Democratic Republic of the Congo Economy

PEOPLE OF DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

There are about 250 ethnic groups residing within the region of Democratic Republic of the Congo, among which reference can be made of Kongo, Luba, and Mongo.

About seven hundred local vernaculars exist within the region out of which the resident national languages being dialects like the Lingala, Tshiluba and Swahili. French is the official dialect of the area, is commonly used here.

Literally about 80 percent of the Congolese population is Christians, prevalent mainly with the existence of the Roman Catholic. The Protestant church stands largest within the region with prominent names being the Anglican Church of Congo, Église des Frères Mennonites and the Église du Christ au Congo. Local ancestors residing within the region once practiced and believed in monotheism, animism, ancestor worship, witchcraft, and black art magic.

ARTS, CULTURE AND MUSIC OF DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

Art: With the boom in the copper industry within the southern region of Katanga, a traditional art form was still maintained within the region wherein portraits were drafted within a copper sheet, thereby enclosed with clays and textures. Several recognized African state heads have imprinted their portrait on this metal. One can look out for handcraft-based arts, mats made of raffia palm trees, woodcarvings, paintings, baskets, jewelry, and masks. Paintings created during the post independence war period expresses themes based on exploitation, poverty, and inequality.

Culture: The culture of Democratic Republic of the Congo is mainly affected by the Western influences. People are generous in nature and confer local guests with wonderful gifts. A chicken or a goat is usually butchered for any kind of festival celebration that is indulged in by the native people. Singing and dancing is the sole form of entertainment accompanied with brewing of customary beer and palm. The local natives uses Ingot Crosses, a belief on which they keep their complete faith on, brings along wealth and possession within the area.

Music: Kwasa-kwasa is the local music, which can be heard very often by the local natives. Music dances are quite popular in the area, which is accompanied with musical instruments like the thumb piano and drums. Congo jazz and soukous is some of the pouplar tunes that are played along with a guitar. Mbuti natives have set along their own style of vocal tunes, which is widely accepted within the area.

FLAG OF DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

The flag of Democratic Republic of the Congo is designed with a sky blue colored base, which is diagonally separated from one end to the other. The red colored band initializes from the lower hoist corner to the upper fly corner bordered by a narrow yellow colored stripe. A five-pointed star is placed along the left side corner along the hoist side. The color red symbolizes for the blood shed by the martyrs for their country's freedom whereas the yellow color denotes the presence of richness and prosperity, while the color blue represents hope and the star placed within the flag symbolizes unity prevalent within the province.

ECONOMY OF DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is filled with abundant natural possessions and mineral riches, as the economy witnessed decline during the month of 1980s. The economy depends largely on the agricultural industry, while contributing to about 57% of the GDP within the area. Among the agricultural produce coffee, palm oil, rubber, cotton, sugar, tea, and cocoa are accordingly cultivated. It is the agricultural industry that engages about 66 % of the present population with provisions for crops like cassava, plantains, maize, groundnuts, and rice. The country gains its revenue income from the mining sector and even stands in the fourth position while being the largest producer of the industrial diamonds. The copper and cobalt production governed by the Gecamines is the only state-owned mining industry within the area.