刚果(Congo)
正式名称刚果民主共和国（Democratic Republic of the Congo）
旧称萨伊共和国（Republic of Zaire, 1971～1997）、刚果共和国（Republic of the Congo, 1960～1964）、比属刚果（Belgian Congo, 1908～1960）、刚果自由邦（Congo Free State, 1885～1908）
非洲中部共和国。面积约2,344,858平方公里。人口约53,625,000（2001）。首都︰金夏沙。讲班图语居民形成该国人口的大多数，他们包括芒戈人、刚果人和卢巴人；在非班图语居民中有北部的苏丹族群。语言︰法语和英语（均为官方语）。宗教：基督教。货币︰刚果法郎（FC）。刚果民主共和国为非洲第三大国，地处刚果河流域的中心地段。盆地周围高原耸立。窄长的大西洋沿岸地区是刚果河的入海通道。该国地跨赤道，潮湿热带气候。是世界最贫穷国家之一。经济以采矿和农业为主。出口农作物包括咖啡、棕榈产品、茶、可可、橡胶和棉花。矿产品包括铜、钴和工业用钻石。现为军人政权统治，国家元首是总统。
在欧洲人殖民之前，几个本土的王国并入该区，包括16世纪卢巴王国和库巴联盟，库巴联盟18世纪曾达到全盛时期。19世纪後期，比利时国王利奥波德二世资助史坦利探勘刚果河，欧洲人始加以开发。1884～1885年柏林西非会议承认刚果自由邦，利奥波德为该邦君主。对橡胶需求的日益增加有助於为刚果的经济开发筹措资金，但提取橡胶引起的弊端激怒了西方各国，迫使利奥波德向自由邦颁发作为比属刚果（1908）的殖民许可状。1960年获准独立，国名改为刚果。独立後内部动荡不安，1965年发生军事政变达到顶点，促使蒙博托将军掌权。1971年国名改为萨伊。管理不当、腐败及逐渐增加的暴力，破坏了萨伊的基础设施和经济。1997年蒙博托被卡比拉逐下台，恢复国名为刚果。邻国动荡不安，对刚果的矿产资源的欲望，导致不少非洲国家军事卷入。2001年卡比拉遇刺身亡，由其子继位。
English version：
Congo
(1960-71)Congo(1908-60)Belgian Congo(1885-1908)Congo Free StateRepublic, central Africa. Area: 905,356 sq mi (2,344,872 sq km). Population (1997): 46,674,000. Capital: Kinshasa. Bantu-speakers, including the Mongo, Kongo, and Luba, form a majority of the country's population; among non-Bantu speakers are Sudanese groups of the north. Languages: French, English (official). Religion: Christianity. Currency: Congolese franc. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the third-largest land-area in Africa, occupies the heart of the Congo River basin, from which high plateaus rise in every direction. At its narrow strip of Atlantic coast the Congo empties into the sea. The country straddles the equator; its climate is humid and tropical. It is one of the poorest countries in the world; its economy is based on mining and agriculture. Export crops include coffee, palm products, tea, cocoa, and cotton; mining products include copper, cobalt, and industrial diamonds. It is ruled by a military regime; the head of state is the president, which office was taken by the regime's leader in the late 1990s. Prior to European colonization, several native kingdoms had emerged in the region, including the 16th-century Luba kingdom and the Kuba federation, which reached its peak in the 18th century. European development began late in the 19th century when King Leopold II of Belgium financed Henry Morton Stanley's exploration of the Congo River. The 1884-85 Berlin West Africa Conference recognized the Congo Free State with Leopold as its sovereign. The growing demand for rubber helped finance the exploitation of the Congo, but abuses against native peoples outraged Western nations and forced Leopold to grant the Free State a colonial charter as the Belgian Congo (1908). Independence was granted in 1960, and the country's name was changed to Zaire. The post-independence period was marked by unrest, culminating in a military coup that brought Gen. Mobutu Sese Seko to power in 1965. Mismanagement, corruption, and increasing violence devastated the infrastructure and economy. Mobutu was deposed in 1997 by Laurent Kabila, who restored the country's name to Congo. Instability in neighboring countries and desire for Congo's mineral wealth led to military involvement by numerous African countries. Kabila was assassinated in 2001 and succeeded by his son.