how I love Congo, 11 facts about Congo.

1. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the
second largest country in Africa. It borders
nine countries: Angola, Burundi, the Central
African Republic, the Republic of Congo,
Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and
Zambia.
2. The people of the DRC represent over 200
ethnic groups, with nearly 250 languages and
dialects spoken throughout the country.
Kinshasa, the capital, is the second largest
French-speaking city in the world.
3. Since the 1960s, the Congolese have endured
over two decades of armed conflict with over
5.4 million people dead due to war-related
causes, making it the deadliest conflict since
World War II.
4. Congolese armed groups and elements of the
army have a long, brutal history of recruiting
child soldiers. The United Nations report at
least 1,000 cases of child soldier recruitment
between January 2012 and August 2013.
5. The oldest national park in Africa is the
Congo?s Virunga National Park. It is home to
rare mountain gorillas, lions, and elephants.
The park is currently under threat by the UK
oil company, Soco, which has begun oil
exploration the.
6. In the DRC, only 1.8% of existing roads are
tarred and less than 10% of the population
has access to electricity today. Recently there
have been pushes to improve, including the
announcement of a $1 billion package from
the World Bank for infrastructure.
7. The Democratic Republic of the Congo hosts
the United Nations? largest peacekeeping
mission in the world, with over 21,000
soldiers from approximately 50 different
countries.
8. Due mainly to the ongoing instability in the
eastern part of the country, about 450,000
refugees from the DRC remain in neighboring
countries, particularly Burundi, Rwanda,
Tanzania, and Uganda.
9. The DRC is among the most resource-rich
countries on the planet, with an abundance of
gold, tantalum, tungsten, and tin – all
minerals used in electronics such as cell
phones and laptops – yet it continues to have
an extremely poor population.
10. Tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold have been
dubbed ?conflict minerals.? Armed groups use
the profits from sales for campaigns of
violence. Some companies are becoming
more accountable by tracing their supply
chains.
11. Former NBA All-Star Dikembe Mutombo was
born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In 1997, he founded a humanitarian
foundation to improve the health, education
and quality of life for the people in the DRC.

Source DoSomething.org