The Democratic Republic of Congo is a country located in central Africa, it is formerly known as Zaire, and its capital is Kinshasa.

The country's land area is about 2.345 million square kilometers, making it Africa's second-largest and the world's eleventh-largest country. Its population exceeds 71 million, making it the world's nineteenth and Africa’s fourth populous country as well as the country with the most people using the official French.

The Democratic Republic of Congo was originally a Belgian colony and was then called Belgian Congo. It became independent in February 1960. It is called the Republic of Congo along with the neighboring country, and the two countries are distinguished from each other by indicating their respective capital in the bracket. On August 1, 1964 it changed its name into the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 1971 it changed its name into the Republic of Zaire. On May 17, 1997, the armed forces of the Congolese Liberation Democratic Republic of the Congo, led by Ron Kabila, attacked and occupied the capital of Kinshasa, declared the presidency and restored the name of the Democratic Republic of Congo to date.