Congo Democratic Republic

The Congo Democratic Republic - officially the Democratic Republic of the Congo (French: République démocratique du Congo) - known until 1997 as Zaire, is a country located in Central Africa, with a small length of Atlantic coastline. It is the third largest country (by area) in Africa.

Its population is somewhat over 68 million. It is the eighteenth most populous nation in the world, and the fourth most populous nation in Africa, as well as the most populous country where French is an official language.

In order to distinguish it from the neighbouring Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is often referred to as DR Congo, DRC, or RDC (from its French abbreviation), Big Congo, or is called Congo-Kinshasa after the capital Kinshasa (in contrast to Congo-Brazzaville for its neighbour).

The Democratic Republic of the Congo was formerly, in turn, the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Congo-Léopoldville, Congo-Kinshasa, and Zaire (or Zaïre in French).

Though it is located in the Central African UN subregion, the nation is economically and regionally affiliated with Southern Africa as a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The Democratic Republic of the Congo borders the Central African Republic and Sudan on the North; Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi on the East; Zambia and Angola on the South; the Republic of the Congo on the West; and is separated from Tanzania by Lake Tanganyika on the East. The country enjoys access to the ocean through a 40-kilometre (24.9 mi) stretch of Atlantic coastline at Muanda and the roughly nine-kilometre wide mouth of the Congo River which opens into the Gulf of Guinea.

Source : http://www.cia.gov

Formerly the country was divided into eleven provinces. However, the constitution approved in 2005 divided the country into 26 fairly autonomous provinces, including the capital, Kinshasa to be formed by 18 February 2009. It seems however that the former 11 provinces are still the legal administrative entities. The country is further subdivided into 192 territories (fr. territoires, sing. territoire).

The economy of the country, a nation endowed with resources of vast potential wealth, has declined drastically since the mid-1980s. The two recent conflicts (the First and Second Congo Wars), which began in 1996, have dramatically reduced national output and government revenue, have increased external debt, and have resulted in deaths of more than five million people from war, and associated famine and disease. Foreign businesses have curtailed operations due to uncertainty about the outcome of the conflict, lack of infrastructure, and the difficult operating environment. The war has intensified the impact of such basic problems as an uncertain legal framework, corruption, inflation, and lack of openness in government economic policy and financial operations. Malnutrition affects approximately two thirds of the country's population.

As many as 250 ethnic groups have been identified and named. The most numerous people are the Kongo, Luba, and Mongo. About 600,000 Pygmies are the aboriginal people of the DR Congo.

French is the official language of the country. It is meant to be an ethnically neutral language, to ease communication among the many different ethnic groups of the Congo. Although seven hundred local languages and dialects are spoken, the linguistic variety is bridged both by widespread use of French and intermediary languages such as Kongo, Tshiluba, Swahili, and Lingala.

Christianity is the majority religion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, followed by about 80% of the population. Sixty-two of the Protestant denominations in the country are federated under the umbrella of the Church of Christ in Congo or CCC (in French, Église du Christ au Congo or ECC). It is often simply referred to as 'The Protestant Church', since it covers most of the 20% of the population who are Protestants. Of the remaining 20% of the population, half are Muslim, and the rest follow traditional beliefs or syncretic sects. Islam was introduced and mainly spread by Arab traders/merchants.

Education

(sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo)

The education system in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is governed by three government ministries: the Ministère de l’Enseignement Primaire, Secondaire et Professionnel (MEPSP), the Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur et Universitaire (MESU) and the Ministère des Affaires Sociales (MAS). The educational system in the DRC is similar to that of Belgium. In 2002, there were over 19,000 primary schools serving 160,000 students; and 8,000 secondary schools serving 110,000 students.

However, primary school education in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is neither compulsory, free nor universal, and many children are not able to go to school because parents were unable to pay the enrollment fees. Parents are customarily expected to pay teachers' salaries. In 1998, the most recent year for which data are available, the gross primary enrollment rate was 50 percent.

Gross enrollment ratios are based on the number of students formally registered in primary school and therefore do not necessarily reflect actual school attendance. In 2000, 65 percent of children ages 10 to 14 years were attending school. As a result of the 6-year civil war, over 5.2 million children in the country receive no education.

Higher education

A country with a population of 68 million, even a poor one in Africa, should have several tens of universities, and so it seems it does.

A short list of ten is given below, each with its web site.

1. American University of Kinshasa - http://www.auk-congo.edu
2. Institut Supérieur de Commerce de Kinshasa - http://www.isc-kinshasa.net - seemingly a stub site awaiting content
3. Université Catholique de Bukavu - http://www.ucbukavu.org - site non-existent?
4. Université Catholique de Graben - http://www.ucgraben.org - site minimal and apparently not updated since June 2005
5. Université Catholique du Congo - http://www.univcac.net - seemingly a one-page site
6. Université de Kinshasa - http://www.unikin.cd
7. Université de Lubumbashi - http://www.unilu.ac.cd
8. Université Libre des Pays des Grands Lacs - http://www.ulpgl.net - an English version of the site is "in progress"
9. Université Notre Dame du Kasayi - http://www.ukardc.org
10. Université Protestante du Congo - http://www.upc-rdc.cd. This notes that the University has established two rooms of computers (one for the management computer option) and one for the Faculty of medicine) and a cybercafe.

The fact that few of these use the official .cd designator or a subdomain (like .ac. in the UK - but note www.unilu.ac.cd) for the universities suggests, as expected, that universities are not yet well organised in terms of access to any national academic and research network (NREN). It may also imply that many of these universities are private.

Additional universities and higher education institutions

Wikipedia has a much longer list at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_in_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo but no URLs are given and there are no links on that page to Wikipedia entries on any of these. However, the Wikipedia Categories page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Universities_in_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo lists eight institutions with stub entries. Where they seem of particular interest we have tried to find a URL.

1. University of Goma, a public university. It was created in 1993 and it is located in the city of Goma, near Lake Kivu in the east of the country (near Rwanda).
2. University of Kinshasa (French, Université de Kinshasa). This was one of three universities, along with University of Kisangani and University of Lubumbashi, created following the division of the National University of Zaire. The University was established in 1954 as the University of Lovanium. In August 1971, the university was merged with the Protestant Autonomous University of Congo (Université Libre du Congo) and The University of Congo at Lubumbashi (founded in 1956) into the National University of Zaire (Université Nationale du Zaïre, UNAZA). Between 1991 and 1980, the universities were again divided into 3 institutions, the University of Kinshasa, Kisangani University, and the University of Lubumbashi.
3. University of Lubumbashi
4. Kongo University. The main offices of the university are located in Mbanza-Ngungu. It currently operates two linked campuses, at Mbanza-Ngungu and at Kisantu. A permanent third campus at Mbanza-Luvaka has been under construction since 1992. The English web site is supposed to be http://www.nekongo.org/uni_kongo1/index_english.htm
5. Académie des Beaux-Arts -Kinshasa
6. American University of Kinshasa
7. Centre d'Études Égyptologiques C.A. Diop de l'INADEP -Kinshasa
8. Centre interdisciplinaires pour l’éducation permanente (CIDEP)-Kinshasa
9. École d'Informatique d'Électronique et d'Expertise comptable (EIECO)- Kinshasa. This is devoted to computer science, electronics and accounting. The school was founded in 1972. It has played a leading role in the development of high-tech in the Kinshasa-Brazzaville area.
10. Institut des bâtiments et des travaux publics (IBTP)-Kinshasa
11. Institut facultaire des sciences de l'information et de la communication (IFASIC)-Kinshasa
12. Institut supérieur des techniques appliquées (ISTA) -Kinshasa
13. Institut Supérieur des Techniques Médicales (ISTM/KIN) -Kinshasa
14. Institut Supérieur de Statistique de Kinshasa (I.S.S./KIN);
15. Institut supérieur des arts et métiers (ISAM)-Kinshasa
16. Institut supérieur pédagogique (ISP)-Kinshasa
17. Facultés catholiques de Kinshasa (FACAKIN)
18. Université de Kinshasa (UNIKIN),anciennement appelée 'Université Lovanium
19. Institut superieur de techniques medical de Mbuji Mayi ( I.S.T.M Mbuji Mayi)-Mbuji Mayi
20. Université américaine de Kinshasa ou Université franco-américaine de Kinshasa
21. Université cardinal Malula-Kinshasa
22. Université chrétienne de Kinshasa (UCKIN)
23. Université centrale de Kinshasa
24. Université Kinshasa Binza
25. Université libre de Kinshasa (ULK)
26. Université pédagogique nationale (UPN), ancien IPN - Kinshasa
27. Université protestante du Congo (UPC) - Kinshasa
28. Université Simon Kimbangu - Kinshasa
29. Université William Booth (UWB) -Kinshasa
30. Université de Bandundu (UB)- Kikwit
31. Institut Africain d'Études Prospectives - African Institute for Future Studies(INADEP) -Kinshasa
32. Institut Supérieur Pédagogique de Kikwit - Bandundu
33. Institut Supérieur de Commerce - Bas-Congo,
34. Institut Supérieur Pédagogique de Mbanza-Ngungu -Bas-Congo,
35. Université Kongo -Bas-Congo,
36. Université Kasa-Vubu -Bas-Congo,
37. Institut superieur pédagogique (ISP)- Lubumbashi
38. Institut Supérieur Pédagogique et Technique de Kinshasa (ISPT-KIN)
39. Institut supérieur de statistique (ISS)- Lubumbashi
40. ISEC - Lubumbashi
41. ISTC - Lubumbashi
42. Grand séminaire de Lubumbashi-Lubumbashi
43. Université de Lubumbashi(UNILU) - http://www.unilu.ac.cd. This is one of the largest universities in the country. It is located in Lubumbashi, the capital city of Katanga province. The campus is located in the north part of the city west of the airport. The university was founded in 1981 but has origins from 1955. Prior to operating independently, it functioned as the Université Nationale du Zaïre, Campus de Lubumbashi (National University of Zaire, Lubumbashi Campus).
44. Université de Kisangani - Kisangani. It was founded in 1963 by Protestant missionaries as the Free University of Congo; it was transformed into part of the National University of Zaire in 1971, and in 1981 was separated from that National University, along with the University of Kinshasa and the University of Lubumbashi, assuming its present identity as the University of Kisangani.
45. Université catholique de Bukavu
46. Université De Mbujimayi - Mbuji Mayi,

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univerit%C3%A9_Chr%C3%A9tienne_Bilingue_du_Congo.

Some ten further potential URLs are at http://www.hr4europe.com/world.php?cpl=cd15en

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For OER policies and projects in Congo Democratic Republic see Congo Democratic Republic/OER

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