In May 1997, Zaire was renamed to Democratic Republic of the Congo by Laurent Kabila in all the geographical references including maps. In July 2003, a transitional government was formed.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly known as Zaire from 1971 to 1997 lies in Western Africa between Gabon and Angola along the South Atlantic Ocean. In the maps of Democratic Republic of the Congo by area, it is third largest in the African continent. Congo actually means hunter and is derived from the ethnic group of Bakongo, which resides in the basin of the Congo river.
Kinshasa is the capital and a transportation hub located on Congo river. Despite political turmoil, Kinshasa has a university and some important institutions such as a research center for medicine, museums, and monuments. Democratic Republic of the Congo tourism industry has been grately flourished here and it’s a great travel to Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Virunga National Park, situated in the north east, was built in 1925 and was the first national park of Africa. It was famous for mountain gorillas, although poaching and civil war have made the gorillas a rare find now. Though visiting DRC may seem risky, businessmen and the off-road Democratic Republic of the Congo tourism are is still good.
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