The
Democratic Republic of the Congo (; ; ), also known as
DR Congo,
DRC,
DROC,
RDC,
Congo-Kinshasa, or simply
Congo is a country located in Central Africa. From 1971 to 1997 it was named
Zaïre. The DRC borders the
Republic of the Congo, the
Central African Republic, and
South Sudan to the north;
Uganda,
Rwanda,
Burundi and
Tanzania to the east;
Zambia and
Angola to the south; and the
Atlantic Ocean to the west. It is the second largest country in Africa by area, the largest in
Subsaharan Africa, and the
eleventh largest in the world. With a population of over 75 million, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most populated
officially Francophone country, the fourth most populated nation in Africa and the
nineteenth most populated country in the world.