D.R. Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo: population, cities

Population

Population

According to Countryaah website, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has around 85 million residents.

Ethnic composition

The population of the Democratic Republic of the Congo consists of approx. 80% members of the Bantu peoples (approx. 18% Luba, 16% Congo, 13% Mongo, 10% Rwanda,) approx. 18% Sudan groups (e.g. Ubangi), about 2% Nilots and a few pygmies and Europeans (mostly Belgians).

Religion

About 50% of the population are Catholics, 20% Protestants, 10% Muslims, about 10% Kimbanguists and 10% Animists. In addition, around 100,000 Jehovah's Witnesses live here.

National language

The official language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is French. Colloquial languages are Chiluba, Kikongo, Lingala, and Swahili, as well as Luvena, Chokwe, Gbaya and Kituba.

Capital and other cities

Kinshasa

Kinshasa with its approx. 10 million residents is not only the capital of the country, but also its largest city and the third largest in Africa. Kinshasa is located in the west of the country on the Congo River.

Kisangani

Kisangani has around 1.2 million residents and is located in the north of the country on the Lualaba River, which later becomes the Congo.

Lubumbashi

Lubumbashi has approx. 1.7 million residents and is located in the south-east of the country at approx. 1000 m above sea level.

Mbuji-Mayi

Mbuji-Mayi has a population of around 2.5 million and is located in the south of the country.

Other cities are:

- Kolwezi with around 430,000 residents

- Kananga with around 400,000 residents

- Likasi with around 300,000 residents

- Bukavu with around 210,000 residents.

Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Defined by DigoPaul, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is located in central Africa, north and south of the equator. The state must not be confused with the Republic of the Congo. The Democratic Republic of the Congo covers a total area of 2,344,858 km². Thereof:

• Forest

  Around 70% of the country is forested.

• Meadow and pasture land

  Around 7% of the land is used as meadow or pasture land.

• Fields and fields

  Around 3.5% of the land is used as arable land or fields, especially for growing fruit, vegetables, coffee, cocoa, tea, cotton, rice and palm oil.

The country shares a border with the following 9 states.

- Angola with a length of 2,511 km,

- Burundi with a length of 233 km,

- Republic of the Congo with a length of 2,410 km,

- Rwanda with a length of 217 km,

- Zambia with a length of 1,930 km,

- Sudan with a length of 628 km,

- Tanzania with a length of 459 km,

- Uganda with a length of 765 km

- Central African Republic with a length of 1,577 km

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has a narrow access to the Atlantic with a coastline of only around 40 km.

Longitude and latitude

The Republic of the Congo extends over the following geographical latitude (abbreviation Δφ) and geographical longitude (abbreviation Δλ):

You can find detailed information on this subject under Longitude and Latitude.

Time in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

For the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the following value applies to Central European Time (CET), i.e. the time without daylight saving time. A minus sign means that it is earlier there, a plus sign that it is later than CET:

Further and detailed explanations of the time can be found under Time zones, time.

The highest point of the sun in Kinshasa

Kinshasa lies at a southern latitude of around φ = 04 °.

If the sun or its image point is above the city, i.e. at 04 ° south, the sun is perpendicular there. This happens twice a year, roughly 15 days before March 21st and 15 days after September 21st (for details see position of the sun).

Attention

If the image point of the sun and thus the declination δ is north of the latitude of Kinshasa, the sun is not in the south at noon, as in our latitudes, but in the north. In this case, the sun moves from east to north to west, where, like us, it sets.

Mountains, Nyiragongo

Margherita Peak

The highest mountain in the country is the Margherita Peak in the Ruwenzori Mountains, with a height of 5,109 m.

Nyiragongo

At the East African rift valley lies the approximately 3,470 m high Nyiragongo volcano, which has the largest lava lake in the world with a volume of 100 million cubic meters. Besides the Nyiragong there are only four other volcanoes with an open lava lake in the world. In 1977 and 2002 the lake "ran out", which led to devastating destruction. The eruption on January 10, 1977 killed around 2,000 people in the villages around the volcano. During the eruption on January 17th, the magma flowed into the inner city of the city of Goma, a little less than 20 km away, and killed around 100 people.

The lava lake is fed by magma located deep in the earth's mantle. Since the rock is very porous, gases can escape so that no explosive eruptions occur. Since the magma is rich in potassium and sodium but poor in silica, the lava is very liquid. The volcano is one of eight Virunga volcanoes in the border area between Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the edge of the East African rift valley - the Rift Valley.

Rivers

The longest river in the country is the Congo with a total length of 4,374 km. Other rivers in the country are:

• Lualaba
• Ubangi
• Uele
• Kasai
• Sakura
• Lulua

Lakes, Lake Tanganyika

Lake Tanganyika Lake

Tanganyika is the largest lake in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located in the south and southeast of the country. With a maximum depth of 1,470 m and an average depth of approx. 570 m, it is the second deepest lake on earth and the deepest in all of Africa. It covers an area of around 32,893 km², making it the second largest lake in Africa. Its water volume is 18,900 km³. Its length is around 650 km and its width varies between around 40 and 75 km. The lake lies in the East African rift system - the tectonic fracture zone in East Africa.

In addition to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the lake belongs to the following countries: Burundi, Zambia and Tanzania. With 45% and 41%, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania take by far the largest part of the lake. Most of the lake forms in its middle the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. The only around 105 km long Ruzizi River is the skin inflow of the lake and the only outflow of the East African Kiwu Lake.

Other larger lakes are:

• the Albertsee with an area of around 5,400 km²,
• the Mweru lake with an area of 4,920 km²,
• the Kivu Lake with an area of 2,650 km² as well
• the Edwardsee with an area of 2,325 km².