Zaire
Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1971–1997. Draft, not yet reviewed
Zaire was the Congolese state in Central Africa headed by Mobutu Sese Seko from 1965 to 1997. The renaming of the country as the Republic of Zaire was announced on 27 October 1971. Mobutu established the Popular Movement of the Revolution as the sole legal political party in 1967. In 1996 Laurent-Désiré Kabila, head of the AFDL militia, led a rebellion against Mobutu, and in 1997 the name of the country was restored to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Seat of power: Kinshasa
Rulers
Mobutu Sese Seko
President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1965–1997
He established the Popular Movement of the Revolution as the sole legal political party in 1967, changed the name of the Congo to Zaire in 1971 and his own name to Mobutu Sese Seko in 1972. He attempted to purge the country of all colonial cultural influence through his program of national authenticity.
Portrait of Mobutu Sese Seko: Frank Hall, Public domain, file
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Culture
- Under the authenticité policy of the early 1970s, Zairians were obliged to adopt African names rather than European ones.
- From 1 June 1966 Mobutu renamed the cities of the nation, so that Léopoldville became Kinshasa.
- Zaire was strategically important to the West during the Cold War, as a counterbalance to Soviet influence in Africa.
- With a population of over 23 million, Zaire was the most populous Francophone country in Africa.
Picture
The Inga Dams are two hydroelectric dams connected to one of the largest waterfalls in the world, Inga Falls.
Image: Alaindg, CC BY 2.5, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.