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William M. Valerius
David J. Trimbach
Geography 100
2 May 2014

The Democratic Republic of Congo and What a Map Reveals.

A map can reveal more than what is presented at face-value. When confronted with a map
regarding the Democratic Republic of Congos resources, conflict areas, and Chinese investment, no
initial connection became clear. However, when researched further that very map became a window
into a war that has been raging for nearly 5 decades, as well as the political and socioeconomic
turmoil that has become second nature to this land.
The DR Congo is a very poor country where nearly 60% of its 75 million citizens live on less
than $1.25 a day. The capital city of the DR Congo is Kinshasa, a city of over 5 million. It lies in the
southwest corner of the nation, isolated from the eastern borders, and because most of DR Congos
population lies along its periphery, government control is stymied. So what makes the DR Congo a
focus of Chinese Investment? Resources. Although the DR Congo is ranked as the worlds poorest
country, a wealth of nearly 24 trillion sits buried beneath its surface. Minerals such as gold,
diamonds, tantalum, zinc, magnesium, and uranium have led to major mining regions appearing all
along eastern DR Congo. With Chinese interest on the nation, efforts have been made by China to
help reform and restructure DR Congos mines and infrastructure. New schools, clinics, hospitals
and dams have been built to try to improve quality of life for citizens, and 2400 Km of road have
been laid as well as 2000 Km of railroad lines. The remainder of Chinese investments went to
development of the mines. It is estimated that the return would grant up to 120 billion dollars.

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Unfortunately for China, political instability has been a common problem in the DR Congo
dating back to the 1960s when the DR Congo first achieved its independence. Congo was almost
immediately taken over in the following year by Mobutu Sese Seko, when his men murdered the
nations prime minister. What followed was 30 years of corruption. Meanwhile in neighboring
country, Rwanda, a war was raging. This war between the Hutu farmers and Tutsi pastoralists
eventually spilled over into the DR Congo in 1997 and caused one of the largest refugee streams ever
to move into the DR Congo. This event as a whole was a part of the DR Congos first civil war
which occurred from 1993 to 1997.
The connection between Chinas investments, the DR Congos ongoing conflict, and natural
resources becomes clearer during the second civil war which took place from 1998 to 2003. During
this time low income warfare lingered on from the first civil war. The DR Congo had become a
battleground and played host to the bloodiest war since WWII. Highlighted on the map is a visual
representation of the severity of this war, an area in the north-eastern portion of DR Congo in which
nearly 5 million people were estimated to have been killed between 1998 and 2009. 540 thousand
were killed per year, and 1.7 million people were displaced per year. The reason this senselessness
continued can be attributed to DR Congos vast mineral wealth. Rebel and militia groups began to
see value in the resources housed by the nations earth. They began to terrorize villages in the
eastern parts of DR Congo, using sexual assault as their primary intimidation mechanism which
garnered the DR Congo the appalling title, Rape Capital of the world. In 2004 war continued
between the Government and Rebel Militias. This period of time was known as the Kivu Conflict,
and led to mass rape, mutilation of innocent people, and even cannibalism. As a result of the Kivu
conflict 50% of the regions mines fell under the control of armed forces. The M23 rebel forces used
taxation methods, slave labor, and violence to keep the mineral wealth flowing, granting them nearly
180 million dollars in funds to continue their efforts.

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It was around the time of the Kivu conflict that political mishandlings resulted in the support
of rebel activities in the DR Congo by its neighboring nations, particularly Rwanda. The covert
support of the M23 Rebels allowed these militias to funnel minerals to other nations as Rwandan
materials. All the minerals acquired during this process are considered conflict Minerals. To this
day conflict minerals remain a major issue in DR Congo. Its eastern areas have become a lawless
smuggling lane for the M23 rebels and people continue to live in fear because their lives are
constantly threatened by the armed forces. Life expectancy has dropped to below 48 years of age,
400,000 rape victims are recorded annually, and one-in-five children will die before the age of 6.
With these puppet armies backed by Rwandan officials stealing materials, the DR Congos resources
become less accessible by anyone other than the rebel groups. This poses complications in the future
regarding Chinas major investment in DR Congos hidden wealth. The major redevelopment area
known as Chinas Corridor runs from the northeastern city of Kisangani down through Kivu along
the eastern border of DR Congo, right through the high insecurity conflict areas. Whether or not
China will see a return on their investment could largely depend on if the DR Congo retakes the
eastern part of the country, however tensions remain high in the region and threat of another war
lingers.
All of this information may not be written in the layout of the map or maybe not even in the
legend, however it is represented by the defined zoning of Chinese investments verses the region of
conflict that is depicted. All while surrounding numerous resource hotspots that can be identified on
the map. The map presented provides a visual of the infrastructure in the DR Congo, but given a
little historical background begins to hold so much more meaning. It shows the attempts of China to
sweep the nation with improvements in order to harvest minerals for monetary gain. Most
importantly it becomes a visual representation of a country in turmoil, plagued by corruption,
poverty, and war all centered around one of the most valuable treasures in the world.

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J., De Blij Harm. Geography. Realms, Regions, and Concepts. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2014. Print.
Meyer, Nathan W. "Can China's 'Deal of the Century' Save Congo? | World Policy
Institute." World Policy.org. N.p., 20 July 2012. Web. 02 May 2014.
"Democratic Republic of Congo Profile." BBC News. N.p., 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 01 May 2014.