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Introducing Democratic Republic of Congo
Travel Alert: The Democratic Republic of Congo remains a very risky travel proposition. Travellers should exercise extreme caution, check the BBC for news updates or Safe Travel for current government warnings.
More a geographical concept than a fully fledged nation, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, formerly Zaïre) is a bubbling cauldron of untamed wilderness carpeted by swathes of rainforest and punctuated by gushing rivers and smoking volcanoes. Rendered almost ungovernable by the central administration in Kinshasa, the country remains closed to all but the most brave-hearted travellers. The nation’s history reads like something out of Dante’s Inferno – from the brazen political folly of King Leopold of Belgium to the hideously corrupt ‘kleptocracy’ of maverick megalomaniac Mobutu Sese Seko, and the blood-stained battlegrounds of Africa’s first ‘world war’.
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Latest headlines for Democratic Republic of Congo
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African view: Shipshape for Obama?
9 July 2009 6:50AM
In our series of weekly viewpoints from African journalists, Elizabeth Ohene, a former minister in Ghana, looks forward to US President Barack Obama's visit to Africa.
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DR Congo army 'to act over rapes'
8 July 2009 1:42PM
The Congolese military says it will punish any soldiers carrying out rapes, following criticism by a rights group.
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