Brief History of Congo, Democratic Republic of the:
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a different country from the Republic of the Congo. They are located next to each other and have similar names, but they are different countries.
There were probably people living in the area that is today known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo as far back as 8000 BC. They were herders and farmers and tribal peoples. In the 600's AD the Bantu people came to the area and settled.
The first Europeans to come to the land were the Portuguese. Explorer Diego Cao arrived in 1482. Many years later, in the late 1800's, British journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley would travel through much of the area. In 1885 the area became a colony of Belgian King Leopold II and would become a Belgian possession in 1907. In the 1960s the Belgian Congo gained full independence. The first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was Patrice Lumumba and the first president was Joseph Kasvubu.
The Geography of Congo, Democratic Republic of the
Total Size: 2,345,410 square km
Size Comparison: slightly less than one-fourth the size of the US
General Terrain: vast central basin is a low-lying plateau; mountains in east
Geographical Low Point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
Geographical High Point: Pic Marguerite on Mont Ngaliema (Mount Stanley) 5,110 m
Climate: tropical; hot and humid in equatorial river basin; cooler and drier in southern highlands; cooler and wetter in eastern highlands; north of Equator - wet season (April to October), dry season (December to February); south of Equator - wet season (November to March), dry season (April to October)
