The BurundiNational Defence Force is the state military organisation responsible for the defence of Burundi.
Discovered in the 1990s, human remains in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been dated to approximately 90,000 years ago. The first real states, such as the Kongo, the Lunda, the Luba and Kuba, appeared south of the equatorial forest on the savannah from the 14th century onwards.
The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the state organisation responsible for defending the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FARDC was rebuilt patchily as part of the peace process which followed the end of the Second Congo War in July 2003.
The Congolese franc is the currency of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is subdivided into 100 centimes. However, centimes no longer have a practical value and are no longer used. In April 2022, 2,000 francs was equivalent to $1 USD.
Ruanda-Urundi, later Rwanda-Burundi, was a colonial territory, once part of German East Africa, which was ruled by Belgium from 1916 to 1962.
The Rwanda Defence Force is the military of the Republic of Rwanda. The country's armed forces were originally known as the Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR), but following the Rwandan Civil War of 1990–1994 and the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, the victorious Rwandan Patriotic Front (Inkotanyi) created a new organization and named it Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA). Later, it was renamed to its current name.
The Kingdom of Burundi or Kingdom of Urundi was a Bantu kingdom in the modern-day Republic of Burundi. The Ganwa monarchs ruled over both Hutus and Tutsis. Created in the 17th century, the kingdom was preserved under European colonial rule in the late 19th and early 20th century and was an independent state between 1962 and 1966.
The Force Publique was a gendarmerie and military force in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1885, through the period of Belgian colonial rule. The FP was retitled as the Congolese National Army or ANC in July 1960 after independence.
The Belgian Empire, known as the Belgian colonial empire, consisted of overseas colonies and protectorates controlled by Belgium. During its colonisation era, Belgium controlled several colonies and concessions during its history, the Belgian Congo from 1908 to 1960, and Ruanda-Urundi from 1922 to 1962. It also had a small concession in China and was a co-administrator of the Tangier International Zone in Morocco. There was a colony in Guatemala between 1843 and 1854.
The Central Bank of the Congo is the central bank of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The bank's main offices are on Boulevard Colonel Tshatshi in La Gombe in Kinshasa.
The Ruanda-Urundi franc was a currency issued for the Belgian mandate territory of Ruanda-Urundi in 1960–62 which continued to circulate within its successor states of Rwanda and Burundi until 1964. The currency replaced the Belgian Congo franc which had also circulated in Ruanda-Urundi from 1916–60 when the Belgian Congo became independent, leaving Ruanda-Urundi as the sole Belgian colonial possession in Africa. With the independence of Rwanda and Burundi in 1962, the shared Ruanda-Urundi franc continued to circulate until 1964 when it was eventually replaced by two separate national currencies.
The Simba rebellion of 1963–65, also known as the Orientale Revolt, was a rebellion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo which took place within the wider context of the Congo Crisis and the Cold War. The rebellion, located in the east of the country, was led by the followers of Patrice Lumumba, who had been ousted from power in 1960 by Joseph Kasa-Vubu and Joseph-Désiré Mobutu and subsequently killed in January 1961 in Katanga. The rebellion was contemporaneous with the Kwilu rebellion led by fellow Lumumbist Pierre Mulele in central Congo.
The Special Operations Regiment is an elite fighting force in the Belgian Land Component, consisting of two paracommando battalions, the Special Forces Group and a support unit of the Communication & Informationsystems Group (CIS). Known until 2003 as the Para-Commando Brigade, and later as the Light Brigade. On 3 July 2018, the Light Brigade transformed into the Special Operations Regiment.
The 1st Paratroopers Battalion or 1 PARA was a military formation of the Belgian Army and part of the Paracommando Brigade from 1946 to 2011. Its regimental traditions, including its badge and motto, were heavily influenced by the experience of many of its personnel in British SAS during the Second World War. The battalion was disbanded on 1 July 2011.
The 2nd Commando Battalion is a military formation of the Belgian Armed Forces and part of the 'Special Operations Regiment'. Its regimental traditions, including the name "Commando" and the green beret, were adopted from the Belgian soldiers who served in No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando during the Second World War.
The Belgo-Congolese Round Table Conference was a meeting organized in two parts in 1960 in Brussels between on the one side representatives of the Congolese political class and chiefs and on the other side Belgian political and business leaders. The round table meetings led to the adoption of sixteen resolutions on the future of the Belgian Congo and its institutional reforms. With a broad consensus, the date for independence was set on June 30, 1960.
The history of the Jews in the Democratic Republic of the Congo can be traced back to 1907, when the first Jewish immigrants began to arrive in the country. Current Jewish Congolese population is mostly of Sephardi background.
The Mahenge offensive ; was a military action which occurred around the Morogoro Region in the east of German East Africa during World War I. The combat formed part of the East Africa Campaign and ended with the capture of Mahenge by the Belgian forces on 9 October 1917.
Mamadou Mustafa Ndala was a colonel in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
François Rukeba was a Rwandan politician and rebel leader.
