D.R.CONGO - THE RAINFOREST BELT

The Democratic Republic of Congo is Africa’s most ethnically diverse country, with well over 200 different ethnic groups residing within its boundaries. Congo borders 9 different countries (Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia) and reaches from the edge of Eastern Africa all the way to West Africa and the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

French is the official language of the DRC, but the lingua franca for trading is Lingala, while other languages spoken include Kingwana (not unlike Swahili), Kikongo and Tshuluba.

This country, known for its vast tracts of tropical rain forest and the legendary meandering Congo River, straddles the equator and crops grown here include sugar, palm oil, rubber, tea, quinine, cassava, bananas, maize, and fruit.

Because of the altitude (the lowest point is sea level, the highest is Mount Stanley in the Rwenzori Mountain range on the border of Uganda) and fertile soil, the Belgian colonialists developed many coffee plantations early in the 20th century, and the coffee sector is now experiencing a rejuvenation.