[229] Although what was known as Africa's World War had ended in 2003 the eastern part of the country still has ongoing skirmishes between rebel groups and government forces. Six months after the 2002 eruption, nearby Mount Nyamuragira also erupted. Like much of the infrastructure in the Congo, the railways are poorly maintained, dirty, crowded and dangerous. Kimbanguism was seen as a threat to the colonial regime and was banned by the Belgians. [citation needed]. Tremalt owned 80% of Savannah Mining, which held concessions C17 and C18 in Katanga Province and 50% of the Mukondo project. The DRC is also one of the twenty lowest-ranked countries on the Corruption Perception Index. [104], Mobutu allegedly stole as much as US$4–5 billion while in office. [70] On 8 December 2017, fourteen UN soldiers and five Congolese regular soldiers were killed in a rebel attack at Semuliki in Beni territory. [66] The death toll is due to widespread disease and famine; reports indicate that almost half of the individuals who have died are children under five years of age. At independence in 1960, DRC was the second-most industrialized country in Africa after South Africa; it boasted a thriving mining sector and a relatively productive agriculture sector. BBC. Kinshasa and Brazzaville are on opposite sides of the river at the Pool. Virunga National Park is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979, but was labelled a site in danger in 1994 due to political conflict and poaching.. © 2020 Euromonitor is privately owned & trademarked. [220] Deforestation is the primary cause of biodiversity reduction and species loss globally, through habitat loss and fragmentation. 299) found that 74.8% of women agreed that a husband is justified in beating his wife in certain circumstances. On 10 January 2019, the electoral commission announced opposition candidate Félix Tshisekedi as the winner of the presidential vote. [50] Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union U.S. relations with Mobutu cooled, as he was no longer deemed necessary as a Cold War ally. To enforce the rubber quotas, the army, the Force Publique, was called in and made the practice of cutting off the limbs of the natives a matter of policy. [125], In June 2010, Oxfam reported a dramatic increase in the number of rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and researchers from Harvard discovered that rapes committed by civilians had increased seventeenfold. Laurent Nkunda, a member of RCD-Goma, an RCD branch integrated to the army, defected along with troops loyal to him and formed the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), which began an armed rebellion against the government, starting the Kivu conflict. [112] The 2013–2014 DHS survey (pp. On 17 January 1961, he was handed over to Katangan authorities and executed by Belgian-led Katangese troops. With the abdication of Napoleon, Britain’s war with France ended and Britain ceased impressment of American sailors. According to Yakin Ertürk, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women who toured eastern Congo in July 2007, violence against women in North and South Kivu included "unimaginable brutality". 2011)", "New Study Shows Congo is Run as Violent Kleptocracy", "Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor – Democratic Republic of the Congo", "UN expert on violence against women expresses serious concerns following visit to Democratic Republic of Congo", Enquête Démographique et de Santé en République Démocratique du Congo 2013–2014, "Concluding comments of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Democratic Republic of the Congo", "Violence Against Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)", "Prevalence of Rape in E. Congo Described as Worst in World". Bismack Biyombo, Christian Eyenga, Emmanuel Mudiay and Serge Ibaka are others who gained significant international attention in basketball. Understand []. Women and children are abused sexually and "abused in all possible manners". Angolan, Zimbabwean, and Namibian militaries entered the hostilities on the side of the government. The final battle of the war took place on January 15, 1815 in New Orleans, where Andrew Jackson’s militia successfully defended the port against 7,500 British regulars defeating them in 30 minutes. Because of hunting and habitat destruction, the chimpanzee, the bonobo and the gorilla, each of whose populations once numbered in the millions, have now dwindled down to only about 200,000 gorillas, 100,000 chimpanzees and possibly only about 10,000 bonobos.