The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may be one of the most resource-rich countries, but the country itself is incredibly poor. On October 8, 2013, BBC News published an article stating exactly this. Written by Dan Snow, this article chronicles Snow's experiences on his journey through the DRC and also attempts to provide analysis that explains how the current situation in Congo is linked to his story. In this article, titled “DR Congo: Cursed by its Natural Wealth,” Snow claims that the DRC has a long history of colonialism and that poor decolonization is one of the reasons for the current conflict residing in Congo. Snow says the DRC has a long and complicated history with colonialism. The first form of government in this territory was known as the Kongo (Snow) Kingdom. This kingdom was very well governed and had a mature political infrastructure. The Portuguese began exploring Africa in the 15th century and encountered the Kongo Kingdom in 1480 (Snow). Snow states that not long after, the Portuguese realized the richness of the land, thus marking the beginning of colonialism in Kongo. But in addition to the natural wealth of the territory, the Portuguese used the natives as a form of wealth: slavery. Snow writes, “The Congo was home to a seemingly inexhaustible supply of strong, disease-resistant slaves” (Snow). The article then describes how Portuguese rule disintegrated in the 1600s and what remained was an anarchic state, which was soon recolonized by the English. According to Snow, the English were interested in shipping natives to the Americas to work in the new lands. The English were succeeded by the Belgians, who then took the territory. Snow writes in... middle of paper ......urse suggests that the solution to the problem in the Congo is to remove all foreign influences, thus eliminating the demand for the export of natural resources, another possible solution could be to unify the country. A sense of nationalism in the DCR would allow the people to vote for a common leader who can truly represent everyone and can work to solve the problems of the citizens of the DCR.Works CitedClarke, Latimer. "Democratic Republic of the Congo". Altapedia. Np, 2011. Web. 19 November 2013. "Studies in Nationalism." Studies on nationalism. Np, October 24, 2012. Web. November 20, 2013. .Neve, Dan. “DR Congo: Cursed by Its Natural Richness.” BBC News. BBC, 10 September 2013. Web. 15 November. 2013. .