The Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (also known as the DRC) is the 11th largest country in the world by area. It is the 19th largest country in the world by population with over 75 million inhabitants. The DRC is home to one of the worlds most important tropical rainforest ecosystems: the Congo rainforest.  It is the the worlds second largest tropical forest in the world, after the Amazon. The heart of this rainforest is the Congo river, which is the the worlds 9th longest river and the deepest river in the world. It is as deep as 720 feet in some places.

Within the DRC is Mount Nyiragongo, an active stratovolcano, which is in the Virunga Mountains. It rises to an elevation of 11,385 feet. Another volcano in the DRC and in the same mountain range is Nyamuragira, also active and rising to 10,033 feet.

The capital and largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is Kinshasa, with over 9 million people. The official language of the DRC is French. In fact, the Democratic Republic of Congo is actually the largest country by population with an official language of French, with France being second.


Map of the River Congo, showing national boundaries. Map and Description Credit: Hel-hama




Salonga National Park, in the Congo River basin rainforest, 2005. Photo Credit: Radio Okapi
 

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Photo Credit: Vberger, 2003.


Katanga Hills, October, 2011. Photo Credit: sebastienlavoie


Nyiragongo Volcano in Democratic Republic of the Congo. Photo Credit: Maik Bunschkowski, 2004.


Aerial view of the Lukenie River of central Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2007. Photo & Description Credit: Valerius Tygart.