Congo+General+Information


 * General Information || Geography || History || Culture || Political System || Economics || Activities || Teacher's Page ||

**THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO** **CAPITAL:** Kinshasha

**POPULATION:** 70,916,439 (The Congo has the 19th largest population in the world)

**ETHNIC GROUPS**: over 200 African ethnic groups of which the majority are Bantu; the four largest tribes - Mongo, Luba, Kongo (all Bantu), and the Mangbetu-Azande (Hamitic) make up about 45% of the population

**RELIGIONS:** Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%, Muslim 10%, other (includes syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs) 10%

**LANGUAGES:** French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba

**MAJOR INDUSTRIES:** mining (diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt, coltan, zinc), mineral processing, consumer products (including textiles, footwear, cigarettes, processed foods and beverages), cement, commercial ship repair

**NATURAL RESOURCES:** cobalt, copper, niobium, tantalum, petroleum, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, uranium, coal, hydropower, timber

**Resources:** Congo, Democratic Republic of the. (n.d.).//The Word Factbook.// Retrieved December 1, 2010, from http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cg.html

**Created by:** Ashley Miller, **email:** aemill4@ilstu.edu **Date created:** November 20, 2010 **Modified:** December 15, 2010 **Copyright 2010, Ashley Miller, Illinois State University**