Geography of Democratic Republic of Congo

Map:

Location: Central Africa (straddles the equator; has narrow strip of land that controls the lower Congo River and is the only outlet to South Atlantic Ocean; dense tropical rain forest in central river basin and eastern highlands)

Capital: Kinshasa

Size: Area is slightly less than ¼ of the size of the US

Population: 71,712,867 (July 2011 est. from CIA factbook)

Terrain: vast central basin is low-lying plateau, mountains in the east

Climate: tropical, hot and humid in equatorial river basin, cooler and drier in southern highlands. N of Equator wet season (April – – October)…dry season (December –February). S of Equator wet season (November-March)…dry season (April—October).

Flag:

Flag symbolism: sky blue field divided diagonally from the lower hoist corner to upper fly corner by a red stripe bordered by two narrow yellow stripes; a yellow, five-pointed star appears in the upper hoist corner; blue represents peace and hope, red the blood of the country’s martyrs, and yellow the country’s wealth and prosperity; the star symbolizes unity and the brilliant future for the country.

National Anthem (Arise Congolese)

Information retrieved from the CIA Factbook Website

Lesson Plan Ideas for Geography of DRC

  1. Check it out on Google Earth!
  2. Distribute copies of the map of Africa. Have students locate, label, and color the country of Democratic Republic of Congo (explain that older maps/globes have Zaire). Have them mark the capital with a star and label it.
  3. Students can create a brochure of DRC, which should include information such as location, population, terrain, climate, size, flag, etc.
  4. Students can read the words to the DRC National Anthem and then listen to it sung.
  5. Have students create a poster that includes the flag of DRC as well as what the symbols and colors mean.
  6. Check out more information online