Democratic Republic of the Congo (orthographic projection)

The

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

is a country located in the

African Great Lakes The African Great Lakes ( sw, Maziwa Makuu; rw, Ibiyaga bigari) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the second-largest fresh water lake in th ...

region of

Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo ...

. It is the second largest country in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

by area and the eleventh largest in the world. With a population of over 75 million, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the nineteenth most populous nation in the world, the fourth most populous nation in Africa, as well as the most populous officially Francophone country. Sparsely populated in relation to its area, the country is home to a vast potential of natural resources and

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...

wealth, its untapped deposits of raw minerals are estimated to be worth in excess of US$24 trillion, yet the economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has declined drastically since the mid-1980s. At the time of its independence in 1960, the Democratic Republic of the Congo was the second most industrialized country in Africa after

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

; it boasted a thriving mining sector and its agriculture sector was relatively productive. Since then, however, corruption, war and political instability have been a severe detriment to further growth, today leaving DRC with the world's lowest GDP per capita.

Notable firms

This list includes notable

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

with primary headquarters located in the country. The industry and sector follow the

Industry Classification Benchmark The Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB) is an industry classification taxonomy launched by Dow Jones and FTSE in 2005 and now used by FTSE International and STOXX. It is used to segregate markets into sectors within the macroeconomy. The I ...

taxonomy. Organizations which have ceased operations are included and noted as defunct. File:Head office of ONATRA in Kinshasa (east of boulevard du 30 juin).jpg, Office National des Transports head office in Kinshasa File:Regideso RDC.jpg, Regideso building in Kinshasa File:First train in Kindu, DRC.jpg,

Congo Railway 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 ...

's first train arrives in

Kindu Kindu is a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the capital of Maniema province. It has a population of about 200,000 and is situated on the Lualaba River at an altitude of about 500 metres, and is about 400 km west of Bukavu. Kindu ...

in 2004 after the rehabilitation of the line File:CAA Boeing 727 Potters-1.jpg, A

Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation (CAA; African Aviation Company), renamed FlyCAA in 2013, is a regional airline from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, based at N'djili Airport in Kinshasa. It offers an extensive network of domestic scheduled pa ...

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...

freighter aircraft departing

Goma International Airport Goma International Airport is an airport serving Goma, a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa. History Initially built with a paved 3000 m runway and a large terminal and apron, the airport has not recovered from the 2 ...

(2006) File:Korongo Airlines Boeing 737-300 Wadman.jpg, A Korongo Airlines

Boeing 737-300 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Februa ...

. By the time the photo was taken (2011), this aircraft was still operated by Brussels Airlines.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Companies of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Congo, Democratic Republic Of The * Economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo-related lists

Notable firms

See also

References

External links