Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the poorest nation on Earth. It is also called Congo-Kinshasa, because the capital is Kinshasa. This is to distinguish it from the neighboring Republic of the Congo, located to the west, which is also known as Congo-Brazzaville.

It has a GDP per capita of only $348, and an HDI of 0.286. It has a life expectancy of 46.5 years. It also has the world's second highest rate of infant mortality, after Chad. 115.81 babies die out of 1000 live births.

Congo-Kinshasa is a large country located at the center of Africa. The land is largely rainforest. The Congo River flows through it, and is part of the border between it and Congo-Brazzaville.

French is spoken there. In the past, it was colonized by Belgium. The country used to be known as Zaire.