The Democratic Republic of the Congo – abbreviated DR Congo – is located in Central Africa. The country borders the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia and Angola. So there are nine neighboring countries. It also has access to the Atlantic Ocean via a corridor on the Congo River. However, the coastline is only 40 kilometers long. The equator runs through the country.


The DR Congo is the second largest state in Africa. Only Algeria is bigger. The land area is more than six times the size of Germany. By population, the DR Congo is the fourth largest state in Africa (after Nigeria, Ethiopia and Egypt).
The DR Congo should not be confused with the neighboring Republic of the Congo. As a distinction, the DR Congo is sometimes also called Congo-Kingshasa after the capital. Between 1971 and 1997 the country was called Zaire, before independence in 1960 Belgian Congo, because it was then a Belgian colony.
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