Congo, Democratic Republic of
- a large equatorial country in central Africa with a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean; pop. 68,692,500 (est. 2009); languages, French (official), Kongo, Lingala, Swahili, and others; capital, Kinshasa. Former name (1971-97) ZAIRE.刚果民主共和国（非洲中部、赤道附近的大国, 沿大西洋有极短的海岸线; 2009年估计人口68,692, 500; 语言有法语［官方语言］、刚果语、林加拉语、斯瓦希里语及其他语言; 首都金沙萨; 原称ZAIRE1971-1997）。亦称Congo-Kinshasa.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is a former Belgian colony, which was known as the Congo Free State （1885-1908） and the Belgian Congo （1908-60）. Independence in 1960 was followed by civil war and UN intervention. General Mobutu seized control in a coup in 1965 and changed the name of the country from the Republic of the Congo to Zaire in 1971. The country experienced a huge influx of refugees following the violence in Rwanda in 1994, and the first of three destructive civil wars broke out in 1996. Mobutu was overthrown in 1997 by Laurent Kabila, who changed the country's name to the Democratic Republic of Congo.