African Kingdoms

Modern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) / Congo-Kinshasa
AD 1966 - Present Day
Incorporating Heads of State (1966-2025), & Republic of Zaire (1971-1997)

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In modern Africa the nation state of 'Democratic Republic of the Congo' is largely landlocked, with a small access point to the South Atlantic at Kitombe. It is bordered to the north by Central African Republic (or CAR), to the north-east by South Sudan, to the east by Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania, to the south by Zambia and Angola, to the west by Angola's Cabinda exclave, and along much of its north-west border by Republic of the Congo from which it is separated by the River Congo.

This is one of the largest modern nation states on the continent, with a national capital at its largest city of Kinshasa. It is also known variously as DRC (an abbreviation of the headline name), DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa (to differentiate it from its neighbour, Congo-Brazzaville), or simply 'Congo' which causes ambiguity when its neighbour is also known as 'Congo'.

Centred on the Congo basin, much of its terrain is covered by dense rainforest and is crossed by multiple rivers. The east and south-east are more heavily mountainous. People who spoke ancient versions of Kikongo probably arrived from the north to enter the region which is covered by both of today's Congos, plus Angola and Gabon, as part of the larger Bantu migration. They were practicing agriculture by at least 1000 BC, and working iron by at least 400 BC.

Central Africa was poorly defined as a region until the creation of colonial-era territories in the eighteenth century. Before that at least parts of it appear to have been virgin territory, with no recent occupation. A collection of sultanates emerged across the area which today is partially covered by CAR and to its north, but prior to that there was a period of almost two centuries of gradual, increasing movement into the area.

To the south of that region, situated in the lower Congo and today's northern Angola, the Kongo kingdom was founded in the late fourteenth century. Its original home lies somewhere in the region along the lower stretches of the River Congo. According to a study of Kongo's traditions by John Thornton, that origin was in the small state of Mpemba Kasi, which is located just to the south of today's Matadi in DRC.

Please note that the History Files does not regularly monitor changes in modern heads of state or their representatives. Get in touch here if this section requires updating.

(Information by Peter Kessler and the John De Cleene Archive, with additional information from Encyclopaedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition, Cambridge (England), 1910), from The New Atlas of African History, G S P Freeman-Grenville (Israel, 1991), from The Times Atlas of World History, Geoffrey Barraclough (Ed, Hammond Inc, 1979), and from External Links: The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: from c.1050 to c.1600, Roland Oliver (Cambridge University Press Collection, 1977, and available via the Internet Archive), and Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB), and Congo (Rulers.org), and Congo (Zárate's Political Collections (ZPC)), and Democratic Republic of the Congo (Flags of the World), and BBC Country Profiles, and DR Congo (BBC World), and Alleged Congo coup plot (AP News).)

1966 - 1997

Military dictator of Congo (Leopoldville & Kinshasa). Deposed.

1966

To the north of colonial Angola, 'Democratic Republic of the Congo' (or DRC) is created through a name-change from Congo-Leopoldville following six years of political instability and internecine strife.

Joseph Mobutu seized power in Congo-Leopoldville, ruling as a military dictator when he renamed the country's capital to Kinshasa and formed today's 'Democratic Republic of Congo'

For convenience, aside from the DRC abbreviation, the state is also known as Congo-Kinshasa. Its neighbour across the River Congo to the north-west, which has a good deal of shared history, remains 'Republic of the Congo'.

A presidential decree which is signed on 31 October 1966 puts an end to what remains of provincial autonomy in Bandundo, Central Congo, East Kasai, Equater, Kibali Ituri, North Katanga, South Katanga, Uele, Upper Congo, and West Kasai.

The central government assumes administrative control of North Katanga and South Katanga on 5 November. Kibali Ituri, Uele, and Upper Congo are reunited on 28 December 1966 into 'East Province'. North Katanga and South Katanga are reunited into the province of Katanga. North Kivu and South Kivu are reunited into Kivu.

Kinshasa, largest city and capital of 'Democratic Republic of the Congo', lies about 515km from the Atlantic Ocean on the south bank of the Congo

1967

General Joseph Désiré Mobutu, otherwise known as Mobutu Sese Seko, ends the military government by making the 'Popular Movement of the Revolution' the sole legal political party in the country.

1971 - 1977

The country's name is changed by Mobutu from 'Democratic Republic of the Congo' to the 'Republic of Zaire'. This name is retained for the rest of Mobutu's hold on power, but it is changed back in 1997. French and Belgian paratroops in 1977, alongside Moroccan forces, help to repulse an attack on Katanga by Angolan-based rebels.

1996 - 1997

The First Congo War erupts within the country. This civil war and international military conflict culminates in a rebel invasion which deposes President Mobutu and replaces him on 17 May 1997 with the rebel leader, Laurent Désiré Kabila. The country regains its former name, 'Democratic Republic of the Congo'.

Mobutu Sese Seko's DRC became involved in one of Africa's deadliest modern wars in the two 'Congo Wars', a fight which involved the deaths of about 5.4 million people, and yet this spill-over war which resulted from the 'Rwandan Genocide' remains overlooked and understudied

1997 - 2001

President and former rebel leader. Assassinated.

1998 - 2003

The Second Congo War is the result of Kabila's unstable government and the feeling that he is simply another dictator in the making. He has already come into conflict with his allies, setting the stage for a renewed civil war and drawing in several neighbouring countries.

Dozens of armed groups fight on in the east, requiring a large United Nations military force to try to maintain order. An estimated death toll is amassed through violent death, or famine and disease, which could be between just under a million people or as much as five and-half million.

2001 - 2019

Son. Controversially elected as president.

2004 - 2006

The Kivu conflict breaks out in eastern DRC. This series of protracted armed conflicts in the area involves more than one hundred and twenty different armed groups. However, in 2006 DRC enjoys its first free elections in four decades, with Kabila winning the run-off vote despite his authoritarian tendencies.

Once a committed Marxist, Laurent Désiré Kabila combined capitalism and collectivism, and was accused of being another Mobutu due to his continued authoritarianism, corruption, and human rights abuses

2012 - 2013

The M23 Rebellion is launched in the east of DRC by the rebel 'March 23 Movement'. A UN report finds that Rwanda is responsible for creating the rebel movement and for its command and control. In the following year a three thousand-strong UN 'Intervention Brigade' is deployed to fight and disarm M23 rebels (although they resume their actions in 2017).

2013

A new Seleka rebel coalition has rapidly overrun the north and centre of Central African Republic (CAR) in 2012, sparking a fresh round of civil war. In response, in 2013, DRC, Cameroon, and Gabon send forces to help the government halt a drive by the rebel 'Union for the Democratic Forces for Unity' (UFDR) to capture the capital of Bangui.

The intervention fails. In March 2013 the rebels overrun the capital and seize power. President Bozize flees while rebel leader Michel Djotodia suspends the constitution and dissolves parliament in a coup which is internationally condemned.

Central African Republic's President Francois Bozize was pictured here speaking during a news conference at the presidential palace in Bangui in 2013, but would later be removed from power and would return from exile to lead rebel forces in the early 2020s

2019

Félix Tshisekedi becomes president of DRC following protracted wrangling after Joseph Kabila's controversial elections victory in December 2018. Tshisekedi also comes from a political dynasty as his father, Étienne, had been opposition leader and later prime minister under the dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, in the 1980s and 1990s.

2019 - On

President with a questionable mandate.

2023

President Félix Tshisekedi wins a second term in the troubled December 2023 elections, but those elections are condemned as a sham by several opposition candidates. Officials state that the president gains about seventy-three percent of the vote with his nearest challenger, Moise Katumbi, at eighteen percent.

2024

A coup attempt is launched against Tshisekedi, led by a group which includes opposition politician Christian Malanga. The attempted coup is put down, leaving six dead, including Malanga himself.

President Félix Tshisekedi of DRC won a second term in the December 2023 elections, condemned as a sham by several opposition candidates due to the fact that he received about seventy-three percent of the vote

2025

Despite the 'Southern African Development Community' (or SADC) having deployed a peacekeeping force of two thousand nine hundred to the east of DRC in 2023, the M23 movement not only survives, it grows. Now it is able to make a rapid advance to capture the city of Goma in eastern DRC and threatens a move on Kinshasa.