Bartello 1
Nico Bartello
Prof. Anyango
Seminar in Composition: Diversity
5 April 2023
Facts
● The Democratic Republic of
Congo(DRC) is also known as Congo-
Kinshasa.
● It is the fourth most populous country
in Africa.
● Named after the Congo River which is
the second-longest in Africa.
● Location:
○ It is the second-largest country
in Africa.
○ Center of the African
Continent
○ Very resource-rich, with many
expensive materials like cobalt,
copper, and diamonds.
○ DRC has several national parks
such as the Virunga National
Park which holds endangered
mountain gorillas.
○ Capital City is Kinshasa which
is one of the largest cities in
Africa.
● Diversity:
○ DRC has a very diverse
population with more than 200
ethnic groups and over 700
languages.
○ The largest ethnic groups are
Kongo, Luba, and Mongo.
○ Home to a lot of immigrants
from neighboring countries
such as Rwanda, Burundi, and
Uganda.
○ DRC has very diverse cultural
traditions.
○ Its diversity has been affected
by the history of colonization
and exploitation.
○ Many Congolese people ignore
these challenges and promote
unity and understanding among
Analysis
Since the DRC is in the center of the continent
it is an important trade and migration point.
Many other countries have to use it to pass
through the country. Unfortunately, its
location has contributed to the country’s
conflict and instability. This is because its
borders are hard to regulate which would
allow a lot of armed militias to invade without
them even knowing. They also get exploited a
lot because of Congo’s resource-rich location,
a lot of countries want to get their hands on
that.
I would think that if they are able to stabilize
and regulate their borders better they would
have a pretty promising outlook. This would
allow them to reduce and control the conflict
since there wouldn’t be a new influx of
soldiers.
The congo river provides the DRC with many
benefits. Some of these benefits are
transportation since it is one of the largest
navigable rivers in the world. Many cities and
towns are located along the river allowing
them to transport goods through the country
more. This is a necessity for Congo, without
this, they would be completely landlocked.
They also rely on the hydroelectricity that is
produced by the river, this hydroelectricity is
another source of revenue for them because
they export it to neighboring countries.
Without the congo river, the DRC would be in
a much poorer and worse-off place. This is
because the country and its people rely on
many of the resources provided by it. Some of
these are fishing, irrigation, and tourism.

the different ethnic groups.
○ Official languages are French,
Lingala, Swahili, and Kikongo.
● Economy:
○ The DRC has a mixed
economy, it primarily relies on
natural resources like minerals,
timber, and agriculture.
○ One of the largest producers of
copper and cobalt in the world.
○ Produce a lot of coffee, cocoa,
palm oil, and common foods
like cassava, maize, and rice.
○ They have a low-income
economy and there is poverty
spread throughout DRC.
○ Set Backs:
■ Corruption
■ Conflict
■ Poor Infrastructure
○ Recently getting foreign
investment
○ Covid-19 has decreased the
demand for the country's
natural resources hurting their
economy
● Conflict:
○ Began in the mid-1990s once
the country got independence
from Belgium.
○ Has many armed groups some
of which are backed by foreign
governments
○ Fighting over the country's
natural resources
○ Estimated deaths of around 4-6
million people since 1998
○ Has displaced millions of
people
○ Sexual Assault and Violence is
being used as a weapon in the
war.
○ The UN has a peacekeeping
mission but hasn’t prevented
much violence.
○ Affected the economy by
Bartello 2
These provide the country with food and
another source of revenue, the irrigation is
necessary to water the crops throughout the
various farms. Also, Congo’s diverse
population of animals allows for them to
conduct many river cruises and fishing trips.
Since the DRC’s economy is a mixed
economy it has the slight benefit of stability.
It's a lot less likely that an economy in a
country that uses its minerals, timber, and
agriculture to fail. This is because of one of
these revenue incomes were to fail they would
probably keep the other ones.
They also have what is called a low-income
economy whose gross national income is
below the threshold set by the world bank.
This is usually evident from the high poverty
rates, low-level education, limited access to
education, and poorly developed
infrastructure. These issues produced by the
economy could also cause a cycle of conflict.
This in turn would keep the economy low
because of fighting over resources. They also
had to deal with the unforeseen event of
Covid, which caused a halt in economic
growth, less revenue, more public debt, and
the aforementioned loss in demand.
They also need to get their conflict situation
under control before they can hope for any
progress. If the multiple armed groups, human
rights violations, sexual assaults, and millions
of deaths don’t stop how can they keep their
people? They have already lost millions of
people to neighboring countries because of
these issues and they are gonna lose more if
it's not solved.
 Bartello 3

taking money away from

infrastructure.
○ Many reported cases of human
rights violations.