Pope Francis on Tuesday is anticipated to land within the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa’s largest predominantly Catholic nation, for a landmark three-day go to.

Listed here are 5 issues to find out about this huge nation:

Mineral wealth, dire poverty

The DRC is awash with minerals and valuable stones, from gold, diamonds and coltan to tin, copper and cobalt. 

Harbouring the Congo River — the second-largest in Africa after the Nile — the DRC additionally has large hydroelectric potential, in addition to 80 million hectares (197 million acres) of arable land. 

However many years of struggle and persistent mismanagement signifies that little of the nation’s huge wealth trickles right down to the inhabitants of some 100 million individuals. 

About two-thirds of the Congolese inhabitants survive on underneath $2.15 a day, in line with the World Financial institution.

Occupying an enormous space the scale of continental western Europe, the DRC is about 80 instances bigger than its former colonial energy, Belgium. 

It’s the second-largest state in Africa after Algeria.

Some 250 completely different ethnic teams reside within the DRC, talking lots of of various languages. 

French is the nation’s official language, and native tongues Kikongo, Lingala, Tshiluba and Swahili are additionally formally recognised. 

Regardless of its measurement and variety — the previous province of Katanga tried to secede within the Nineteen Sixties — there’s a fierce sense of nationwide unity.

The DRC has been ravaged by brutal conflicts in current many years. The primary Congo struggle, between 1996-1997, resulted within the overthrow of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. 

The second Congo struggle, between 1998-2003, sucked in 9 completely different nations, concerned about 30 armed teams and prompted hundreds of thousands of deaths in line with some estimates. It additionally bankrupted the nation. 

A lot of the DRC is now at peace, however its mineral-rich jap provinces stay affected by dozens of armed teams and civilian massacres are widespread. 

Secularism has been enshrined within the Congolese Structure since 1974, which additionally recognises freedom of worship. 

In accordance with estimates, about 40 % of the nation is Catholic, 35 % Protestants of assorted denominations, 9 % Muslims and 10 % Kimbanguists — a Christian motion born within the Belgian Congo. 

Official Vatican statistics put the proportion of Catholics within the DRC at 49 % of the inhabitants.

Atheists are exceedingly uncommon in Congolese society, which stays deeply spiritual and influenced by the church. Throughout the colonial interval, training was entrusted to Catholic missionaries. 

Congolese individuals are famend for his or her sense of humour and resourcefulness within the face of attempting circumstances. 

Many jokingly confer with “Article 15” of the structure, which purports to instruct residents to kind issues out themselves. 

Music additionally performs an outsize position within the nation’s tradition. UNESCO listed Congolese rumba as intangible cultural heritage of humanity in December 2021. 

Congo can also be famed for its so-called sapeurs — dandies recognized for his or her ultra-elegant clothes and sense of fashion.