The D.C.R.

  • About 25% the size of the US
  • Nickname: "The Heart Of Darkness"
  • In the 1880s, the area came under the control of Belgium's King Leopold II who stripped Congo of its raw materials at the cost of thousands of lives
  • It was transferred to the Belgian government and exploded in uprising in 1959 that expelled the Belgians within six months
  • Their first elected ruler, Lumumba, was murdered in a CIA- backed assassination plan
  • Mobutu followed Lumumba and ruled for more than 30 years, 
  • In 1997, rebels took over and renamed the country the Democratic Republic of Congo and was ruled by Kabila for just four years
  • His son Joseph Kabila took his place after he was shot but since 1998, civil war has raged in Congo with six countries joining in a rush for diamonds, timber, and other raw materials







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