Discovered in the 1990’s, 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 southern Equatorial coastal forests|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.
Joseph Kabila Kabange is a Congolese politician who served as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between January 2001 and January 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila. He was elected as president in 2006 and re-elected in 2011 for a second term. Since stepping down after the 2018 election, Kabila, as a former president, will be a senator for life, according to the Constitution of the DRC.
The Second Congo War began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998, little more than a year after the First Congo War, and involved some of the same issues. The war officially ended in July 2003, when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power. Although a peace agreement was signed in 2002, violence has continued in many regions of the country, especially in the east. Hostilities have continued since the ongoing Lord's Resistance Army insurgency, and the Kivu and Ituri conflicts.
Tanganyika is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Tanganyika, Haut-Katanga, Haut-Lomami and Lualaba provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former Katanga province. Tanganyika was formed from the Tanganyika district whose town of Kalemie was elevated to capital city of the new province.
General elections were held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on July 30, 2006. They were the first multiparty elections in the country in 41 years, and the first since the overthrow of longtime leader Mobutu Sese Seko nine years earlier. Voters went to the polls to elect both a new President of the Republic and a new National Assembly, the lower-house of the Parliament.
Admiral Baudouin Liwanga Mata Nyamunyobo is a Congolese military officer and politician who has served as the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2002–2004 and as the governor of Kinshasa province in 2006–2007.
The Congolese Air Force is the air force branch of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa). From 1971 to 1997, it was known as the Zairian Air Force.
The National Congress for the Defence of the People is a political armed militia established by Laurent Nkunda in the Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in December 2006. The CNDP was engaged in the Kivu conflict, an armed conflict against the military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In January 2009, the CNDP split and Nkunda was arrested by the Rwanda government. The remaining CNDP splinter faction, led by Bosco Ntaganda, was planned to be integrated into the national army.
The Republican Guard of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly known as the Special Presidential Security Group, is maintained by President Félix Tshisekedi. Military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) military officials state that the Garde Républicaine is not the responsibility of FARDC, but the Head of State. Apart from Article 140 of the Law on the Army and Defence, no legal stipulation on the DRC's Armed Forces makes provision for the GR as a distinct unit within the national army. In February 2005, President Joseph Kabila passed a decree which appointed the GR's commanding officer and 'repealed any previous provisions contrary' to that decree. The GR is more than 10,000 strong, and formerly consisted of three brigades, the 10th, at Kinshasa, the 15th, and the 16th, at Lubumbashi. It has better working conditions and is paid regularly, but still commits numerous crimes near their bases, including against United Nations officials.
General John Numbi is a Congolese military officer. Until January 2010, he was the Inspector General of the Congolese National Police. In 2018 he was appointed as the Inspector General of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC).
Floribert Chebeya Bahizire was a leading Congolese human rights activist in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, hailed by the United Nations as "a champion of human rights". His death led to calls for an investigation from more than 50 organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, many countries and several senior UN officials, including Ban Ki-moon, Navi Pillay, Alan Doss and Philip Alston.
The National Navy is the maritime component of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC). It is a brown-water navy, which is currently commanded by Vice Admiral Rombault Mbuayama Nsiona.
Rigobert Massamba Musungu is a major general in the Air Force of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Massamba commanded the Kitona Air Base until June 2007, when he was appointed as the chief of air force staff of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was replaced at some point as the air force chief by Brigadier General Numbi Ngoie Enoch, and by 2015 Massamba was the Inspector General of the Armed Forces. In July 2018, he retired and John Numbi replaced him as FARDC Inspector General.
Vice Admiral Rombault Mbuayama Nsiona is a Congolese military officer and, as of 2014, is the chief of naval staff in the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC). In 2007 he was appointed as the FARDC chief of logistics, being a brigadier general at the time. However, before becoming the chief of naval staff, he had served as the commander of the 6th Military Region, holding the rank of major general. Before 2007 he had also served as regional commander in Ituri and Bas-Congo.
Charles Bisengimana Rukira is the former Commissioner General of the Congolese National Police of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
This is a list of Chiefs of Staff of the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zaire.
On 20 December 2016 the Democratic Republic of the Congo's president, Joseph Kabila, announced that he would not leave office despite the end of his constitutional term. Protests subsequently broke out across the country, which had never had a peaceful transfer of power since it gained independence in 1960. The protests were met with the government's blocking of social media, and violence from security forces which left dozens dead. Foreign governments condemned the attacks against protesters.
Faustin Munene is a Congolese military officer and politician known for his opposition to Mobutu Sese Seko, leader of Zaïre, and later President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He held a number of senior military posts under Laurent-Désiré Kabila after the fall of Mobutu, including commander of the Force Aérienne Congolaise, the DRC air force, and Deputy Minister of the Interior. Since 2010, he has been living in exile in the neighboring Republic of the Congo, having fled there since being accused by the DRC authorities of plotting a coup.
Army General Célestin Mbala Munsense is a Congolese military officer who has served as the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) since 14 July 2018. He is considered a loyalist of President Joseph Kabila and held a number of high ranking posts in the presidential and military administration prior to his appointment, replacing Army General Didier Etumba as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces. Before that, he was a long time Chief of Staff to the President's office, since at least 2010, as a brigadier general. In September 2014, during Kabila's restructuring of the army, Mbala was a major general and was appointed as Deputy Chief of Staff for Administration and Logistics.
Democratic Republic of the Congo 
DR Congo Air Force 
Major general