Zaire

This page is about the history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1971 and 1997. For the modern country, see Democratic Republic of the Congo. For other uses, see Zaire (disambiguation).

Republic of Zairea République du Zaïre Repubuliki ya Zaïre Jamhuri ya Zaïre
← 1971–1997 →
Flag Coat of arms
Motto "Paix – Justice – Travail"  (French) "Peace – Justice – Work"
Anthem La Zaïroise
Capital	Kinshasab
Language(s)	French Lingala · Kongo Swahili · Tshiluba
Government	One-party dictatorship
President
- 1971–1997	Mobutu Sese Seko
Historical era	Congo Crisis
- Country renamed	27 October 1971
- First Congo War	16 May 1997
Area
- 1996	2,345,410 km2 (905,568 sq mi)
Population
- 1996 est.	46,498,539
Density	19.8 /km2  (51.3 /sq mi)
Currency	Zaïre
Internet TLD	.zr
Calling code	+243
a. Renamed from "Democratic Republic of the Congo" (République démocratique du Congo) on 27 October 1971. b. Changed from "Léopoldville" in 1966. c. Zaire became a de jure single-party state on December 23, 1970, but had been a de facto single-party state since May 20, 1967, the date on which the MPR (Mouvement Populaire de la Revolution) was established. Zaire formally adopted a multiparty system on April 24, 1990, when Mobutu delivered a speech proclaiming the end of the single-party system. The country adopted multipartyism de jure with the passage of Law No. 90-002 of July 5, 1990, which amended its constitution accordingly. d. 1990–1997.

Zaire, officially the Republic of Zaire (French: République du Zaïre) was the name of a country that is now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It used this name from 27 November 1971 to 17 May 1997. The name "Zaire" comes from a Portuguese corruption of the Kongo word nzare, meaning "river".