1. Democratic Republic of Congo

3. Dem. Rep. of Congo
Named after enormous Congo River and the large ethnic group living at its mouth, the Kongo.
The Congo River is the 2nd longest river in Africa.
There are lots of rivers in the country.
Country is located on the equator.
It is bordered by nine countries.
Divided into 26 provinces and 1 city.

4. A) The Land It is the 2nd biggest country in Africa. (#11 in world)
It is ¼ the size of the United States.
There are many landscapes such as rainforests, savannas, and highlands.

5. Rainforest

6. 1) Rainforests Tropical Rainforest covers 1/3 of the country.
The top of the rainforest forms a canopy.
There are more than 750 different trees that grow in the rainforest.
The rainforest are being destroyed at a rapid pace, just like the rainforests we learned about in ________ _________.

7. 2) Highlands & Savannas
There are mountains on the eastern side of the country.
Savannas are in the northern and southern parts of the country.

8. Animals in Africa

9. 3) Rivers and Lakes
The Congo River is one of the world’s longest rivers.
It is the country’s highway for trade, travel, and livelihood.
Cargo ships travel on the Congo River to get to the Atlantic Ocean.
The Congo River is said to have enough hydroelectric power to light up every home in all of southern Africa.
Lake Tanganyika is the world’s longest freshwater lake, and the 2nd deepest lake in the world.

10. Lake Tanganyika

11. 4) The Climate Tropical Climate
It is very hot and humid all year with heavy rainstorms.

12. B) The Economy GDP: 63.27 billion (#100)
Mining is the major economic activity.
The Dem. Rep. of Congo ranks very high in the world in mining diamonds.
Who is #1 in the world in producing diamonds?

13. 1) Energy Sources
Oil and natural gas deposits, but rivers are the main source of energy.
The country’s rivers can produce 13% of the world’s hydroelectricity.
The Congo river carries more water than any other river in the world except the ________ _________.

14. 10 million gallons of water rush down the Congo river every second.
2) Farming
Most people are subsistence farmers.
Farmers grow corn, rice and cassava for families.
Only 3% of land is arable.
People also hunt wild animals, and fish in the rivers.

15. Congo River

16. C) The People 79.3 million people (#19 world)
There are over 200 different ethnic groups.
Official Language: French, lots spoken!
Main religion: Roman Catholic 50%
Very high birthrate in this country. Women avg. having 4.66 kids.
The country has been torn apart by warfare.

17. 1) Influences of the Past
There was a powerful kingdom in the 1300’s named the Kongo.
In the late 1400’s the Portuguese and European traders arrived.
For 300 years, they enslaved the african people and shipped them to the Americas.

18. Con’t.
1878 Belgium’s King Leopold II took over and named the country Belgian Congo.
In 1960 Belgian Congo became an independent country known as the Congo.
the country was known as Zaire.
In 1997, new military government renamed the country Democratic Republic of Congo.

19. Ways of Life 70% of the people live in rural villages.
The capital city is Kinshasa.
Kinshasa is a major port on the Congo River.
Life expect.: 56.9 years old (#206)
1 doctor every 9,000 people
Literacy Rate- 64%
42% of kids work between ages 5-14.

20. D) Government Gov’t: Republic
Independence: June 30, 1960 from Belgium.
18 years old to vote
President: Joseph Kabila (Five year term with the ability to be re-elected once). He has been president since How is that possible? Country’s president was assassinated in 2001 (his father) and he became the president. Did not count officially as counting towards his terms. Election will be in 2016!