Democratic Republic of Congo
By Adrian, Jordan, and Nyamekyi
Information about the Democratic Republic of Congo
•Neighboring Countries - Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burndi, Tanzania
•Geography/climate - covers an area of almost 1,000,000 kilometers. Lies on the equator so the climate is hot and humid in the river basin and cool and dry in the southern highlands
•History/Government - in a transitional government. Was populated early as 10,000 years ago and settled in 6th and 7th centuries A.D. by Bantus from present-day Nigeria. The Congo Free State was a corporate state privately controlled by Leopoldo II, king of the Belgians. UnderLeopold's administration, the Congo Free State became the site of one of the most infamous international scandals of the twentieth century.
•Culture - Extremely diverse, name of their culture is Congolese
•Real GDP per capita - 453.67
•Infant mortality Rate - 73.15 deaths out of 1000 lives
•Life expectancy - average person lived to 50 years of age
•Literacy rate - 61.2%
•HDI - .338. Has been increasing since 2000
•Strengths of country - abundant minerals such as gold, copper, cobalt and diamonds. Have considerable hydroelectric potential with the Inga dams.
•Weaknesses of the country - tensions in the east of the country with recurrent rebellions and difficult relations with Rwanda. Also there are defective infrastructures and governance shortcomings.
•China, Russia, Brazil develop factories in the Democratic Republic of Congo so they could buy raw materials from them
•The Democratic Republic of Congo have faced problems against human and countless crimes against humanity. 1.5 million people are still displaced from home. The eastern half of the country is the rape capital of the world.
•The Democratic Republic of Congo registered a growth rate of 8.5% in 2013 which was driven by the robust extractive industries and favorable trends in commodity prices. Inflation which stood at a staggering 53% in 2009, fell to 1% in 2013 as a result of the implementation of prudent fiscal and monetary policies
•the government would have to keep implementing them and hopefully after time it could do more to help
•it would be implemented through various laws and building developments in factories to help extract the material it could also bring more jobs into the economy.
•With half of Africa's forests and water resources and trillion-dollar mineral reserves, the Democratic Republic of Congo could become a powerhouse of African development provided multiple pressures on its natural resources are urgently addressed.