<P> The region that is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo was first settled about 80,000 years ago . The Kingdom of Congo remained present in the region between the 14th and the early 19th centuries . Belgian colonization began when King Leopold II founded the Congo Free State, a corporate state run solely by King Leopold . Reports of widespread murder and torture in the rubber plantations led the Belgian government to seize the Congo from Leopold II and establish the Belgian Congo . Under Belgian rule numerous Christian organizations attempted to Westernize the Congolese people . </P> <P> After an uprising by the Congolese people, Belgium surrendered to the independence of the Congo in 1960 . However, the Congo remained unstable because tribal leaders had more power than the central government . Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba tried to restore order with the aid of the Soviet Union as part of the Cold War, causing the United States to support a coup led by Colonel Joseph Mobutu in 1965 . Mobutu quickly seized complete power of the Congo and renamed the country Zaire . He sought to Africanize the country, changing his own name to Mobutu Sese Seko, and demanded that African citizens change their Western names to traditional African names . Mobutu sought to repress any opposition to his rule, in which he successfully did throughout the 1980s . However, with his regime weakened in the 1990s, Mobutu was forced to agree to a power - sharing government with the opposition party . Mobutu remained the head of state and promised elections within the next two years that never took place . </P> <P> In the First Congo War, Rwanda invaded Zaire; Mobutu lost his power during this process . Laurent - Desire Kabila took power and renamed the country the Democratic Republic of the Congo . After a disappointing rule under Kabila, the Second Congo War broke out, resulting in a regional war in which different African nations took part . Kabila was assassinated by his bodyguard in 2001, and his son, Joseph, succeeded him and was later elected president by the Congolese government in 2006 . Kabila quickly sought peace . Foreign soldiers remained in the Congo for a few years and a power - sharing government between Kabila and the opposition party was set up . Kabila later resumed complete control over the Congo and was re-elected in a disputed election in 2011 . Today, the Congo remains dangerously unstable . </P> <P> The area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo was populated as early as 80,000 years ago, as shown by the 1988 discovery of the Semliki harpoon at Katanda, one of the oldest barbed harpoons ever found, which is believed to have been used to catch giant river catfish . During its recorded history, the area has also been known as Congo, Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, and Zaire . </P>

Which of the following influenced the formation of zaire