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republic

(Encyclopedia)republic [Lat. res publica,=public affair], today understood to be a sovereign state ruled by representatives of a widely inclusive electorate. The term republic formerly denoted a form of government ...

Mobutu Sese Seko

(Encyclopedia)Mobutu Sese Seko mōbo͞oˈtō sāˈsā sāˈkō [key], 1930–97, president of Zaïre (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Born Joseph Désiré Mobutu, he returned from study in Brussels to th...

Bomu

(Encyclopedia)Bomu bōˈmo͞o [key], river, c.500 mi (800 km) long, rising in NE Congo (Kinshasa) and flowing generally westward. It forms part of the Congo–Central African Republic border. The Bomu merges with t...

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Office of the

(Encyclopedia)United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Office of the (UNHCR), established Dec. 14, 1950, by the General Assembly. It superseded the International Refugee Organization. It seeks permanent solut...

Tshisekedi, Félix Antoine

(Encyclopedia)Tshisekedi, Félix Antoine, 1963–, political leader in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, son of longtime opposition leader Étienne Tshisekedi. Elected to the Congolese parliament in 2011, he re...

French Equatorial Africa

(Encyclopedia)French Equatorial Africa, former French federation in W central Africa. It consisted of four constituent territories: Gabon, Middle Congo (see Congo, Republic of the), Chad, and Ubangi-Shari (now the ...

Grand Army of the Republic

(Encyclopedia)Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), organization established by Civil War veterans of the Union army and navy. Principal figures in the founding of the GAR were John A. Logan and Richard J. Oglesby. The...

Tshisekedi, Étienne

(Encyclopedia)Tshisekedi, Étienne (Étienne Tshisekedi wa Lumumba), 1932–2017, opposition leader in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He entered government service in the 1960s and helped draft the Congolese...

Kivu, region, Congo

(Encyclopedia)Kivu kēˈvo͞o, kēvo͞oˈ [key], region, c.89,000 sq mi (230,510 sq km), E Congo (Kinshasa). It borders on Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Lake Tanganyika on the east. Kivu is divided into three provin...

Congo, river, Africa

(Encyclopedia)Congo zīˈēr, zäērˈ, great river of equatorial Africa, c.2,720 mi (4,380 km) long, formed by the waters of the Lualaba River and its tributary, the Luvua River, and flowing generally N and W thro...