ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background and a description of major events in Congo, Democratic Republic of (Kinshasa). It also provides basic political, economic, and social data arranged in the following categories: polity, economy, population, purchasing power parities, life expectancy, ethnic groups, capital, political rights, civil liberties, and status. The chapter discusses the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in Congo, Democratic Republic of (Kinshasa). As the Belgian Congo, the vast area of central Africa that is the Democratic Republic of Congo was exploited with a brutality that was notable even by colonial standards. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan visited the Democratic Republic of Congo in September 2001 and said he was encouraged by recent efforts to end the war. The people of the Democratic Republic of Congo have never been permitted to choose or change their government through democratic and peaceful means.
