DR Congo — books & literature

The story of DR Congo

Long before European contact, the Congo Basin was home to Bantu-speaking farming and iron-working peoples, and by the 14th century the Kingdom of Kongo had risen near the Congo River's mouth as one of Central Africa's great states. Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão reached the river in 1482, opening centuries of trade and later the devastating Atlantic slave trade. In 1885 the region was seized as the personal property of Belgium's King Leopold II under the name Congo Free State, a regime notorious for forced-labour atrocities; international outcry forced Belgium to annex it as the colony of Belgian Congo in 1908. Independence came on 30 June 1960 under Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, but the young state was quickly destabilised; Mobutu Sese Seko seized power in 1965 and renamed the country Zaire in 1971. Mobutu was overthrown in 1997, restoring the name Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the country endured the deadly Second Congo War (1998-2003) before working toward stability and, in 2018, its first peaceful transfer of power.

Timeline — key moments

1. circa 1390

   The Kingdom of Kongo rises near the mouth of the Congo River.

2. 1482

   Portuguese navigator Diogo Cão becomes the first European to reach the Congo River.

3. 1885

   Congo Free State created as the personal possession of King Leopold II of Belgium.

4. 1908

   Belgium annexes the territory as the colony of Belgian Congo after international outcry over abuses.

5. 1960

   Independence from Belgium (30 June); Patrice Lumumba becomes first prime minister.

6. 1965

   Mobutu Sese Seko seizes power in a coup.

7. 1971

   Country renamed Zaire under Mobutu.

8. 1997

   Mobutu overthrown by Laurent-Désiré Kabila; name restored to Democratic Republic of the Congo.

9. 1998-2003

   Second Congo War, one of the deadliest conflicts since World War II, draws in multiple African nations.

10. 2018

    Denis Mukwege awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; Félix Tshisekedi elected president in the country's first peaceful transfer of power.

Top 10 things to know about DR Congo

1. The DRC is the second-largest country in Africa by area and the 11th-largest in the world.
2. The Congo River is Africa's second-longest river and the deepest river on Earth.
3. The Congo Basin rainforest is the second-largest tropical rainforest on the planet, after the Amazon.
4. The DRC is the most populous Francophone (French-speaking) country in the world.
5. French is the official language; Lingala, Kikongo, Swahili, and Tshiluba are national languages among 200+ spoken languages.
6. The country was known as Zaire from 1971 to 1997 under President Mobutu Sese Seko.
7. The DRC is one of the world's largest producers of cobalt, a mineral essential to smartphone and electric-vehicle batteries.
8. Virunga National Park, Africa's oldest national park, is home to endangered mountain gorillas.
9. Denis Mukwege, a Congolese gynaecologist, won the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for his work treating survivors of sexual violence.
10. Congolese rumba, a music style blending local rhythms with Cuban influences, was recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage in 2021.

Famous people from DR Congo

Say it in DR Congo's language

Did you know?

• ★The Congo River is the only major river in the world to cross the equator twice.
• ★The DRC's capital Kinshasa and Brazzaville, capital of the neighbouring Republic of the Congo, are the closest two national capitals in the world, facing each other across the river.
• ★The DRC produces a majority of the world's cobalt supply, a mineral now critical to batteries worldwide.

DR Congo culture

• La Sape (Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes) is a Kinshasa-born dandy fashion culture celebrating flamboyant, elegant dress.
• Congolese rumba (soukous), rooted in Cuban rhythms fused with local styles, shaped modern African popular music.
• Music legend Franco Luambo and his band TPOK Jazz influenced generations of musicians across the continent.
• Congolese cuisine centres on cassava (fufu/chikwangue) and plantains, with moambe (palm-nut) chicken stew as a beloved national dish.

Why read DR Congo's books

Congolese literature spans colonial-era testimony, philosophical works born of independence-era reckoning, and a vivid contemporary wave of novelists writing from Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, and the diaspora. Reading the DRC's books opens a window onto one of Africa's largest and most complex nations.