remained the main motive for colonial expansion – however, other priorities, such as healthcare and basic education, slowly gained in importance. Colonial administrators ruled the territory and a dual legal system existed (a system of European courts and another one of indigenous courts, tribunaux indigènes ). Indigenous courts had only limited powers and remained under

6392-530: The Belgian Congo. The railway first commenced in the Congo in 1910, reaching a 800-km network of track. In 1923 the colonial capital moved from Boma to Léopoldville, some 300 kilometres (190 mi) further upstream into the interior. The transition from the Congo Free State to the Belgian Congo was a break, but it also featured a large degree of continuity. The last governor-general of the Congo Free State, Baron Théophile Wahis , remained in office in

6528-605: The Belgian parliament, in spite of initial reluctance, bowed to international pressure (especially from the United Kingdom ) and took over the Free State from King Leopold II. On 18 October 1908, the Belgian parliament voted in favour of annexing the Congo as a Belgian colony. Executive power went to the Belgian minister of colonial affairs , assisted by a Colonial Council (Conseil Colonial) (both located in Brussels). The Belgian parliament exercised legislative authority over

6664-507: The Central African Republic on behalf of its former president, Ange-Félix Patassé . Talks led to a peace accord under which Kabila would share power with former rebels. By June 2003 all foreign armies except those of Rwanda had pulled out of Congo. A transitional government was set up until after the election. A constitution was approved by voters, and on 30 July 2006 DRC held its first multi-party elections . These were

6800-644: The Congo DR Congo , officially the Democratic Republic of the Congo , also known as the DRC , Congo-Kinshasa or simply Congo , is a country in Central Africa . By land area, DR Congo is the second-largest country in Africa and the 11th-largest in the world . With a population of around 109 million, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most populous Francophone country in

6936-571: The Congo , led by Congolese warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba . The two rebel movements, along with Rwandan and Ugandan troops, started the Second Congo War by attacking the DRC army in 1998. Angolan, Zimbabwean, and Namibian militaries entered the hostilities on the side of the government. Kabila was assassinated in 2001. His son Joseph Kabila succeeded him and called for multilateral peace talks. UN peacekeepers, MONUC, now known as MONUSCO , arrived in April 2001. In 2002–03 Bemba intervened in

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7072-416: The Congo territory from the colonial nations of Europe in 1885 and declared the land his private property, naming it the Congo Free State . From 1885 to 1908, his colonial military forced the local population to produce rubber and committed widespread atrocities . In 1908, Leopold ceded the territory, which thus became a Belgian colony . Congo achieved independence from Belgium on 30 June 1960 and

7208-491: The Congo to the south. Angola has a favorable coastline for maritime trade, with four natural harbors: Luanda, Lobito, Moçâmedes, and Porto Alexandre. These natural indentations contrast with Africa's typical coastline of rocky cliffs and deep bays. Angola's capital, Luanda , lies on the Atlantic coast in the northwest of the country. Angola had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.35/10, ranking it 23rd globally out of 172 countries. In Angola forest cover

7344-487: The Congo was first inhabited by Central African foragers around 90,000 years ago and was settled in the Bantu expansion about 3000 to 2000 years ago. In the west, the Kingdom of Kongo ruled around the mouth of the Congo River from the 14th to 19th centuries. In the center and east, the empires of Mwene Muji , Luba , and Lunda ruled from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. King Leopold II of Belgium formally acquired rights to

7480-412: The DROC , and RDC (in French). Before Bantu expansion , the territory comprising the Democratic Republic of the Congo was home to Central Africa's oldest settled groups, the Mbuti peoples . Most of the remnants of their hunter-gatherer culture remain in the present time. The geographical area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo was populated as early as 90,000 years ago, as shown by

7616-552: The FNLA began massing large numbers of troops in northern Angola in an attempt to gain military superiority. Meanwhile, the MPLA began securing control of Luanda, a traditional Ambundu stronghold. Sporadic violence broke out in Luanda over the next few months after the FNLA attacked the MPLA's political headquarters in March 1975. The fighting intensified with street clashes in April and May, and UNITA became involved after over two hundred of its members were massacred by an MPLA contingent that June. An upswing in Soviet arms shipments to

7752-412: The FNLA with the intention of making a bid for political power upon their envisaged return to Angola. A largely Ovimbundu guerrilla initiative against the Portuguese in central Angola from 1966 was spearheaded by Jonas Savimbi and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). It remained handicapped by its geographic remoteness from friendly borders, the ethnic fragmentation of

7888-401: The Kingdom of Kongo after the death of António I. Much of the stability and access to iron ore and charcoal necessary for gunsmiths to maintain the arms industry was disrupted. From then on, in this period almost every Kongolese citizen was in danger of being enslaved. Many Kongolese subjects were adroit in making guns, and they were enslaved to have their skills available to colonists in

8024-427: The Kingdom of Kongo was highly centralised around its monarch and controlled neighbouring states as vassals . It had a strong economy, based on the industries of copper , ivory , salt , hides , and, to a lesser extent, slaves . The transition from a feudal system of slavery to a capitalist one with Portugal would prove crucial to the history of the Kingdom of Kongo. As relations between Kongo and Portugal grew in

8160-399: The MPLA and its rivals accepted material assistance from the Soviet Union or the People's Republic of China , the former harboured strong anti-imperialist views and was openly critical of the United States and its support for Portugal. This allowed it to win important ground on the diplomatic front, soliciting support from nonaligned governments in Morocco , Ghana , Guinea , Mali , and

8296-503: The MPLA influenced a decision by the Central Intelligence Agency to likewise provide substantial covert aid to the FNLA and UNITA. In August 1975, the MPLA requested direct assistance from the Soviet Union in the form of ground troops. The Soviets declined, offering to send advisers but no troops; however, Cuba was more forthcoming and in late September dispatched nearly five hundred combat personnel to Angola, along with sophisticated weaponry and supplies. By independence, there were over

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8432-402: The New World, where they worked as blacksmiths, ironworkers, and charcoal makers. The Portuguese established several other settlements, forts and trading posts along the Angolan coast, principally trading in Angolan slaves for plantations . Local slave dealers provided a large number of slaves for the Portuguese Empire , usually in exchange for manufactured goods from Europe. This part of

8568-513: The Ovimbundu, and the isolation of peasants on European plantations where they had little opportunity to mobilise. During the late 1950s, the rise of the Marxist–Leninist Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in the east and Dembos hills north of Luanda came to hold special significance. Formed as a coalition resistance movement by the Angolan Communist Party , the organisation's leadership remained predominantly Ambundu and courted public sector workers in Luanda . Although both

8704-414: The Parti National du Peuple led by Albert Delvaux and Laurent Mbariko . The Belgian Congo achieved independence on 30 June 1960 under the name "République du Congo" ("Republic of Congo" or "Republic of the Congo" in English). Shortly after, on 15 August 1960, the neighboring French colony of Middle Congo also gained independence and adopted the same name, ' Republic of Congo .' To avoid confusion between

8840-480: The Portuguese depended on assistance from the British Royal Navy and what became known as the Blockade of Africa to enforce their ban on the slave trade. This coincided with a series of renewed military expeditions into the bush. By the mid-nineteenth century Portugal had established its dominion as far north as the Congo River and as far south as Mossâmedes . Until the late 1880s, Portugal entertained proposals to link Angola with its colony in Mozambique but

8976-410: The Simba rebels by November 1965. Lumumba had previously appointed Mobutu chief of staff of the new Congo army, Armée Nationale Congolaise . Taking advantage of the leadership crisis between Kasavubu and Tshombe, Mobutu garnered enough support within the army to launch a coup. A constitutional referendum the year before Mobutu's coup of 1965 resulted in the country's official name being changed to

9112-406: The Study of the Upper Congo"), established by King Leopold II of Belgium in 1876, and the International Association of the Congo , established by him in 1879, were also named after the river. The Congo River was named by early European sailors after the Kingdom of Kongo and its Bantu inhabitants, the Kongo people , when they encountered them in the 16th century. The word Kongo comes from

9248-537: The acquisition, Bralirwa greatly improved its brewing process. In 1974, Bralirwa diversified into the production of soft drinks . A soft beverages plant was opened in Kigali , Rwanda's capital and largest city. The brewer partnered with the Coca-Cola Company , which allowed Bralirwa to widen the range of products manufactured. As of 2018, Bralirwa is a regionally and internationally recognized brewer and soft beverage manufacturer with an expanding portfolio of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The shares of stock of

9384-469: The armed forces in South Kasai and for involving Soviets in the country. On 7 September, Lumumba made a speech to the Congolese House of Representatives, arguing his dismissal was illegal under the nation's laws. Congolese law gave parliament, not the president, the authority to dismiss a government minister. The House and Senate both rejected the dismissal of Lumumba, but the removal proceeded unconstitutionally. On 14 September, Colonel Joseph Mobutu , with

9520-489: The authoritarian system and the aristocracy. If several villagers were deemed guilty of a crime, it became relatively common for the whole village to be enslaved. The resulting chaos and internal conflict from Garcia II's reign would lead into that of his son and successor, António I . He was killed in 1665 by Portuguese at the Battle of Mbwila 1665, together with a substantial proportion of the aristocracy. The colonists were expanding their power. War broke out more widely in

9656-412: The backing of the US and Belgium, removed Lumumba from office. On 17 January 1961, Lumumba was handed over to Katangan authorities and executed by Belgian-led Katangan troops. A 2001 investigation by Belgium's Parliament found Belgium "morally responsible" for the murder of Lumumba, and the country has since officially apologised for its role in his death. On 18 September 1961, in ongoing negotiations of

9792-657: The brokering of a ceasefire pending negotiations for Angolan independence. Encouraged by the Organisation of African Unity , Holden Roberto, Jonas Savimbi, and MPLA chairman Agostinho Neto met in Mombasa in early January 1975 and agreed to form a coalition government. This was ratified by the Alvor Agreement later that month, which called for general elections and set the country's independence date for 11 November 1975. All three factions, however, followed up on

9928-424: The ceasefire by taking advantage of the gradual Portuguese withdrawal to seize various strategic positions, acquire more arms, and enlarge their militant forces. The rapid influx of weapons from numerous external sources, especially the Soviet Union and the United States, as well as the escalation of tensions between the nationalist parties, fueled a new outbreak of hostilities. With tacit American and Zairean support

10064-416: The coast in the 16th century. Kongo fought three wars against the Portuguese, ending in the Portuguese conquest of Ndongo. The banning of the slave trade in the 19th century severely disrupted Kongo's undiversified economic system and European settlers gradually began to establish their presence in the interior of the region. The Portuguese colony that became Angola did not achieve its present borders until

10200-605: The company are listed on the Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE), where they trade under the symbol BLRW . The Heineken Group owns 75 percent of the shares of the company. The remaining 25 percent are owned by individual and institutional investors. In December 2009, the Government of Rwanda successfully divested from the company by selling 5 percent shareholding directly to the Heineken Group and by listing

10336-711: The company are located in Kigali. Also located in Kigali is the Soft Beverages Plant, where Coca-Cola carbonated beverages of are manufactured under license. In May 2011, press reports indicated that the company was in the process of establishing a new soft drinks manufacturing line at the company's plant in Kicukiro, a suburb of Kigali, and upgrading its brewing plant in Gisenyi. The brands manufactured by Bralirwa include: Photos Democratic Republic of

10472-452: The conflict was estimated to escalate starvation in about two million children. Angola Angola , officially the Republic of Angola , is a country on the west- central coast of Southern Africa . It is the second-largest Lusophone ( Portuguese-speaking ) country in both total area and population and is the seventh-largest country in Africa . It is bordered by Namibia to

10608-886: The continued political agitation in favour of the independence of the exclave of Cabinda (carried out in the context of the protracted Cabinda conflict by the FLEC ). While most of the internally displaced have now squatted around the capital, in musseques ( shanty towns ) the general situation for Angolans remains desperate. A drought in 2016 caused the worst food crisis in Southern Africa in 25 years, affecting 1.4 million people across seven of Angola's eighteen provinces. Food prices rose and acute malnutrition rates doubled, impacting over 95,000 children. José Eduardo dos Santos stepped down as President of Angola after 38 years in 2017, being peacefully succeeded by João Lourenço , Santos' chosen successor. Some members of

10744-416: The country to the "Democratic Republic of the Congo", but the change was not made. The country's name was later restored by President Laurent-Désiré Kabila when he overthrew Mobutu in 1997. To distinguish it from the neighboring Republic of the Congo, it is sometimes referred to as Congo (Kinshasa) , Congo-Kinshasa , or Big Congo . Its name is sometimes also abbreviated as Congo DR , DR Congo , DRC ,

10880-420: The decisive Battle of Quifangondo , although UNITA managed to withdraw its civil officials and militia from Luanda and seek sanctuary in the southern provinces. From there, Savimbi continued to mount a determined insurgent campaign against the MPLA. Between 1975 and 1991, the MPLA implemented an economic and political system based on the principles of scientific socialism , incorporating central planning and

11016-525: The dos Santos family were later linked to high levels of corruption. In July 2022, ex-president José Eduardo dos Santos died in Spain. In August 2022, the ruling party, MPLA, won another majority and President Lourenço won a second five-year term in the election . However, the election was the tightest in Angola's history. At 1,246,700 km (481,400 sq mi), Angola is the world's twenty-second largest country – comparable in size to Mali, or twice

11152-466: The early 16th century, trade between the kingdoms also increased. Most of the trade was in palm cloth, copper, and ivory, but also increasing numbers of slaves. Kongo exported few slaves, and its slave market had remained internal. But, following the development of a successful sugar-growing colony after Portuguese settlement of São Tomé , Kongo became a major source of slaves for the island's traders and plantations. Correspondence by King Afonso documents

11288-579: The early 20th century and experienced the strong resistance from the native groups such as the Cuamato, the Kwanyama , and the Mbunda . After a protracted anti-colonial struggle (1961–1974), Angola achieved independence in 1975 as a one-party Republic , but the country descended into a devastating civil war the same year, between the ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), backed by

11424-602: The east of the country, Soviet and Cuban-backed rebels called the Simbas rose up, taking a significant amount of territory and proclaiming a communist "People's Republic of the Congo" in Stanleyville. The Simbas were pushed out of Stanleyville in November 1964 during Operation Dragon Rouge , a military operation conducted by Belgian and American forces to rescue hundreds of hostages. Congolese government forces fully defeated

11560-477: The end of the civil war in 2002, Angola has emerged as a relatively stable constitutional republic , and its economy is among the fastest-growing in the world, with China , the European Union , and the United States being the country's largest investment and trade partners. However, the economic growth is highly uneven, with most of the nation's wealth concentrated in a disproportionately small part of

11696-608: The fighting between the Portuguese government and local forces, supported to varying degrees by the Portuguese Communist Party . The National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) recruited from Bakongo refugees in Zaire . Benefiting from particularly favourable political circumstances in Léopoldville , and especially from a common border with Zaire, Angolan political exiles were able to build up

11832-544: The firm control of the colonial administration. The Belgian authorities permitted no political activity in the Congo whatsoever, and the Force Publique put down any attempts at rebellion. The Belgian Congo was directly involved in the two world wars. During World War I (1914–1918), an initial stand-off between the Force Publique and the German colonial army in German East Africa turned into open warfare with

11968-611: The first free national elections since 1960, which many believed would mark the end to violence in the region. However, an election-result dispute between Kabila and Bemba turned into a skirmish between their supporters in Kinshasa. MONUC took control of the city. A new election took place in October 2006, which Kabila won, and in December 2006 he was sworn in as president. Laurent Nkunda , a member of Rally for Congolese Democracy–Goma , defected along with troops loyal to him and formed

12104-460: The first millennium BC, they were displaced by Bantu peoples arriving from the north, most of whom likely originated in what is today northwestern Nigeria and southern Niger . Bantu speakers introduced the cultivation of bananas and taro , as well as maintenance of large cattle herds, to Angola's central highlands and the Luanda plain. Due to a number of inhibiting geographic factors throughout

12240-407: The forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership . Like the rest of tropical Africa, Angola experiences distinct, alternating rainy and dry seasons. In the north, the rainy season may last for as long as seven months—usually from September to April, with perhaps a brief slackening in January or February. In

12376-674: The government is composed of the President, the vice-presidents and the Council of Ministers. The legislative branch comprises a 220-seat unicameral legislature, the National Assembly of Angola , elected from multi-member province-wide and nationwide constituencies using party-list proportional representation . For decades, political power has been concentrated in the presidency. After 38 years of rule, in 2017 President dos Santos stepped down from MPLA leadership. The leader of

12512-642: The highest levels of sexual violence in the world. According to the Human Rights Watch and the New York University-based Congo Research Group, armed troops in DRC's eastern Kivu region have killed over 1,900 civilians and kidnapped at least 3,300 people since June 2017 to June 2019. On 10 May 2018, Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his effort to end

12648-462: The individuals who have died are children under five years of age. There have been frequent reports of weapon bearers killing civilians, of the destruction of property, of widespread sexual violence, causing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes, and of other breaches of humanitarian and human rights law. One study found that more than 400,000 women are raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo every year. In 2018 and 2019, Congo reported

12784-419: The infamous Tippu Tip , who was well known to Stanley. Leopold had designs on what was to become the Congo as a colony. In a succession of negotiations, Leopold, professing humanitarian objectives in his capacity as chairman of the front organization Association Internationale Africaine , actually played one European rival against another. King Leopold formally acquired rights to the Congo territory at

12920-482: The inroads from Luanda and Benguela were very limited. Hamstrung by a series of political upheavals in the early 1800s, Portugal was slow to mount a large scale annexation of Angolan territory. The slave trade was abolished in Angola in 1836, and in 1854 the colonial government freed all its existing slaves. Four years later, a more progressive administration appointed by Portugal abolished slavery altogether. However, these decrees remained largely unenforceable, and

13056-444: The international community. The Soviet Union and Cuba became especially sympathetic towards the MPLA and supplied that party with arms, ammunition, funding, and training. They also backed UNITA militants until it became clear that the latter was at irreconcilable odds with the MPLA. The collapse of Portugal's Estado Novo government following the 1974 Carnation Revolution suspended all Portuguese military activity in Africa and

13192-588: The kingdom was due to the salient issue of the slave trade, which had become an increasingly violent struggle. There was a constant need for slaves for the kings and queens to sell in exchange for foreign commodities, the absence of which would prevent them from having any influence with European powers such as Portugal and eventually the Dutch Republic . Kongolese kings needed this influence to garner support from European powers for quelling internal rebellions. The situation became increasingly complicated during

13328-469: The late 1960s, Mobutu continued to shuffle his governments and cycle officials in and out of the office to maintain control. Joseph Kasa-Vubu's death in April 1969 ensured that no person with First Republic credentials could challenge his rule. By the early 1970s, Mobutu was attempting to assert Zaire as a leading African nation. He traveled frequently across the continent while the government became more vocal about African issues, particularly those relating to

13464-694: The market economy were also reduced in an attempt to draw foreign investment. By May 1991 it reached a peace agreement with UNITA, the Bicesse Accords , which scheduled new general elections for September 1992. When the MPLA secured a major electoral victory, UNITA objected to the results of both the presidential and legislative vote count and returned to war. Following the election, the Halloween massacre occurred from 30 October to 1 November, where MPLA forces killed thousands of UNITA supporters. On 22 February 2002, government troops killed Savimbi in

13600-542: The name of the country to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kabila later requested that foreign military forces return to their own countries. Rwandan troops retreated to Goma and launched a new Tutsi-led rebel military movement called the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie to fight Kabila, while Uganda instigated the creation of a rebel movement called the Movement for the Liberation of

13736-553: The national army in exchange for the release of its imprisoned members. In 2012 Bosco Ntaganda , the leader of the CNDP, and troops loyal to him, mutinied and formed the rebel military March 23 Movement (M23), claiming the government had violated the treaty. In the resulting M23 rebellion , M23 briefly captured the provincial capital of Goma in November 2012. Neighboring countries, particularly Rwanda, have been accused of arming rebel groups and using them as proxies to gain control of

13872-455: The national currency of nzimbu shells , which could be traded for slaves. These could be sold to gain international currency. As the slave trade was the only commodity in which Europeans were interested in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Kongo economy was unable to diversify or later industrialise outside of sectors in which slavery was involved, such as the arms industry . The increased production and sale of guns within

14008-459: The planned 2016 elections, which he is constitutionally barred from participating in). This bill passed; however, it was gutted of the provision that would keep Kabila in power until a census took place. A census is supposed to take place, but it is no longer tied to when the elections take place. In 2015, elections were scheduled for late 2016 and a tenuous peace held in the Congo. On 27 November 2016 Congolese foreign minister Raymond Tshibanda told

14144-464: The pockets of rich men both in the region and internationally. There were also ethnic and cultural rivalries at play, as well as religious motives and the political crisis with postponed elections. Egeland says people believe the situation in the DRC is "stably bad" but in fact, it has become much, much worse. "The big wars of the Congo that were really on top of the agenda 15 years ago are back and worsening". Disruption in planting and harvesting caused by

14280-618: The population as most Angolans have a low standard of living ; life expectancy is among the lowest in the world , while infant mortality is among the highest . Angola is a member of the United Nations , African Union , the Community of Portuguese Language Countries , and the Southern African Development Community . As of 2023 , the Angolan population is estimated at 37.2 million. Angolan culture reflects centuries of Portuguese influence, namely

14416-637: The power of the monarchy. He also established a royal monopoly on some trade. To govern the growing slave trade, Afonso and several Portuguese kings claimed a joint monopoly on the external slave trade. The slave trade increasingly became Kongo's primary, and arguably sole, economic sector . A major obstacle for the Kingdom of Kongo was that slaves were the only commodity for which the European powers were willing to trade. Kongo lacked an effective international currency . Kongolese nobles could buy slaves with

14552-561: The predominance of the Portuguese language and of the Catholic Church , intermingled with a variety of indigenous customs and traditions. The name Angola comes from the Portuguese colonial name Reino de Angola ('Kingdom of Angola'), which appeared as early as Paulo Dias de Novais 's 1571 charter. The toponym was derived by the Portuguese from the title ngola , held by the kings of Ndongo and Matamba . Ndongo in

14688-411: The press no elections would be held in 2016: "it has been decided that the voter registration operation will end on July 31, 2017, and that election will take place in April 2018." Protests broke out in the country on 20 December when Kabila's term in office ended. Across the country, dozens of protesters were killed and hundreds were arrested. According to Jan Egeland , presently Secretary-General of

14824-547: The promulgation of the Luluabourg Constitution on 1 August 1964, the country became the DRC but was renamed Zaire (a past name for the Congo River) on 27 October 1971 by President Mobutu Sese Seko as part of his Authenticité initiative. The word Zaire is from a Portuguese adaptation of a Kikongo word nzadi ("river"), a truncation of nzadi o nzere ("river swallowing rivers"). The river

14960-696: The provincial capital of Lubumbashi in 2013 and 400,000 persons displaced in the province as of 2013 . On and off fighting in the Ituri conflict occurred between the Nationalist and Integrationist Front and the Union of Congolese Patriots who claimed to represent the Lendu and Hema ethnic groups, respectively. In the northeast, Joseph Kony 's Lord's Resistance Army moved from their original bases in Uganda and South Sudan to DR Congo in 2005 and set up camps in

15096-413: The purchase and sale of slaves within the country. His accounts also detail which slaves captured in war were given or sold to Portuguese merchants. Afonso continued to expand the kingdom of Kongo into the 1540s, expanding its borders to the south and east. The expansion of Kongo's population, coupled with Afonso's earlier religious reforms, allowed the ruler to centralize power in his capital and increase

15232-729: The rebellion of Laurent-Desire Kabila that overthrew the Mobutu regime." In September 1997, Mobutu died in exile in Morocco. By 1996, following the Rwandan Civil War and genocide and the ascension of a Tutsi -led government in Rwanda, Rwandan Hutu militia forces ( Interahamwe ) fled to eastern Zaire and used refugee camps as bases for incursions against Rwanda. They allied with the Zairian Armed Forces to launch

15368-547: The region, states were formed by the 13th century and organised into confederations. The Kingdom of Kongo ascended to achieve hegemony among the other kingdoms from the 14th century. Portuguese explorers established relations with Kongo in 1483. To the south were the kingdoms of Ndongo and Matamba , with the Ovimbundu kingdoms further south, and the Mbunda Kingdom in the east. The Portuguese began colonising

15504-563: The remaining 25 percent on the RSE, through an initial public offering (IPO). As of December 2017, the ownership of the company stock is as depicted in the table below: As of December 2017, the members of the board of directors of Bralirwa included the following individuals: The Bralirwa brewery is located in Gisenyi , approximately 158 kilometres (98 mi), by road, west of Kigali , Rwanda's capital city. The administrative headquarters of

15640-680: The resource-rich country, an accusation they deny. In March 2013, the United Nations Security Council authorized the United Nations Force Intervention Brigade to neutralize armed groups. On 5 November 2013, M23 declared an end to its insurgency. Additionally, in northern Katanga , the Mai-Mai created by Laurent Kabila slipped out of the control of Kinshasa with Gédéon Kyungu Mutanga 's Mai Mai Kata Katanga briefly invading

15776-417: The rest of the territory was completed by 1650. New treaties with the Kongo were signed in 1649; others with Njinga 's Kingdom of Matamba and Ndongo followed in 1656. The conquest of Pungo Andongo in 1671 was the last major Portuguese expansion from Luanda, as attempts to invade Kongo in 1670 and Matamba in 1681 failed. Colonial outposts also expanded inward from Benguela, but until the late 19th century

15912-548: The rule of Garcia II , who needed the assistance of the Dutch military to drive out the Portuguese from Luanda , in spite of the fact that Portugal was Kongo's primary slave trading partner. By the early 17th century, the supply of foreign slaves captured by the Kongolese externally was waning. The government began to approve the enslavement of freeborn Kongolese citizens for relatively minor infractions, nearly any disobeying of

16048-460: The rural workforce. Portugal's refusal to address increasing Angolan demands for self-determination provoked an armed conflict, which erupted in 1961 with the Baixa de Cassanje revolt and gradually evolved into a protracted war of independence that persisted for the next twelve years. Throughout the conflict, three militant nationalist movements with their own partisan guerrilla wings emerged from

16184-493: The size of France or of Texas. It lies mostly between latitudes 4° and 18°S , and longitudes 12° and 24°E . Angola borders Namibia to the south, Zambia to the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north-east and the South Atlantic Ocean to the west. The coastal exclave of Cabinda in the north has borders with the Republic of the Congo to the north and with the Democratic Republic of

16320-566: The south and southwest were foraging groups, whose technology involved only minimal use of metal technologies. The development of metal tools during this time period revolutionized agriculture. This led to the displacement of the African pygmies . Following the Bantu migrations, a period of state and class formation began circa 700 with three centres in the modern-day territory; one to the west around Pool Malebo , one east around Lake Mai-Ndombe , and

16456-586: The south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Zambia to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Angola has an exclave province, the province of Cabinda , that borders the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital and most populous city is Luanda . Angola has been inhabited since the Paleolithic Age . After the Bantu expansion reached

16592-408: The south, the rainy season begins later, in November, and lasts until about February. The dry season ( cacimbo ) is often characterized by a heavy morning mist. In general, precipitation is higher in the north, but at any latitude it is greater in the interior than along the coast and increases with altitude. Temperatures fall with distance from the equator and with altitude and tend to rise closer to

16728-519: The southern region. Zaire established semi-clientelist relationships with several smaller African states, especially Burundi, Chad, and Togo. Corruption became so common the term " le mal Zairois " or "Zairian sickness", meaning gross corruption, theft and mismanagement, was coined, reportedly by Mobutu. International aid, most often in the form of loans, enriched Mobutu while he allowed national infrastructure such as roads to deteriorate to as little as one-quarter of what had existed in 1960. Zaire became

16864-578: The spread of automobiles and development of rubber tires created a growing international market. Rubber sales made a fortune for Leopold, who built several buildings in Brussels and Ostend to honor himself and his country. To enforce the rubber quotas, the Force Publique was called in and made the practice of cutting off the limbs of the natives a matter of policy. Under the Congo Free State concessions were granted to private industry, granting

17000-399: The territory of Angola, namely harshly traversable land, hot/humid climate, and a plethora of deadly diseases, intermingling of pre-colonial tribes in Angola had been rare. After settlement of the migrants, a number of political entities developed. The best-known of these was the Kingdom of Kongo , based in Angola. It extended northward to what are now the Democratic Republic of the Congo ,

17136-402: The two, the former Belgian Congo became known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( DR Congo ), while the former French colony retained the name 'Republic of the Congo' ( Congo ). Shortly after independence the Force Publique mutinied, and on 11 July the province of Katanga (led by Moïse Tshombe ) and South Kasai engaged in secessionist struggles against the new leadership. Most of

17272-470: The use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict . In 2015, major protests broke out across the country and protesters demanded that Kabila step down as president. The protests began after the passage of a law by the Congolese lower house that, if also passed by the Congolese upper house, would keep Kabila in power at least until a national census was conducted (a process which would likely take several years and therefore keep him in power past

17408-518: The winning party at the parliamentary elections in August 2017 would become the next president of Angola. The MPLA selected the former Defense Minister João Lourenço as Santos' chosen successor. In what has been described as a political purge to cement his power and reduce the influence of the Dos Santos family, Lourenço subsequently sacked the chief of the national police, Ambrósio de Lemos, and

17544-461: The world. The national capital and largest city is Kinshasa , which is also the economic center. The country is bordered by the Republic of the Congo , Central African Republic , South Sudan , Uganda , Rwanda , Burundi , Tanzania (across Lake Tanganyika ), Zambia , Angola , the Cabinda exclave of Angola , and the South Atlantic Ocean . Centered on the Congo Basin , the territory of

17680-475: Was blocked by British and Belgian opposition. In this period, the Portuguese came up against different forms of armed resistance from various peoples in Angola. The Berlin Conference in 1884–1885 set the colony's borders, delineating the boundaries of Portuguese claims in Angola, although many details were unresolved until the 1920s. Trade between Portugal and its African territories rapidly increased as

17816-468: Was immediately confronted by a series of secessionist movements , the assassination of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba , and the seizure of power by Mobutu Sese Seko in a 1965 coup d'état . Mobutu renamed the country Zaire in 1971 and imposed a harsh personalist dictatorship until his overthrow in 1997 by the First Congo War . The country then had its name changed back and was confronted by

17952-548: Was known as Zaire during the 16th and 17th centuries; Congo seems to have replaced Zaire gradually in English usage during the 18th century, and Congo is the preferred English name in 19th-century literature, although references to Zaire as the name used by the natives (i.e., derived from Portuguese usage) remained common. In 1992, the Sovereign National Conference voted to change the name of

18088-627: Was no longer deemed necessary as a Cold War ally. Opponents within Zaire stepped up demands for reform. This atmosphere contributed to Mobutu's declaring the Third Republic in 1990, whose constitution was supposed to pave the way for democratic reform. The reforms turned out to be largely cosmetic. Mobutu continued in power until armed forces forced him to flee in 1997. "From 1990 to 1993, the United States facilitated Mobutu's attempts to hijack political change", one academic wrote, and "also assisted

18224-534: Was ranked 179th out of 191 countries by the Human Development Index and is classed as a least developed country by the UN . As of 2018 , following two decades of various civil wars and continued internal conflicts , around 600,000 Congolese refugees were still living in neighbouring countries. Two million children risk starvation, and the fighting has displaced 4.5 million people. The country

18360-409: Was the Kingdom of Matamba . The lesser Kingdom of Kakongo to the north was later a vassal of the Kingdom of Kongo. The people in all of these states spoke Kikongo as a common language. Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão reached the area in 1484. The previous year, the Portuguese had established relations with the Kingdom of Kongo , which stretched at the time from modern Gabon in the north to

18496-422: Was the only candidate. Although relative peace and stability were achieved, Mobutu's government was guilty of severe human rights violations, political repression , a cult of personality and corruption . By late 1967 Mobutu had successfully neutralized his political opponents and rivals, either through co-opting them into his regime, arresting them, or rendering them otherwise politically impotent. Throughout

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