The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a country in Central Africa. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is also known as Congo-Leopoldville, or Congo-Kinshasa because its capital is Kinshasa, or Zaire.
The territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is inhabited by two ethnic groups, Bantu and Pygmy, divided into chiefdoms and kingdoms. The history of the region is marked by the emergence of three major kingdoms. The Kingdom of Kongo was established in the territory of present-day northern Angola, at the mouth of the Congo River, in the 14th century.
It is the second largest country in Africa. Although it is located in the Central African subregion as defined by the United Nations, it is often considered to be in Southern Africa because it is a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It is bordered by the Central African Republic and South Sudan to the north, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania to the east, Zambia and Angola to the south, and the Republic of the Congo to the west. The country has a coastline of only 40 km at Muanola, of which about 9 km is the mouth of the Congo River into the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean.
People in the Democratic Republic of Congo leave their homes to seek refuge. (Source: AFP)
When mentioning Congo, people do not actually name one of the two countries on the Congo River in Africa. The phrase “Congo New Year” is familiar to many Vietnamese people, but in fact, not everyone knows that Congo is the name of two countries in the world. The larger country located in southeast Africa is the Democratic Republic of Congo, the smaller country is the Republic of Congo located in the northwest. Brazzaville is the capital of the Republic of Congo, while Kinshasa is the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The two capitals are located opposite each other across the Congo River, so close that people on one side can hear people shouting on the other side of the river.
The capital Brazzaville is separated from the capital Kinshasa only by the Congo River. Photo: Waters Economics. This unusual border is the result of the colonial division of the empire: Brazzaville under French colonial rule and Kinshasa under Belgian imperial rule. The Congo River has insufficient water flow for ships, so the French and Belgian governments built railway systems for the two colonies starting from the same point. Since 1960, the two Congolese countries have both gained independence but have developed in different directions.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 armed group, which has increased its activities, leading to the displacement of tens of thousands of Congolese people since late 2021. Rwanda denies the accusation. The attack took place on the evening of October 23 in the suburb of Oicha in the Beni region of North Kivu province. The mayor of Oicha accused the IS-linked Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) of being behind the attack. According to some survivors of the attack, many villagers are moving to safer areas after the incident.
Escalating conflict and violence have forced 6.9 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo to flee their homes, mostly in the eastern part of the African country, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on October 30. Conflict and natural disasters have over the past several years been among the factors causing one of the world's largest humanitarian crises. According to data from the United Nations, most of those forced to flee their homes live in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, including North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri and Tanganyika. The IOM added that in North Kivu alone, up to 1 million people have been displaced by the conflict between the army and the M23 rebel group.
On December 11, the US said that the parties involved in the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo agreed on a 72-hour ceasefire. White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said the US government would monitor the activities of armed groups during the ceasefire. Escalating tensions have caused the area along the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda to fall into a serious humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile, the spokesman for the M23 rebel force, Mr. Willi Ngoma, affirmed that the ceasefire was not related to this force, however, M23 affirmed that it respected the ceasefire./.
Bui Tue (compilation and commentary)
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