In 1998, the Democratic Republic of the Congo was a presidential republic with President Laurent Kabila as head of state. Located in Central Africa, the country had a population of around 50 million people and the official language was French. The economy was largely based on natural resources such as timber and minerals, as well as agriculture and services. Despite this, poverty remained widespread due to low incomes and disparities between rural and urban areas. Additionally, there were still some issues surrounding human rights in the country due to restrictions on freedom of speech and censorship laws which limited access to information. Furthermore, there were also concerns about political instability in the region due to civil wars and tensions between different ethnic groups competing for power within Congo. Additionally, there were also worries about the effects of corruption on infrastructure development in the country. See dentistrymyth for Democratic Republic of the Congo in the year of 2015.
Yearbook 1998
Congo. According to Countryaah, the capital of Democratic Republic of the Congo is Kinshasa. President Laurent-Désiré Kabila acted increasingly authoritarian. In February he sent opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi in exile and in February he dissolved the human rights organization AZADHO.
- Abbreviationfinder: What does DRC stand for in geography? Here, this 3 letter acronym refers to the country of Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Economy
| Inflation rate | 41.50% |
| Unemployment rate | |
| Gross domestic product (GDP) | $ 68,600,000,000 |
| GDP growth rate | 3.40% |
| GDP per capita | 800 USD |
| GDP by sector | |
| Agriculture | 19.70% |
| Industry | 43.60% |
| Service | 36.70% |
| State budget | |
| Revenue | 700 million |
| Expenditure | 2 billion |
| Proportion of the population below the national poverty line | 63% |
| Distribution of household income | |
| Top 10% | 34.7 |
| Lower 10% | 2.3 |
| Industrial production growth rate | 1.20% |
| Investment volume | |
| National debt | 18.10% of GDP |
| Foreign exchange reserves | $ 444,600,000 |
| Tourism | 2013 |
| Visitors | 191,000 |
| Revenue | $ 400,000 |
Due to the fact that its commission was hindered in its work in April, the UN canceled the investigation into the Rwandan Hutu massacres that Kabila’s troops were suspected to have carried out during the 1996-97 war. However, the Commission was able to present a report in which the Kabila troops were accused of systematic murders of civilian Hutus.
In the Kivu provinces in the east, in February, clashes broke out between local militias and Rwanda-supported domestic Tutsis, banyamulenge, with the help of Kabila coming to power. Now Kabila turned from banyamulenge, who in March floated up in the mountains in the face of the threat of relocation to other parts of the country, where they felt threatened to life. The schism between Kabila and the Tutsis worsened as he began to dismiss the Rwandan military advisers who helped him to power. In July, when he forced all Rwandan soldiers out of the country, banyamulenge revolted and was supported by dissidents from Kabila’s own government.
The rebels quickly laid down large parts of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and opened a second front in the west, where they took off in hijacked aircraft. After only a couple of weeks, they stood on the Atlantic coast and mastered the supply route to Kinshasa. Formerly unknown teacher Ernest Wamba dia Wamba was promoted as leader of the rebel’s newly formed political organization Assembly for a Democratic Congo. The war turned when Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia intervened on Kabila’s side. Now the rebels were driven away from western Democratic Republic of the Congo, but in the east the war continued, and towards the end of the year the rebels gave up control of the entire eastern half of the country.
The conflict threatened to develop into a major war in the autumn. Chad also sent troops in support of Kabila, while the rebels were supported by Rwanda and Uganda. These two countries had supported Kabila in the war against Democratic Republic of the Congo’s former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko and made the same demands now as then: to stop the militia attacking their border areas from bases in Democratic Republic of the Congo.
An agreement on a ceasefire was concluded at a summit in Paris in late November, but as no fundamental problems were resolved, the fighting continued. Kabila regarded Rwanda and Uganda as attackers and refused to negotiate with the rebels. Rwanda and Uganda did not want to withdraw their troops until their borders were secured. African countries’ continued mediation efforts in December were also unsuccessful.