"" ( kg, italic=no, Telama besi Kongo; "Arise, Congolese") is the national anthem of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was originally adopted in 1960 upon independence from Belgium but was replaced by " La Zaïroise" when the

Congo Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...

changed its name to Zaire in 1971. It was finally reinstated when the Congo was reorganised in 1997. The lyrics were written by historian and professor

Joseph Lutumba Joseph Lutumba is a Congolese lyricist and the author of the Congolese national anthem. When the Democratic Republic of the Congo was renamed to the Republic of Zaire, he was also the one who composed the new national anthem known as La Zaïroise ...

, and the music was composed by

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

father , who also wrote and composed "La Zaïroise".

References

External links

Democratic Republic of the Congo: "Debout Congolais" - Audio of the national anthem of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with information and lyrics
{{anthem-stub Democratic Republic of the Congo music African anthems National symbols of the Democratic Republic of the Congo National anthem compositions in C major