III.

Population

The population of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is largely agricultural and comprises more than 12 main ethnic groups and around 190 smaller ones. About 80 per cent of the population comprises Bantu-speaking peoples, with minorities of Sudanese peoples (in the north), Nilotics (in the north-east), and Pygmies and Hamites (in the east). The largest single groups are the Kongo (or Bakongo), Mongo, Baluba, and Balunda. A small number of Europeans live in the country.

A.

Population Characteristics

The population of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1984 census, preliminary) was 29,671,407. The country’s recent population is 68,692,542 (2009 estimate), which yields an overall population density of about 30 people per sq km (78 per sq mi). The population is concentrated in the Katanga mining area and along the lower Congo. About 33 per cent of the population lives in urban areas. Ethnic tensions, which played an important role during the civil war of the immediate post-independence era, were generally contained thereafter until the early 1990s. Since 1990 there have been outbreaks of ethnic violence and “cleansing”, notably in the Katanga area, which had cost more than 6,000 lives by 1994.

B.

Political Divisions

In early 1997 the country was divided into 11 administrative regions consisting of 10 provinces: Bandundu, Bas-Congo (formerly Bas-Zaïre), Équateur, Kasaï-Oriental, Kasaï-Occidental, Katanga (formerly Shaba), Maniema, Nord-Kivu, Orientale (formerly Haut-Zaïre and Haut-Congo), and Sud-Kivu; and 1 neutral city, Kinshasa. Each region was administered by an appointed commissioner.

C.

Principal Cities

The capital and largest city is Kinshasa (formerly Léopoldville), with a population of 5,277,000 (2003 estimate). Among other major cities are Lubumbashi (formerly Elisabethville), population 1,140,000 (2007 estimate), the capital of the Katanga region; and Kisangani (formerly Stanleyville), population 417,517 (1994 estimate), the main city and port of the interior region, situated at the limit of navigation on the Congo. Smaller cities, with population figures, include Bukavu, 201,569 (1994 estimate), in the east, formerly Costermansville; Matadi, 172,730 (1994 estimate), the principal sea port; Mbandaka, 169,841 (1994 estimate), formerly Coquilhatville; and Boma, 22,347 (1997), formerly the capital of both the Independent State of the Congo and the Belgian Congo and now a commercial centre.

D.

Religion

More than 80 per cent of the population is nominally Christian, primarily Roman Catholic (47 per cent of the total population); another 29 per cent is Protestant. There are small Muslim and Jewish communities. Most of the rest of the population adheres to traditional beliefs. Syncretic sects, such as Kimbanguism (16.5 per cent of the population), which combine Christian and traditional elements, are significant.

E.

Language

At least 219 languages are spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, mainly from the Niger-Congo language family, but also many Nilo-Saharan languages. French is the official language, although it is mainly known as a second language. Kongo, Lingala, Luba-Kasai, and Congo Swahili, all Bantu languages, are the most prominent national languages. Kongo has around 1 million mother-tongue speakers, and is heard mainly in the Bas-Congo province and along the Congo River. Lingala is widely spoken in Bandundu, Equateur, and Orientale provinces. Luba-Kasai has around 6.3 million first-language speakers, and is found in Kasaï Occidental and Kasaï Oriental provinces. Congo Swahili has few mother-tongue speakers (found in some cities) but is used as a lingua franca by about 9.1 million people in the Katanga, North Kivu, South Kivu, and Maniema provinces, and the south-eastern part of the Orientale Province. Kituba, a Kongo-based creole, is spoken by around 5 million people in Orientale and southern Bandundu provinces.

F.

Education

More than 75 per cent of children between the ages of 6 and 11 attended primary school in the late 1980s; attendance at secondary school rose rapidly during the early 1970s and 1980s. However, during the 1990s, the country’s political problems have led to the virtual collapse of education in many areas. In the early 1990s about 4.9 million pupils attended primary schools, 1.3 million attended secondary schools, and 862,900 attended vocational and teacher-training schools. The nation has ten universities, the major ones are the University of Kinshasa (1949), the University of Lubumbashi (1955), and the University of Kisangani (1963). There was a total university enrolment of about 20,100 in the mid-1990s. In 1993, 1 per cent of the country’s gross national product (GNP) was spent on education.

G.

Culture

Congolese folkways and culture, although influenced by European life in the urban centres, remain largely intact among the different ethnic groups. The country has several museums, the principal ones being located in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi. The universities maintain libraries, as do the principal governmental and private organizations.