The U. President Kabila was assassinated in January and was succeeded by his son, Joseph Kabila. With the institution of a government of national unity and transition in , the DRC emerged from war and began a two-year process of preparing for the country's first democratic elections in over 40 years.
These elections are scheduled for the summer of , and in the interim the former combatants have been trying to maintain peace, repair the social infrastructure severely damaged in the war, and reenergize the economy. Embassy Kinshasa to reduce diplomatic representation drastically.
With peace largely restored throughout the Congo, and access to the entire country possible, in the Embassy resumed assigning families with children. At present, there are over 50 direct-hire Americans with 17 children at post. Congo has access to the Atlantic Ocean on the west through a strip of territory that narrows to 13 miles wide at the coast.
Its area includes the greater part of the Congo River Basin and covers 1,, square miles-about the size of the U. The Congo River is 2, miles long and is the second largest in the world in terms of area drained, flow, and navigable length.
The geographical features of this giant African nation are handsome and varied. The huge Congo Basin, a low-lying, bowl-shaped plateau sloping toward the west, is covered by lush, tropical rain forests. Surrounding the basin are mountainous terraces on the west, plateaus merging into savannas to the south and southeast, and dense grasslands toward the northwest. The high picturesque Ruwenzori Mountains bound the basin to the east.
