The Democratic Republic of the Congo Formerly known as Zaire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DROC) is located in the center of Africa and borders nine different countries and one territory. (Lerner, 10) Neighboring countries are the Central African Republic and Sudan on the northern border, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi on the eastern border, Zambia and Angola directly south of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo on the western border. third largest in the United States; made up of 905,365 square miles of territory, it is also the third largest country on the African continent, smaller only than Sudan and Algeria. (Context Notes, 1) Just like the DROC of the United States, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has a large capital and small capital cities. The country's main capital is Kinshasa, which alone has a population of 6.55 million. The capitals of cities across the country are Bandundu, Bukavu, Goma, Kananga, Kindu, Kisangani, Lubumbashi, Matadi, Mbandaka and Mbuji-Mayi. (Context Notes, 1) The climates within the DROC are very different as the country is located half north of the equator and half south. The northern part of the country tends to be cold and dry, while the equatorial areas and southern half are hot and humid. DROC is endowed with a great wealth of natural resources. There are large copper deposits in the Shaba region, which also has reserves of cobalt, cadmium, uranium, tin, silver and gold. (Lerner, 18) In fact their main export products include cobalt, copper, crude oil, cut diamonds, gold, petroleum products, synthetic lubricants, tea and coffee. (Mbendi Profile, 9)There are four main geographical regions in the country of DROC; these are the Congo River basin, the northern highlands, the upper eastern part of the paper state. Colorado: Westview Press 1993 Schatzberg, Michael. The dialectics of oppression in Zaire. Indiana: Indiana University Press 1988 Nelson, Samuel H. "Colonialism in the Congo Basin 1880-1940 Athens: Center for International Studies 1994 Merriam, Alan P. "Congo: Context of the Conflict." Northwestern University Press 1961INTERNET SOURCES CITEDRosenberg, Matt. “Information on the Human Internet” 14 April 2001Funk and Wangalls. MBendi Information for Africa” ​​Modified: 13.Feb.20011995-2001, The Africa Guide. "Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) - Introduction." April 13, 2001 Home Page of the Office of African Affairs. "Background Notes: U.S. Department of State, January 2000 Bureau of African Affairs".