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The Democratic Republic of the Congo should not be confused with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire (formerly known as the Republic of the Congo), also known as the Congo-Brazzaville or simply Congo, is a former French colony of central Africa. It borders Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola. It has an area of ??342,000 square kilometers and a population of 5,518,000, according to the United Nations average estimate for 2020.
The Republic is a former French colony. When it became independent in 1960, the former Central Congo region became the Republic of the Congo.
In 1992, Congo became a multi-party democracy. However, in 1997 a brief civil war broke out that resulted in the overthrow of democratically elected President Pascal Lisumba and the ouster of President Denny Sassu-Ngeso.
About half of the population live below the poverty line at $ 1.25 a day.
The oldest inhabitants of the area were Pygmies, who later largely abandoned their homes and were absorbed by the Bandu tribes during the expansion of the latter.
Several Bantu kingdoms - especially those of the Congo, Loango and Teke - have established trade relations in the Congo River Basin.
In 1482 the Portuguese Diogo Cao discovered the vast kingdom of Loango. The first Europeans initially remained only in coastal areas.
Indigenous peoples and Europeans had trade relations for centuries, and in the following decades the transatlantic trade flourished. At the end of the 19th century the substantial colonization of Africa by the Europeans began and the Bandu kingdoms declined.
In 1885-87 treaties were signed by France with Germany, Portugal and Belgium and the limits of French possessions in relation to the possessions of other European countries were set.
Central Congo became part of the Confederation of French Equatorial Africa in 1910. In 1958 a referendum was held and the region gained autonomy.
On August 15, 1960, the Congo became an independent state, with Filber Yulu as its first president's overthrow in a coup d'etat by labor and rival political parties.
The army ousted the leader of the National Revolutionary Movement, Alphonse Maseba-Deba, who was elected president (1963) for a five-year term under a new constitution. The latter's term was abruptly interrupted by another coup, in 1968, which overthrew him and gave power to the army (a National Revolutionary Council was formed).
The leader of the coup, Marien Ngwaby, became president on December 31, 1968. A year later, President Ngwaby proclaimed Congo as the first People's Republic of Africa, announcing the decision of the National Revolutionary Movement to rename the Congolese PCT).
Nguabi was assassinated on March 18, 1977, and an interim government was formed, consisting of an 11-member military commission. It was headed by Joaquim Yobi-Opango, a colonel and later a general. The latter was overthrown by Denny Sasso Nguesso in 1979.
The new president was a friend of the Eastern bloc and signed a twenty-year friendship pact with the Soviet Union. He was re-elected in 1984 and 1989.