Beach Resorts

* There are ocean beaches at Muando with basic accommodation and limited resort facilities.

* Hot and humid all year round.

* Dry season in the north is from December to March, in the south from May to October.

* Average annual rainfall in the interior is 1,700 mm / 67 inches.

* Average maximum daily temperatures 31 Celsius / 88 Fahrenheit.

* Zaire based tour operators.

* Overseas based tour operators offering Zaire as a destination:
+ Australia

Africa Travel Centre
New Zealand

Africa Travel Centre
Gorilla trekking, Overlands, Safaris, Tailor-made Safaris.
+ UK

Africa Travel Centre
Gorilla trekking, Overlands, Safaris, Tailor-made Safaris.
+ USA

Africa Travel Centre
Gorilla trekking, Overlands, Safaris, Tailor-made Safaris.

* Currency: New Zaire divided into 100 Makuta.

* Credit Cards: Limited acceptance of Visa, Mastercard, Access, American Express and Diners Club; only of limited use in good hotels, restaurants, travel agencies etc.

* Banking Hours: 0800 to 1130 Monday to Friday.

* Currency Restrictions:
+ Local Currency: Prohibited import and export.
+ Foreign Currency: Unlimited import and export up to the amount imported and declared on arrival.

* Agriculture: Subsistence farming involves 80% of the population: livestock, maize, yams, cassava, rice, beans, quinquina, coffee, tea, cocoa.

* Mining: Extensive mineral reserves; world's biggest producers of cobalt, copper and industrial diamonds; also tin, manganese, zinc, columbium, tantalum, cement, gold, silver, iron ore; off-shore oil reserves.

* Manufacturing: Wood products, tobacco processing, vegetable oil refining, chemicals, cement.

* Other: Small tourism industry mainly in the eastern Kivu province.

* Official name: Republic of Zaire (Republique du Zaire); formerly Congo Free State (1885 - 1908), Belgian Congo (1908 - 1960), Democratic Republic of the Congo (1960 - 1971).

* Population: 34,500,000 (1990 estimate). Density 14.3 per square kilometre / 8.9 per square mile.

* Situation: Central Africa.

* Timezone: GMT + 1 in the West (Kinshasa, Mbandaka), GMT + 2 in the east/centre (Kasai, Kivu, Haut-Zaire, Shaba).

* Area: 2,343,950 square kilometres / 904765 square miles.

* Borders with: Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda.

* Coasts: Atlantic Ocean.

* Capital: Kinshasa; changed its name from Leopoldville in 1964. Founded by the explorer Henry Morton Stanley in 1887.

* Major Towns: Lubumbashi, Kisangani, Goma, Mbuji-Mayi.

* Chief Port: Kinshasa, river port on the Zaire River (formerly Congo River).

* Religion: Christianity (over 70%) and tribal beliefs.

* Rest Day: Sunday.

* Electricity: 220 Volts AC, 50 Hz.

* Physical: Low lying river basin in the east rising up to a forested plateau. In the east the Ruwenzori Mountains (Mountains of the Moon) rising to 5,110 meters / 16,765 feet at Mt Stanley. Further south are the lower Mitumbar Mountains. The Great Rift Valley passes along the eastern edge of Zaire where there is a chain of lakes including Lake Albert, Lake Edward, Lake Kivu and Lake Tanganyika. Zaire has a narrow access to the Atlantic Ocean just 43 kilometres / 27 miles wide. The River Zaire, formerly the Congo, is the second longest in Africa at 4,670 kilometres / 2,900 miles and rises in the south eastern region where it is called the Lualaba. Tides effect the river up to 100 kilometres / 62 miles upstream.

* Hunters and gathers are the earliest recorded inhabitants of Zaire, they lived without a social structure.

* After the progressive migration of waves of Bantu and Nilotic tribes, communities were set up along the rivers and on the edges of the forests. As their agricultural systems improved their communities were able to dominate the pygmy tribes and extend their control.

* It was in the 14th century that the first great kingdoms were set up, the most dominant being Kongo which controlled a large part of the coastal area around the mouth of the Zaire River.

* Further south feudal states were emerging, the most important of these being Luba, Kuba and Lunda.

* In 1482 the Portuguese arrived marking the start of new networks of exchange and trade which gradually undermined the power of the Kongo kingdom, it was the Portuguese demand for slaves which overshadowed this kingdom.

* The Portuguese demand for slaves outweighed the amount of slaves available, and so they began raiding parties, who would undermine the Kongo economy.

* In 1660 war began and the Kongo were beaten by the Portuguese. The kingdom went into a rapid decline.

* The interior kingdoms were being successful in growing by trading slaves for firearms, cloth and luxuries with the Portuguese.

* No Europeans entered the interior of the area until the 19th century. After the famous explorer Livingstone first penetrated the interior, his reports inspired many Catholic and Protestant missionaries to visit.

* The explorer Stanley arrived and he decided to explore the country himself paving thee way for colonisation.

* Stanley met at Marseilles with representatives of king Leopold of the Belgians, the result of this was that Stanley became the King's personal representative.

* Leopold claimed a vast region of central Africa and at the Berlin conference in 1884 to 1885 he managed to persuade other European powers to ratify his claims.

* His kingdom became known as the Congo Free State, although he was forced to give his territory to the Belgian government following the reports of awful brutality.

* Belgian colonial administration resulted in little change, racist laws stayed intact, pacification programmes were a regular feature.

* The years following the world depression of the 1930's saw a phenomenal economic boom in the country.

* It wasn't until the 1950's that the Belgians allowed African political parties to emerge.

* In 1959 there were riots in Kinshasa this shook the colonial authorities.

* In 1960 independence was granted , the country was ill prepared for such a radical change although Patrice Lumumba tried hard to maintain co-operation between the political parties. Moise Tshombe the governor of what was then Katanga Province declared the secession of his province, Lumumba demanded help from the United Nations, but he was then dismissed by the president Joseph Kasavubu, with assistance from the army commander Mobutu.

* Lumumba was finally murdered by Tshombe. As a consequence of UN intervention, the Katangan secession was crushed and Kasavubu was faced with armed insurgency. In an attempt to diffuse the situation, Kasavubu invited Tshombe back from exile to be the prime minister.

* He secured western financial and military assistance and used this to impose control over the majority of Congo River.

* In 1965 a revolt broke out in the north east among the Sima tribes people. General Mobutu led a coup taking power from both Kasaviubu and Tshombe.

* Tshombe went into exile in Algeria in 1967. In 1969 he died of heart failure in a prison.

* There have been many attempts to popularise Mobutu's regime, such as the name change of the country and announcements of amnesties.

* In 1977 the price of copper plummeted resulting in large foreign debts. A number of guerrillas of the Front de Liberation Nationale du Congo (FLNC) invaded the province of Shaba. Mobutu's soldiers were no match for the FLNC and so foreign aid was sought to help expel the FLNC.

* In 1978 the same thing happened again, but again foreign aid eased the situation for Mobutu's army.

* Pressure was now on Mobutu to liberalise his regime, a consequence of this was rapprochement between Zaire and Angola. Mobutu also agreed to stop assistance to anti-MPLA groups who were fighting to overthrow the Marxist regime of President Neto, this was in return for Neto's agreement to disarm the FLNC guerillas and then remove them from the borders of the Shaba province.

* Corruption was widespread, continued low prices, and disintegrating transport system and mounting debts have pressured Mobutu into announcing a programme of austerity in return for further loans from the IMF and the Worldbank.

* In 1991 a small group of paratroopers sparked off riots in Kinshasa eventually involving many civilians. The rioting spread to other cities. Belgium and France evacuated their citizens and sent troops in to control the airport and the city of Kinshasa.

* Mobutu has called for multi-party elections but shows no signs of relinquishing power.

* Official: French.

* Other: Many local dialects and languages including Swahili, Tshiluba, Kikongom Lingala.

* Tribes: Over 200 ethnic groupings, mainly of Bantu origin. The main tribes are Kongo, Luba, Mongo, Bwaka and Zande.

* All visitors must be in possession of an onward or return ticket.

* Countries whose nationals do not require a visa include:
+ Senegal.
+ Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Guinea-Bissau, Ireland, Italy, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tunisia, UK.
+ Diplomatic passport holders from Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands.
+ Merchant seamen joining a ship in Dakar.

* Countries whose nationals do require a visa include:
+ All except:
+ Senegal.
+ Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Guinea-Bissau, Ireland, Italy, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tunisia, UK.
+ Diplomatic passport holders from Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands.
+ Merchant seamen joining a ship in Dakar.

* Visas are issued at Senegalese Embassies.

VISA SERVICES

* Advice, information and full visa service from :

* Action Visas
for worldwide visa service, central London based:
phone # 0171 388 4498
fax # 0171 916 0671
from foreign contries:
phone # 44 171 388 4498
fax # 44 171 916 0671