Free Essay About Democratic Republic Of Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo or the DRC encompasses the larger area of the Congo River Basin that covers an approximate area of 1,000,000 sq. km. The only outlet for DRC to the Atlantic Ocean is a slim land strip that lies towards the northern bank of the Congo River. The entire DRC covers approximately a land area of 2,344,855 square kilo meters (905,365 square miles) . Congo is located exactly on the Equator, with one-third of it towards the northern part of the Equator and the remaining two-thirds lying to the south. Around the Congo River basin, the climate is typically hot and very humid, while in the southern parts of Congo is very dry and quite cool. Congo, located in the central part of the African contient has an approximate population of about 65, 705, 000 people as per the 2012 census data. It is to be noted that the census data considers explicitly the impact of the high mortality rate that is a result of AIDS, one of the most prevalent health condition. The number of males are slightly higher when compared to the females. The median age for a male in Congo is approximately 17.7 years while the same figure for a female is 18 years. The population in DRC grows at a range of 2.5% per annum as per the 2014 estimates. More than 200 odd African ethnic groups live in DRC and the majority of these groups is the Bantu ethnic group. While the official language of the DRC is French, there are also other languages like Lingala, Kingwana, Tshiluba, and Kikongo that are popularly spoken. Lingala is the trade language spoken by people and Kingwana is a Swahili dialect. 50% of the population living in DRC are Catholics, 20% of them Protestants, Muslims comprise of 10% of the population, Kimbanguist are 10% of the total population, and other 10% belong to various other aboriginal beliefs.

References

CIA World Factbook. (2014, August 23). Democratic Republic of Congo -Demographics Profile 2014. Retrieved from CIA World Factbook: http://www.indexmundi.com/democratic_republic_of_the_congo/demographics_profile.html
National Geographic Society. (2015). Democratic Republic of Congo Facts. Retrieved from National Geographic Soceity: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/democratic-republic-congo-facts/