Mineral Wealth, Excessive Poverty The Democratic Republic of the Congo is awash in treasured metals and stones, from gold, diamonds and coltan to tin, copper and cobalt.

The Congo River – the second largest river in Africa after the Nile – additionally has large potential for hydroelectric energy era, in addition to 80 million hectares (197 million acres) of arable land.

However many years of conflict and power mismanagement imply that little of the nation’s huge wealth flows to a inhabitants of about 100 million folks.

In response to the World Financial institution, about two-thirds of Congolese folks stay on lower than $2.15 a day.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo occupies an unlimited space the dimensions of continental western Europe, and is about 80 instances bigger than its former colonial energy, Belgium.

It’s the second largest nation in Africa after Algeria.

About 250 completely different ethnic teams stay within the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and so they communicate a whole lot of various languages.

French is the official language of the nation, and the native languages ​​Kikongo, Lingala, Tshiluba, and Swahili are formally acknowledged.

Regardless of its dimension and variety – the previous province of Katanga tried to secede within the Sixties – there’s a sturdy sense of nationwide unity.