Democratic Republic of the Congo: Holidays, Climate
Date | Holiday |
January 1 | New Year |
January 4 | Martyrs Day for Independence |
January 17 | Day of Folk Heroes |
1st of May | Labor Day |
17th of May | Liberation Day |
June 30 | Independence day |
November 17 | Armed Forces Day |
November 24 | Day of the new regime |
25 December | Christmas |
Source: Countryaah – D.R. Congo Holidays
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Climate
Due to its size, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has to be divided into at least the following four climate zones in order to be able to describe the climate reasonably well.
North
The climate in the north is relatively constant. The average temperatures during the day are between 29 – 31 °C and at night between 20 – 21 °C. Precipitation falls all year round, but most in November and least from December to January.
West
The temperatures in the western area are 27-29 °C during the day and 19 °C at night all year round. Only from May to September do temperatures drop to 15 ° C. From July to September there is a dry season when there is hardly any rainfall. From February to March it rains rather little, although it rains very heavily from April to May. Every year there is 2,000 – 2,400 mm of precipitation and the humidity is 90%.
East
From December to July the average daytime temperatures in the eastern area are relatively constant at 26-27 °C. From August onwards, however, they rise until they reach a peak of 32 °C in October. At night, temperatures from October to April remain at 27 °C. By June/July they drop to 8 °C. From the end of April to the beginning of October there is also a dry season here, in the rest of the time there is relatively high rainfall.
South
The daily average temperatures are 27 – 32 °C all year round, with July being the coldest. At night they are continuously 22 °C, except in July, when they can drop to 17 °C. In the southern area there is less precipitation, only about 1,300 mm. There is a dry season from July to August.
Attractions
- Abbreviationfinder.org: Presents the way that CG stands for the nation of Democratic Republic of the Congo as a two-letter acronym.
UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Garamba National Park
The park (French: Parc national de la Garamba) covers an area of around 4,920 km² and is located in the Haut-Zaire region. It consists mainly of savannah, grassland and woodland, as well as gallery forest on the river banks and in swampy lowlands. The most important rivers in the park are the Dungu, Aka and Garamba, the namesake of the park.
Here you can find African elephants, buffalos, hippos, giraffes and some white rhinos. The national park was founded in 1938 and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1980.
Address: Haut-Uele, Congo-Kinshasa
Kahuzi-Biega
National Park The Kahuzi-Biéga National Park is located in the east of the country near Lake Kivu and on the border with Rwanda. The volcanoes after which the park is named have died out.
Some lowland gorillas still live in the park.
The armed conflicts in this part of Africa in the 1990s caused the number of gorillas to decline sharply. Since Rwandan rebels are suspected of clearing the rainforest, mining and poaching in some regions of the park, it was feared that the gorillas could become extinct. Since the beginning of 2009, part of the park has again been protected by rangers who do their valuable work at risk of death; the danger to life threatens people, not animals!
The Kahuzi-Biega National Park was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979. In 1997 the World Heritage Committee put the park on the Red List of World Heritage in Danger.
Salonga National Park
The national park is located in the areas of Equateur, Bandundu and Kasai-Occidental. The national park can only be visited by boat and it is the largest park in Africa.
Many endangered animals live in this park, such as B. forest elephants, dwarf chimpanzees (they belong to the great apes and are extremely peaceful). Salonga National Park was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979. From 1984 to 1992 and again since 1999, the park has been on the Red List of World Heritage in Danger. The reason for this is the unstable conditions in the country.
Virunga National Park
The Virunga National Park has a total area of 790,000 ha = 7,900 km² and is located in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo – partly on the Great Rift Valley – and borders on Rwanda and Uganda.
When the Albert National Park was divided, the Virunga National Park was created in 1969. It borders the Volcanoes National Park and the Rwenzori Mountains National Park in Rwanda. Around 200 mountain gorillas still live in these parks, around 25% of all animals living worldwide.
Their habitat extends above all on the mountain slopes at greater heights. But also many other protected animals such as B. the okapi, Forest elephants, giraffes, various buffalo species and endemic bird species are at great risk, as the genocide in Rwanda caused around one million refugees to move into the national park and settle there. This involved clearing fire, cutting down the forest and slaughtering the game. Poaching is difficult to stop. The rangers feared for their lives if they stood up for the protection of the park and the animals there. Around 150 rangers have been murdered since 2007. There are now around 600 rangers here, equipped with Kalashnikovs and sometimes even bazookas.
The Virunga National Park was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.
Okapi Wildlife Sanctuary
The Okapi Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the northeast of the country and borders Uganda and Sudan.
It has an area of about 3,000 km². The area consists of tropical rainforest – the Ituri forest.
The river is bounded by the Nepoko River in the north and the Ituri River in the south. The landscape is unusually beautiful because of the waterfalls, the banks of the rivers and the forest. This is where the okapi lives. It can only be found here in the national parks and is threatened with extinction.
The okapi resembles a zebra, but belongs to the “giraffe-like” family, which are ruminants and ungulates. In addition to the okapis, forest elephants and various species of monkeys, deer piglets, golden cats and forest pigs also live here. The Okapi Wildlife Sanctuary was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996. But slash and burn, poaching and increasing mining threaten this oasis for animals and that is why the okapi animal sanctuary has been on the red list of endangered world heritage since 1997.
Cities
Kinshasa
Kinshasa with its approx. 7.5 million residents is not only the capital of the country, but also its largest city and the third largest in Africa. Kinshasa is located in the west of the country on the Congo River.
Kisangani
Kisangani has around 1.2 million residents and is located in the north of the country on the Lualaba River, which later becomes the Congo.
Lubumbashi
Lubumbashi has approx. 1.7 million residents and is located in the south-east of the country at approx. 1000 m above sea level.
Mbuji-Mayi
Mbuji-Mayi has a population of around 2.5 million and is located in the south of the country.
Special structures
American Baptist Missionary Society in Kinshasa
The building of the American Baptist Missionary Society in the Congolese capital Kinshasa is one of the oldest buildings in the city. It dates back to 1891.
Kinshasa Cathedral
The Roman Catholic Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Kinshasa. The Christian sacred building was completed in 1914.
National stadium Stade des Martyrs in Kinshasa
The national stadium Kinshasas offers space for 75,000 spectators and is used in particular as the home ground of the Congolese soccer champions DC Motema Pembe and AS Vita Club. The Martyrs Stadium was built in 1994, with Chinese support being required. It replaced the disused Stade Tata Raphaël, where Muhammad Ali boxed against George Foreman in 1974.
Museums
Art Academy of Kinshasa
The Académie des Beaux-Arts de Kinshasa is the only art academy in Central Africa that operates at the university level. The many sculptures on the academy site are worth seeing. They were created by Congolese artists.
Museum of the University of Kinshasa
The Musée de l’Université de Kinshasa contains ethnographic and prehistoric collections that can be found in some university buildings. Also worth seeing is the Ma Valée lake, which adjoins the facility and is surrounded by tropical rainforest.
National Museum in Kinshasa
The Musée National de Kinshasa is the national museum of the Congolese capital. Works that document traditional Congolese art are exhibited.
National Museum of Lubumbashi
The National Museum of the city of Lubumbashi shows ethnological and archaeological exhibits from the region.
Universities
Art Academy of Kinshasa
The Académie des Beaux-Arts de Kinshasa is the only art academy in Central Africa that operates at the university level. The many sculptures on the academy site are worth seeing. They were created by Congolese artists.
University of Kinshasa (French: Université de Kinshasa)
The most important and largest university in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was founded in 1954 and in 1971 merged with two other large universities to form the Université Nationale du Zaïre. The three universities were later unbundled and re-established as independent educational institutions.
University of Lubumbashi (French: Université de Lubumbashi)
UNILU is one of the largest universities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The university, which has existed since 1954/55, has only had its current name since 1981.
Parks
Frère Gillet Botanical Garden in Kisantu
The garden contains a world-famous collection of rare orchids.
Gardens of the Nsele Presidential Residence in Kinshasa
Popular destinations for excursions are the pagodas and the large water reservoirs where you can swim and fish.
Ma Valée Lake in Kinshasa
Surrounded by tropical rainforest, the lake is located near the university.
natural beauties
Lake Albertsee
in the north of the Central African Rift – located in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (where it was called Mobutu-Sese-Seko-See from 1972–1997). It lies around 620 above sea level, has an area of around 5,374 km² and is up to 48 m deep. It is the most fish-rich lake in the country. Its main tributaries are the Semliki and the Victoria Nile, and its outflow is via the Albert Nile.
Boyoma Falls (Stanley Falls) on the Congo near Kisangi
Here, an annual average of around 17,000 m3 of water per second falls over the cascades.
Eduardsee
The lake is located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its northeast part in Uganda, where it was named after him during the reign of Idiamin. The lake has an area of 2,325 km² with a maximum water depth of about 112 m. It is the habitat for numerous bird species.
Garamba National Park
Lions, elephants, leopards, giraffes and the rare white rhinos live here in the wild. The Garamba National Park was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.
Insiki waterfalls in Zongo
The waterfalls have a height of approx. 60 m and are an impressive natural spectacle
Kaluzi Biéga National Park
Lowland gorillas can be observed here.
Kiobo, Lufira and Lofol waterfalls north of Lubumbashi
These are just examples of the many impressive waterfalls in the south of the country, the latter with a height of 384 m.
Salonga National Park
The national park is located in the areas of Equateur, Bandundu and Kasai-Occidental. The national park can only be visited by boat and it is the largest park in Africa.
Okapi Wildlife Sanctuary
The zone is one of the five natural parks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that have been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and are extremely endangered by poachers and the military.
Pic Marguerite
The highest mountain in the Ruwenzori mountain range (5,119 m) provides habitat for gorillas and the rare okapis.
Upemba National Park on the Lualaba River northeast of Bugama
The park contains numerous lakes that are home to hippos, crocodiles and countless water birds.
Virunga National
Park Lions, elephants, buffalos, warthogs, antelopes, hippos and colorful water birds live in the wild in the 12,000 square kilometer park between two mountain ranges.
The Congo
The Congo is the namesake of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo, it also partially forms the border between the two countries. It is also worth mentioning that the capitals of both Läder Kinshasa and Brazzaville are practically only separated by the river.
The river rises under the name “Lualaba in the south” of the Democratic Republic (DR) Congo in the Katanga region in the southern foothills of the Mitumba Mountains – about 100 km west of Lubumbas.
After 4,375 km the river flows into the Atlantic.
The Congo has an unusual course: As Lualanda it flows almost exactly in a northerly direction, where after about 150 km the Luvua – Luapula – Chambeshi, coming from the east, flows into it. A little further north, the Congo Basin flows into the huge Congo Basin. After another 150 km in a northerly direction, the Lukuga, coming from the east, joins it. On its way further north the Lualaba reaches the Boyoma Falls near Kisangani. From here it begins to change its flow direction to the west and also has the name Congo now. In the region where it gradually begins to flow in a south-westerly direction, it flows through an extensive marshland near Mbandaka, where the Ubangi flows into it. From here it forms the already mentioned border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo. Its largest tributary, the Kwa-Kasai, flows a little further south. It flows southwest of the city of Mbandaka past Kinshasa and Brazzaville, the two main cities of the DR Congo and the Republic of the Congo.
Satellite image of the Malebo pool with the cities of Brazzaville and Kinshasa
At the end of the Congo Basin, it forms rapids over a length of 350 km – the Livingstone Falls. At Mbanza, the Congo leaves the borders between the DR Congo and the Republic of the Congo and flows through the relatively narrow westernmost “tip” of the DR Congo and reaches the city of Matadi before the border with Angola. On this border, the river – called Rio Zaire – flows even further west and then flows into a delta up to 40 km wide in the Atlantic, with around 50,000 m³ of water pouring into the sea every second, making it the most water-rich river in Africa
It is worth mentioning that depths of up to 220 m have been measured on its lower course – unique for a river.