The Democratic Republic of Congo is a country.
Democratic Republic of the Congo . It is the second-largest country in Africa by area and eleventh largest in the world . With a population of over 80 million , the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most populated officially Francophone country , the fourth most-populated nation in Africa and the eighteenth most populated country in the world . On 14 September , with U.S. and Belgian support , Lumumba was arrested by forces loyal to Army Chief of Staff Joseph-Désiré Mobutu , who had gained de facto control over the country through a coup d'état the same day , and on 17 January 1961 Lumumba was handed over to Katangan authorities and executed by Belgian-led Katangese troops . The country was run as a one-party state with his Popular Movement of the Revolution as the sole legal party . Tensions between President Kabila and the Rwandan and Tutsi presence in the country led to the Second Congo War from 1998 to 2003 .