<P> The Belgian Congo achieved independence on 30 June 1960 under the name Republic of the Congo . Congolese nationalist Patrice Lumumba was elected the first Prime Minister, while Joseph Kasa - Vubu became the first President . Conflict arose over the administration of the territory, which became known as the Congo Crisis . The provinces of Katanga, under Moïse Tshombe, and South Kasai attempted to secede . After Lumumba turned to the Soviet Union for assistance in the crisis, the U.S. and Belgium became wary and oversaw his removal from office by Kasa - Vubu on 5 September and ultimate execution by Belgian - led Katangese troops on 17 January 1961 . On 25 November 1965, Army Chief of Staff Joseph - Désiré Mobutu, who later renamed himself Mobutu Sese Seko, officially came into power through a coup d'état . In 1971, he renamed the country Zaire . The country was run as a dictatorial one - party state, with his Popular Movement of the Revolution as the sole legal party . Mobutu's government received considerable support from the United States, due to its anti-communist stance during the Cold War . By the early 1990s, Mobutu's government began to weaken . Destabilisation in the east resulting from the 1994 Rwandan genocide and disenfranchisement among the eastern Banyamulenge (Congolese Tutsi) population led to a 1996 invasion led by Tutsi FPR - ruled Rwanda, which began the First Congo War . </P> <P> On 17 May 1997, Laurent - Désiré Kabila, a leader of Tutsi forces from the province of South Kivu, became President after Mobutu fled to Morocco, reverting the country's name to the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Tensions between President Kabila and the Rwandan and Tutsi presence in the country led to the Second Congo War from 1998 to 2003 . Ultimately, nine African countries and around twenty armed groups became involved in the war, which resulted in the deaths of 5.4 million people . The two wars devastated the country . President Laurent - Désiré Kabila was assassinated by one of his bodyguards on 16 January 2001 and was succeeded eight days later as President by his son Joseph . </P> <P> The Democratic Republic of the Congo is extremely rich in natural resources but has had political instability, a lack of infrastructure, issues with corruption and centuries of both commercial and colonial extraction and exploitation with little holistic development . Besides the capital Kinshasa, the two next largest cities Lubumbashi and Mbuji - Mayi are both mining communities . DR Congo's largest export is raw minerals, with China accepting over 50% of DRC's exports in 2012 . In 2016, DR Congo's level of human development was ranked 176th out of 187 countries by the Human Development Index . As of 2018, around 600,000 Congolese have fled to neighbouring countries from conflicts in the centre and east of the DRC . Two million children risk starvation, and the fighting has displaced 4.5 million people . </P> <P> The Democratic Republic of the Congo is named after the Congo River, which flows through the entire country . The Congo River is the world's deepest river and the world's second largest river by discharge . The Comité d'études du haut Congo ("Committee for the Study of the Upper Congo"), established by King Leopold II of Belgium in 1876, and the International Association of the Congo, established by him in 1879, were also named after the river . </P>

Name of the capital city of the democratic republic of the congo