Where is zaire africa

Image source, Getty Images. Patrice Lumumba was independent Congo's first prime minister. He was murdered, allegedly with US and Belgian help. Mobutu years. Mobutu Sese Seko renamed Congo as Zaire and looted the country during his three decades in power.

Rule of the Kabilas. Laurent-Desire Kabila was seen as a saviour but after a few months of peace a new war began. Mount Nyiragongo has erupted numerous times in living memory, and in lava from the volcano destroyed part of the nearby city of Goma. Search for peace. Interim government. Free elections. Popular protest exploded in , forcing Mobutu to agree to end his one-party rule. In over 1 million Hutu refugees, some of them armed, fled to eastern Zaire following the genocide in Rwanda.

In recent years U. Between and , the U. It even provided transport for foreign troops used to suppress anti-Mobutu rebellions in and The U. In , the outbreak of widespread popular protests against his rule moved the U. Congress to cut all bilateral aid to Zaire and begin demanding that he step down. During this period, Mobutu, in line with economic liberalization policies championed by the U. During the next two years, the U. In the Clinton administration refused to replace its outgoing ambassador to Zaire and barred Mobutu and his closest associates from visiting the U.

But Washington ignored calls to apply a more potent lever: a freeze on the overseas assets of Mobutu and his close cronies. But even as it called for change in Zaire, the U.

Until late , the U. Not until many months after the rebellion began did the U. Even then, active shuttle diplomacy in April by U. Relieved that Kinshasa fell with relatively little bloodshed, U.

United for decades around the need to oust Mobutu, Congolese remain divided on other issues. Some anti-Mobutu politicians and grassroots activists feel inadequately represented in the new government. The Congo will need ongoing dialogue and mutual accommodation among the new government, other former opposition politicians, and civil society to reconcile competing views and to create the basis for long term stability.

From , a modified federal system gave a degree of political power to the provincial governments. The country has a highly centralized 1-party government. The Popular Movement of the Revolution MPR , founded by President Mobutu in , has been designated successively the country's "first," "supreme," and then, by virtue of the August constitution, its "only" political institution.

Politically, has been a relatively calm period for Zaire, and security has been better than at almost any time since independence.

At independence, Zaire had one of the most highly developed and diversified economies in sub-Saharan Africa. Agriculture is the base of the economy, but mining generates much revenue.

Zaire's extractive industries have provided the main impetus for economic development.