Zaire
| 1965–1997 | |||||||||
| Motto: Paix — Justice — Travail "Peace — Justice — Work" | |||||||||
| Anthem: La Zaïroise "The Zairian" | |||||||||
| Capital and largest city | Kinshasa (named "Léopoldville" until 1966) 4°19′S 15°19′E / 4.317°S 15.317°E | ||||||||
| Official languages | French | ||||||||
| Recognised national languages | |||||||||
| Ethnic groups | See Ethnic groups section below | ||||||||
| Religion (1986) |
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| Demonyms | Léopoldville-Congolese (1965–1966) Kinshasa-Congolese (1966–1971) Zairian (1971–1997) | ||||||||
| Government | Unitary Mobutist one-party presidential republic under a totalitarian military dictatorship | ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
• 1965–1997 | Mobutu Sese Seko | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1965–1966 | Léonard Mulamba (first) | ||||||||
• 1977–1979 | Mpinga Kasenda (second) | ||||||||
• 1997 | Likulia Bolongo (last) | ||||||||
| Legislature | Legislative Council | ||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||
| 24 November 1965 | |||||||||
| 15 August 1974 | |||||||||
| 17 May 1997 | |||||||||
| 7 September 1997 | |||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• Total | 2,345,409 km2 (905,567 sq mi) | ||||||||
• Water (%) | 3.32 | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1971 | 18,400,000 | ||||||||
• 1997 | 46,498,539 | ||||||||
| GDP (nominal) | 1983 estimate | ||||||||
• Total | $4.5 billion | ||||||||
| HDI (1990 formula) | 0.294 low | ||||||||
| Currency | Congolese franc (1965–1967) Zaïre (1967–1997) (ZRN) | ||||||||
| Time zone | UTC+1 to +2 (WAT and CAT) | ||||||||
| Calling code | +243 | ||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | ZR | ||||||||
| Internet TLD | .zr | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Democratic Republic of the Congo | ||||||||
| History of the Democratic Republic of the Congo | ||||||||||||||||
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| See also: Years | ||||||||||||||||
| DRC Portal | ||||||||||||||||
Zaire, officially the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 1971 and Republic of Zaire from 1971, was a state in Central Africa headed by Mobutu Sese Seko from 1965 to 1997. It was, by area, the third-largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria, and the 11th-largest country in the world from 1965 to 1991. With a population of over 23 million, Zaire was the most populous Francophone country in Africa. Zaire was strategically important to the West during the Cold War, particularly the U.S., as a counterbalance to Soviet influence in Africa. The U.S. and its allies supported the Mobutu regime with military and economic aid to prevent the spread of communism which made it a key player for U.S. involvement in Africa.
The country was a one-party totalitarian and authoritarian military dictatorship, run by Mobutu Sese Seko and his Popular Movement of the Revolution. Mobutu seized power in a military coup in 1965, after five years of political upheaval following independence from Belgium known as the Congo Crisis. Zaire had a strongly centralist constitution, and foreign assets were nationalized. The period is sometimes referred to as the Second Congolese Republic.
A wider campaign of Authenticité, ridding the country of the influences from the colonial era of the Belgian Congo, was also launched under Mobutu's direction. Weakened by the termination of American support after the end of the Cold War, Mobutu was forced to declare a new republic in 1990 to cope with demands for change. By the time of its downfall, Zaire was characterised by widespread cronyism, corruption and economic mismanagement.
Zaire collapsed in the 1990s, amid the destabilization of the eastern parts of the country in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide and growing ethnic violence. In 1996, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, the head of the AFDL militia, led a popular rebellion against Mobutu. With rebel forces making gains westward, Mobutu fled the country, leaving Kabila's forces in charge. In 1997, the country's name was restored to the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Mobutu died less than four months later while in exile in Morocco.