<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> Zaire (/ zɑːˈɪər /), officially the Republic of Zaire (French: République du Zaïre; French pronunciation: ​ (za. iʁ)), was the name for the Democratic Republic of the Congo that existed between 1971 and 1997 in Central Africa . The country was a one - party totalitarian dictatorship, run by Mobutu Sese Seko and his ruling Popular Movement of the Revolution party . Zaire was established following Mobutu's seizure of power in a military coup in 1965, following five years of political upheaval following independence known as the Congo Crisis . Zaire had a strongly centralist constitution and foreign assets were nationalised . The period is sometimes referred to as the Second Congolese Republic . </P> <P> A wider campaign of Authenticité, ridding the country of the influences from the colonial era of the Belgian Congo, was also launched under Mobutu's direction . Weakened by the end of American support after the end of the Cold War, Mobutu was forced to declare a new republic in 1990 to cope with demands for change . By the time of its downfall, Mobutu's rule was characterised by widespread cronyism, corruption and economic mismanagement . </P>

Zaire is the former name of which african nation