Centered on the Congo Basin, the territory of the DRC was first inhabited by Central African foragers around 90,000 years ago and was reached by the Bantu expansion about 3,000 years ago. In the west, the Kingdom of Kongo ruled around the mouth of the Congo River from the 14th to 19th centuries. In the northeast, center, and east, the kingdoms of Azande, Luba, and Lunda ruled from the 16th and 17th centuries to the 19th century. King Leopold II of Belgium formally acquired rights to the Congo territory from the colonial nations of Europe in 1885 and declared the land his private property, naming it the Congo Free State. From 1885 to 1908, his colonial military forced the local population to produce rubber and committed widespread atrocities. In 1908, Leopold ceded the territory, which thus became a Belgian colony.
A sample from the Kolwezi area with green colored Malachite containing copper and darker Heterogenite containing cobalt.
The mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (French: Industrie minière de la République Démocratique du Congo) produces copper, diamonds, tantalum, tin, gold, and more than 63% of global cobalt production. Minerals and petroleum are central to the DRC's economy, making up more than 95% of the value of its exports. The mining industry in the DRC mainly consists of private, large industrial mines, semi-industrial, and artisanal mines. While private sectors take on large operations, they rely heavily on artisanal mining for extraction of resources. These industries along with non-for-profit organizations are continuously changing their guidelines as the DRC becomes more and more desirable for their valuable minerals. Mining in the DRC took place beginning in the 14th century and is still very present today, with mass scale lootings halting many major projects. The main countries involved in the mining operations in the DRC are Canada and China along with 25 other international mines active in the area. While technological companies strive for sustainable production and consumption of their products using cobalt, this is often achieved by the work of artisanal mining in hazardous and unjust working conditions. The process of mining and extraction in any area has negative impacts on the environment and those living in it, however, the DRC has faced many acts of environmental injustice including child labor under fatal conditions, exploitation of laborers, and displacement. (Full article...)
The following are images from various Democratic Republic of the Congo-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1Force Publique soldiers in the Belgian Congo in 1918. At its peak, the Force Publique had around 19,000 Congolese soldiers, led by 420 Belgian officers. (from Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Image 12Population fleeing their villages due to fighting between FARDC and rebels groups, Sake North Kivu 30 April 2012 (from Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Image 54Change in per capita GDP of Congo, 1950–2018. Figures are inflation-adjusted to 2011 International dollars. (from Democratic Republic of the Congo)
The Battle of Rejaf, also known as the Battle of Bedden, was fought on 17 February 1897 between the Belgian-led forces of the Congo Free State and Mahdist rebels in Rejaf (now in present-day South Sudan). The battle resulted in a Congolese victory and the permanent expulsion of the Mahdists from the Lado Enclave, as well as the establishment of a Belgian outpost along the Nile.
King Leopold II, the Belgian king and ruler of the Congo Free State, acquired the Lado Enclave in South Sudan from Britain in 1894 as part of a territory exchange which gave the British a strip of land along the eastern Congo for Belgian access to the navigable Nile. However, the territory was overrun with Mahdists who had established their stronghold at the town of Rejaf, which occupied a valuable position for trade along the Nile river. After a wave of new funding from the Belgian government in 1895, King Leopold ordered an expedition to be led into the Lado Enclave to expel the Mahdists and fortify Rejaf as a strategic military and trading outpost. (Full article...)
Lihau attended the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium with the help of sympathetic Jesuit educators, becoming one of the first Congolese to study law. While there he encouraged Congolese politicians to form an alliance that allowed them to secure the independence of the Congo from Belgium. He served briefly as a justice official and negotiator for the Congolese central government before being appointed to lead a commission to draft a permanent national constitution. He was made dean of law faculty at Lovanium University in 1963. The following year he helped deliver the Luluabourg Constitution to the Congolese, which was adopted by referendum. (Full article...)
.svg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_-_Kasa%C3%AF-Central.svg)
.jpg)
_(14577176430).jpg)
_(8458935824).jpg)
_of_clashes_between_M23_and_National_troops._(8782972992).jpg)
.jpg)
_%E2%80%93_Virunga_National_Park_(29).jpg)
Commons
Wikibooks
Wikidata
Wikinews
Wikiquote
Wikisource
Wikiversity
Wikivoyage
Wiktionary
