Zaire National Parks
The Republic of Zaire , formerly the Democratic Republic of the Congo , is the third-largest country in Africa . The name Zaire comes from the Kikongo word nzadi, meaning "river". The Congo or Zaire River, the tenth longest river in the world, winds 2880 miles through the Zaire basin, the world's second-largest drainage basin (the Amazon is the largest), and finally empties into the Atlantic ocean.
Of all the countries listed in this guide, Zaire is closest to "Tarzan's Africa ." You can very easily imagine him swinging on a vine right in front of you as you travel through this country, visited more by adventurers than tourists.
Kivu Province , the most beautiful region of Zaire , holds the country's most exciting attractions. This province is situated along the western borders of Rwanda and Uganda in the region of the great lakes: Lakes Tanganyika, Kivu, Edward (Idi Amin), and Mobutu (Albert). This is an important agricultural area with large tobacco, coffee, tea and banana plantations. There are no paved roads in Kivu Province .
Due to the altitude, the region has an agreeable Mediterranean-type climate. In general, the best time to visit eastern Zaire is during the dry seasons from December-February and mid-June-August.
Of the 200 or so tribal or ethnic groups in Zaire , four-fifths are Bantu. Physically, tribal groups range from the Tutsi, some of the tallest people on earth, to pygmies. About 80 percent of the population is Christian with the balance having Muslim or traditional beliefs.
What is now Zaire remained virtually unknown until Henry Morton Stanley traveled from East Africa to the mouth of the Congo ( Zaire ) River (1874-1877). Belgian King Leopold the Second claimed what became the Congo Free State as his personal property until he ceded it to Belgium in 1907, and it was renamed the Belgian Congo . Zaire achieved independence on June 30, 1960.
Zaire is a country of gigantic untapped resources. Fifty percent of the land is arable and scarcely two percent is under cultivation or used as pasture. The country holds 13 percent of the world's hydroelectric potential. Copper accounts for about half of the country's exports, followed by petroleum, diamonds and coffee.