The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (About this soundpronunciation (help·info) French: République démocratique du Congo (RDC) [kɔ̃ɡo]), also known as Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo (French: RD Congo), the DROC,[8] the DRC, or simply either Congo or the Congo, and formerly Zaire, is a country in Central Africa. It is, by area, the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa, the second-largest in all of Africa (after Algeria), and the 11th-largest in the world. With a population of around 105 million, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most populous officially Francophone country in the world, as well as the third-most populous country in Africa (after Nigeria and Ethiopia) and the 14th-m...