Democratic Republic of the Congo and The Most Dangerous Game: Difference between pages

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{{Otheruses4|the short story by Richard Connell|the novel by Gavin Lyall|The Most Dangerous Game (Gavin Lyall novel)}}
{{Infobox Country
{{Infobox short story | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] -->
|native_name = ''République Démocratique du Congo''
| name = The Most Dangerous Game
|conventional_long_name = Democratic Republic of the Congo
| title_orig =
|common_name = the Democratic Republic of the Congo
| translator = english
|image_flag = Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg
| author = [[Richard Connell]]
|image_coat = Coat of Arms of the République Démocratique du Congo.svg
| country = United States
|national_motto = ''Justice&nbsp;– Paix&nbsp;– Travail''{{nbsp|2}}<small>([[French language|French]])<br />"Justice&nbsp;– Peace&nbsp;– Work"</small>
| language = [[English language|English]]
|image_map = LocationDRCongo.svg
| series = none
|national_anthem = ''[[Debout Congolais]]''
| genre = [[Short Story]]
|official_languages = [[French language|French]],[[Lingala language|Lingala]],
| published_in = ''Collier's Weekly''
|regional_languages = [[Lingala language|Lingala]], [[Kongo language|Kongo]]/[[Kituba language|Kituba]], [[Swahili language|Swahili]], [[Tshiluba language|Tshiluba]]
| publisher =
|demonym = Congolese
| media_type = adventure
|capital = [[Kinshasa]]<sup>a</sup>
| pub_date = [[January 19]], [[1924]]
|latd=4 |latm=19 |latNS=S |longd=15 |longm=19 |longEW=E
| english_pub_date =
|largest_city = capital
| preceded_by =
|government_type = [[Semi-presidential system|Semi-Presidential]] [[Republic]]
| followed_by =
|leader_title1 = [[President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|President]]
|leader_name1 = [[Joseph Kabila]]
|leader_title2 = [[Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|Prime Minister]]
|leader_name2 = [[Antoine Gizenga]]
|area_km2 = 2,344,858
|area_sq_mi = 905,351 <!--Do not remove per [[WP:MOSNUM]]-->
|area_rank = 12th
|area_magnitude = 1 E+12
|percent_water = 3.3
|population_estimate = 62,600,000
|population_estimate_year = 2007 [[United Nations]]
|population_estimate_rank = 21st
|population_census =
|population_census_year =
|population_density_km2 = 25
|population_density_sq_mi = 65 <!--Do not remove per [[WP:MOSNUM]]-->
|population_density_rank = 188th
|GDP_PPP_year = 2005
|GDP_PPP = 5 million<sup>1</sup>
|GDP_PPP_rank = 78th
|GDP_PPP_per_capita = $774
|GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 174th
|GDP_nominal = $7.094 [[1000000000 (number)|billion]]
|GDP_nominal_rank = 116th
|GDP_nominal_year = 2005
|GDP_nominal_per_capita = $119
|GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 181th
|HDI_year = 2007
|HDI = {{increase}} 0.411
|HDI_rank = 168th
|HDI_category = <font color="#e0584e">low</font>
|FSI = 105.5 {{decrease}} 4.6
|FSI_year = 2007
|FSI_rank = 7th
|FSI_category = <font color="#FF0000">Alert</font>
|sovereignty_type = [[Independence]]
|established_event1 = from [[Belgium]]
|established_date1 = [[June 30]], [[1960]]
|currency = [[Congolese franc]]
|currency_code = CDF
|time_zone = [[West Africa Time|WAT]], [[Central Africa Time|CAT]]
|utc_offset = +1 to +2
|time_zone_DST = ''not observed''
|utc_offset_DST = +1 to +2
|cctld = [[.cd]]
|calling_code = 243
|footnotes = <sup>a</sup> Estimate is based on [[Regression analysis|regression]]; other PPP figures are extrapolated from the latest International Comparison Programme benchmark estimates.
}}
}}
'''"The Most Dangerous Game"''' or '''"The Hounds of Zaroff"''' is a [[short story]] by [[Richard Connell]]. It was published in ''Collier's Weekly'' on [[January 19]], [[1924]].
{{distinguish2|the [[Republic of the Congo]]}}
{{otheruses|Congo}}
The '''Democratic Republic of the Congo''' ({{lang-fr|République démocratique du Congo}}), often referred to as '''DR Congo''', '''DRC''' or '''RDC''', and formerly known or referred to as '''[[Congo Free State]]''', '''[[Belgian Congo]]''', '''[[Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)|Congo-Léopoldville]]''', '''Congo-Kinshasa''', and '''[[Zaire]]''' (or ''Zaïre'' in French), is the third largest [[asshole]] in Africa. Though it is located in the [[Central Africa]]n [[United Nations geoscheme|UN subregion]], the nation is economically and regionally affiliated with [[Southern Africa]] as a member of the [[Southern African Development Community]] (SADC). It borders the [[Central African Republic]] and [[Sudan]] on the north, [[Uganda]], [[Rwanda]], and [[Burundi]] on the east, [[Zambia]] and [[Angola]] on the south, the [[Republic of the Congo]] on the west, and is separated from [[Tanzania]] by [[Lake Tanganyika]] on the east.<ref name=factbook>{{cite book |author=Central Intelligence Agency |authorlink=CIA |title=CIA&nbsp;— The World Factbook|chapter=Democratic Republic of the Congo |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cg.html|month=10 January |year=2006|id=ISSN 1553-8133}}</ref> The country enjoys access to the ocean through a forty-kilometre stretch of [[Atlantic]] coastline at [[Muanda]] and the roughly nine-kilometre wide mouth of the [[Congo River|Congo river]] which opens into the [[Gulf of Guinea]]. The name "Congo" (meaning "hunter") is coined after the [[Kongo people|Bakongo]] ethnic group who live in the Congo river basin.


Widely anthologized, and the author's best-known work, "The Most Dangerous Game" features as its main character a [[big-game hunter]] from [[New York]], who becomes shipwrecked on an isolated [[island]] in the [[Caribbean]], and is hunted by a [[Russia]]n aristocrat. The story is an inversion of the big-game hunting [[safari]]s in [[Africa]] and [[South America]] that were fashionable among wealthy Americans in the 1920s.
Formerly the [[Belgium|Belgian]] [[colony]] of the [[Belgian Congo]], the country's post-independence name was the Republic of the Congo until [[August 1]], [[1964]],<ref name="loc">[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+zr0146) "Zaire: Post-Independence Political Development"], ''[[Library of Congress]]''</ref> when its name was changed to Democratic Republic of the Congo (to distinguish it from the neighboring [[Republic of the Congo]]).<ref>Prior to this, the two countries were commonly distinguished by their capitals, with DRC called Congo-[[Kinshasa]] and the RC called Congo-[[Brazzaville]]</ref> On [[October 27]], [[1971]],<ref name="loc"/> then-[[Heads of state of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|President]] [[Mobutu Sese Seko|Mobutu]] renamed the country ''[[Zaire]]'', from a Portuguese mispronunciation of the [[Kongo language|Kikongo]] word ''nzere'' or ''nzadi'', which translates to "the river that swallows all rivers."<ref> (Peter Forbath, ''The River Congo'', p. 19) </ref> Following the [[First Congo War]] which led to the overthrow of Mobutu in 1997, the country was renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo. From 1998 to 2003, the country suffered greatly from the devastating [[Second Congo War]] (sometimes referred to as the "African World War"),<ref>See [http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0623/p01s04-woaf.html "Rumblings of war in heart of Africa"] by Abraham McLaughlin and Duncan Woodside ''The Christian Science Monitor'' 23 June 2004 and [http://chris_bowers.mydd.com/story/2006/7/24/135222/827 "World War Three"] by Chris Bowers ''My Direct Democracy'' 24 July 2006</ref> the world's deadliest conflict since [[World War II]]. Related fighting still continues in the east of the country.
<!--spacing -- please don't remove-->


*'''Sanger Rainsford''', an accomplished and experienced hunter from New York.
==History==
*'''General Zaroff''', a man of pre-Revolutionary Russian aristocratic background. Above middle-age. Utterly fixated on hunting.
{{main|History of the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
*'''Ivan''', Zaroff's large Cossack slave and bodyguard. He is deaf and has no tongue. Ivan is also dumb. This makes him ideal to Zaroff as it is impossible for Ivan to tell anyone of General Zaroff's murders if he somehow escapes the island.
*'''Whitney''', Rainsford's friend who appears briefly in the introduction, wondering what it would be like if he was the hunted instead of hunter.


==Summary==
===Congolese pre-history===
Ship-Trap Island, that is the subject of local superstition.
{{main|Early Congolese history}}


He finds a Palatial Chateau owned by a [[Cossack]] hunter named General Zaroff and his Cossack servant Ivan. General Zaroff had heard of Rainsford as he is a big game hunter. Zaroff has read Rainsford's book. Over dinner, General Zaroff explains to Rainsford how he became so good at hunting that he became bored and unchallenged with it. He then decided to live on an island where he captured shipwrecked sailors and sent them, with only food, a knife, and moccassins, into the jungle. Three hours later, he followed them to [[human hunting|hunt them]]. If they eluded him for three days, he let them go, but he had so far managed to kill them all.
A wave of early peoples is identified in the Northern and North-Western parts of Central Africa during the second millennium BC.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} They were food producing (pearl millet), with some domestic stock, and developed a kind of [[arboriculture]] mainly based on the [[oil palm.]]{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Several centuries later, around {{formatnum:2500}} BC, bananas were known to some in south Cameroon.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}


Zaroff tells Rainsford that he would be the next person he hunted. Rainsford runs into the forest and climbs a t
From {{formatnum:3500}} BC to {{formatnum:2000}} BC, starting from a nucleus area in South Cameroon on both banks of the Sanaga River, the first [[Neolithic]] peopling of northern and western Central Africa can be followed south-eastwards and southwards.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
Sanger Rainsford, a hunter in the time, and his hunting companion, Whitney, are traveling to the [[Amazon Rainforest]] to hunt the fabled big cat of that region, the [[Jaguar]]. After a discussion about how they were the hunters instead of the hunted, Rainsford hears shots, drops his pipe, and falls off of their boat while trying to retrieve it. He washes up on an island, ree. Zaroff finds him easily, but decides to play with him like a cat with a mouse. Next he sets a tiger trap, which kills one of Zaroff's hounds. Finally, he set a trap with his knife that kills Ivan , but not Zaroff. As the hounds approach, Rainsford jumps off a cliff into the ocean. Zaroff assumes he has killed himself and returns home. Rainsford is there, having swam around the island. Zaroff congratulates him and offers to send him home, but Rainsford decides to fight him, and says "I'm still a beast at bay,".
In D.R. Congo the first villages in the vicinity of Mbandaka and the Tumba Lake are known as the 'Imbonga Tradition', from around {{formatnum:2600}} BC. In Lower Congo, north of the Angolan border, it is the 'Ngovo Tradition' around {{formatnum:2300}} BC that shows the arrival of the Neolithic wave of advance.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}


The last sentence of the book depicts the General accepting the fight, and saying that the loser should be fed to the dogs and the victor would sleep in the master bedroom's bed. Although it has not been stated in the story, it is believed that the General was fed to his hounds because of Rainsford's last words- he had never slept in a better bed.
[[Image:Katangacross.JPG|thumb|right|A [[Katanga Cross]], an obsolete form of [[money]].]]
In Kivu, across the country to the east, the '[[Urewe]] Tradition' villages first show up around {{formatnum:2600}} BC. The few archaeological sites known in Congo are a western extension of the 'Urewe' Culture which is mainly known in [[Uganda]], [[Rwanda]], [[Burundi]], and Western [[Kenya]] and [[Tanzania]].{{Fact|date=February 2007}} From the start of this tradition, the people knew iron smelting, as is evidenced by several iron smelting furnaces excavated in Rwanda and Burundi.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}


==Adaptations==
The earliest evidence further to the west is known in Cameroon, and near to the small town of [[Bouar]] in [[Central Africa]]. Though an ongoing discussion will ultimately give us a better chronology for the start of iron production in [[Central Africa]], the Cameroonian data places iron smelting north of the [[Equatorial Forest]] around {{formatnum:2600}} BC to {{formatnum:2500}} BC .{{Fact|date=February 2007}} This technology developed independently from the previous Neolithic expansion some 900 years later. As fieldwork done by a German team shows, the Congo river network was slowly settled by food-producing villagers going upstream in the forest. Work from a Spanish project in the Ituri area further east suggests villages reached there only around {{formatnum:800}} BC.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
The story has been adapted for [[film]] numerous times. The most significant of these adaptations (and apparently the only one to use the original characters) was [[RKO]]'s ''[[The Most Dangerous Game (film)|The Most Dangerous Game]]'', released in [[1932 in film|1932]], having been shot (mostly at night) on sets used during the day for the "Skull Island" sequences of ''[[King Kong]]''. The movie starred [[Joel McCrea]] as Rainsford (renamed "Robert" instead of "Sanger") and [[Leslie Banks]] as Zaroff, and added two other principal characters: Eve Trowbridge ([[Fay Wray]]) and Martin Trowbridge ([[Robert Armstrong (actor)|Robert Armstrong]]), who are brother and sister (Wray and Armstrong were also starring in ''King Kong'' on the same sets during the day).


The story was also twice produced as a [[radio play]] for the series ''[[Suspense]]'', on [[23 September]] [[1943]] with [[Orson Welles]] as Zaroff and [[Keenan Wynn]] as Rainsford, and on [[1 February]] [[1945]] with frequent Welles collaborator [[Joseph Cotten]] playing Rainsford. In these productions, Rainsford narrates the story in [[retrospect]] as he waits in Zaroff's bedroom for the final confrontation.
The supposedly Bantu-speaking Neolithic, and then iron-producing, villagers added to and displaced the indigenous [[Pygmy]] populations (also known in the region as the "Bitwa" or "Twa") into secondary parts of the country.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Subsequent migrations from the [[Darfur]] and [[Kurdufan|Kordofan]] regions of [[Sudan]] into the north-east, as well as [[East Africa]]ns migrating into the eastern [[Congo Basin|Congo]] added to the mix of ethnic groups. The Bantus imported a mixed economy made up of agriculture, small stock raising, fishing, fruit collecting, hunting and arboriculture before {{formatnum:3500}} BC; iron-working techniques, possibly from [[West Africa]], are a much later addition.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} The villagers established the Bantu language family as the primary set of tongues for the Congolese.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
<!-- in which the original Upemba societies transitioned into the Luba kingdom was gradual and complex. This transition ran without interruption, with several distinct societies developing out of the Upemba culture prior to the genesis of the Luba.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Each of these kingdoms became very wealthy due mainly to the region's mineral wealth, especially in [[ores]]. The civilization began to develop and implement [[iron]] and [[copper]] technology, in addition to trading in [[ivory]] and other goods.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} The Luba established a strong commercial demand for their metal technologies and were able to institute a long-range commercial net (the business connections extended over 1,500 kilometres (930&nbsp;mi), all the way to the [[Indian Ocean]]). By the 1500s, the kingdom had an established strong central government based on chieftainship.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}-->


A second movie adaptation, a remake of the 1932 movie, also produced by [[RKO]] was ''A Game of Death'', released in 1945. Directed by [[Robert Wise]] at the very beginning of his long and distinguished directing career, the movie was regarded poorly. Footage from the original was recycled, and one actor from the original, [[Noble Johnson]], was cast in the remake. In keeping with events of the time, ''A Game of Death'' changed Zaroff into "Erich Kreiger", a German Nazi, and was set in the aftermath of WWII. In 1956 a second official remake was made, ''[[Run for the Sun]]'', starring [[Richard Widmark]] and [[Jane Greer]].
===The Congo Free State (1877&nbsp;– 1908)===
{{main|Colonisation of the Congo|Congo Free State|Belgian Congo}}
European exploration and administration took place from the 1870s until the 1920s&nbsp;— first by [[Sir Henry Morton Stanley]] who undertook his explorations mainly under the sponsorship of [[King Leopold II of Belgium]], who desired what was to become the Congo as a colony. In a succession of negotiations, Leopold, professing humanitarian objectives in his capacity as chairman of the [[Association Internationale Africaine]], played one European rival against the other. The Congo territory was acquired formally by Leopold at the [[Conference of Berlin]] in 1885. He made the land his private property and named it the [[Congo Free State]]. Leopold's regime began undertaking various projects, such as the railway that ran from the coast to Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) which took years to complete. Nearly all these projects were aimed at increasing the capital Leopold and his associates could extract from the colony, leading to exploitation of Africans. In the Free State, the local population was brutalized in exchange for [[rubber]], a growing market with the development of rubber tires. The selling of the rubber made a fortune for Leopold, who built several buildings in [[Brussels]] and [[Ostend]] to honour himself and his country. To enforce the rubber quotas, the ''[[Force Publique]]'' (FP) was called in. The FP was an army, but its aim was not to defend the country, but to terrorize the local population. The Force Publique made the practice of cutting off the limbs of the natives as a means of enforcing rubber quotas a matter of policy; this practice was widespread. During the period between 1885 and 1908, between five and 15 (the commonly accepted figure is about ten) million Congolese died as a consequence of exploitation and diseases. A government commission later concluded that the population of the Congo had been "reduced by half" during this brutal period.<ref>King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild (1999) ISBN 0-618-00190-5 Houghton Mifflin Books </ref> The actions of the Free State's administration sparked international protests led by [[E. D. Morel]] and British diplomat/Irish patriot [[Roger Casement]], whose 1904 report on the Congo condemned the practice, as well as famous writers such as [[Mark Twain]]. [[Joseph Conrad]]'s novella ''[[Heart of Darkness]]'' also takes place in Congo Free State. In 1908, the Belgian parliament, which was at first reluctant, bowed to international pressure (especially from Great Britain) by taking over the Free State from the king as a Belgian colony. From then on, it became the [[Belgian Congo]], under the rule of the elected Belgian government.


Other versions include ''[[Bloodlust!]]'' (1961), ''[[The Woman Hunt]]'' (1973), ''[[Turkey Shoot]]'' (1982) and ''[[Surviving the Game]]'' (1994).<ref>Stafford, Jeff [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=84006&category=Articles "The Most Dangerous Game" (TCM article)]</ref>
===Political crisis (1960&nbsp;– 1965)===
{{main|Congo Crisis}}
In May 1960, the MNC party or [[Mouvement National Congolais]], led by [[Patrice Lumumba]], won the parliamentary elections, and Lumumba was appointed Prime Minister. [[Joseph Kasavubu]], of the ABAKO (Alliance des Bakongo) party, was elected President by the parliament. Other parties that emerged include the Parti Solidaire Africain (or PSA, led by [[Antoine Gizenga]]) and the Parti National du Peuple (or PNP led by Albert Delvaux and [[Laurent Mbariko]]).
(Congo 1960,dossiers du CRISP,Belgium)
The Belgian Congo achieved independence on June 30, 1960 under the name "Republic of Congo" or "Republic of the Congo" ("République du Congo"). As the French colony of Middle Congo (Moyen Congo) also chose the name "Republic of Congo" upon receiving its independence, the two countries were more commonly known as "Congo-Léopoldville" and "Congo-Brazzaville", after their capital cities. In 1966, Joseph Mobutu changed the country's official name to "Democratic Republic of the Congo", and in 1971 it was changed again to "Republic of Zaïre". Shortly after independence, the provinces of [[Katanga Province|Katanga]] (with [[Moise Tshombe]]) and [[South Kasai]] engaged in secessionist struggles against the new leadership.


The concept of ''The Most Dangerous Game'' has been reused in numerous works of fiction, including:
Subsequent events led to a crisis between President Kasavubu and Prime Minister Lumumba. On September 5, 1960, Kasavubu dismissed Lumumba from office. Lumumba declared Kasavubu's action "unconstitutional" and a crisis between the two leaders developed.
(Secession au Katanga- J.Gerald-Libois.-Brussels-CRISP)
Lumumba had previously appointed [[Joseph Mobutu]] chief of staff of the new Congo army, [[Armee Nationale Congolaise (ANC)]]. Taking advantage of the leadership crisis between Kasavubu and Lumumba, Mobutu garnered enough support within the army to create sentiment sufficient to inspire mutinous action. With financial support from the United States and Belgium, Mobutu made payments to his soldiers in order to generate their loyalty. The aversion of Western powers towards communism and leftist ideology in general influenced their decision to finance Mobutu's quest to maintain "order" in the new state by neutralizing Kasavubu and Lumumba in a coup by proxy.


'''Films:'''
On January 17, 1961, Katangan forces and Belgian paratroops, supported by foreign interests intent on copper and diamond mines in Katanga and South Kasai, kidnapped and executed Patrice Lumumba. Amidst widespread confusion and chaos, a temporary government led by technicians (College des Commissaires) with [[Evariste Kimba]], and several short governments [[Joseph Ileo]], [[Cyrille Adoula]], [[Moise Tshombe]] took over in quick succession. See the book ''The Assassination of Lumumba'' by Ludo de Witte.
*''[[Surviving the Game]]''
*''[[Hard Target (movie)|Hard Target]]''
*''[[Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity]]''
*''[[Gymkata]]'',
*''[[The Beast Must Die (film)|The Beast Must Die]]''. A deadly game to reveal and destroy a Werewolf hidden amongst trapped mansion guests
*''[[The Pest]]''
*''[[Zodiac (film)|Zodiac]]''


'''Television:'''
===Zaire (1971&nbsp;– 1997)===
*the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' episode "[[The Squire of Gothos]]"
{{main|Zaire}}
*the ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' enemies [[Hirogen]], particularly the episode ''[[The Killing Game]]''
Following five years of extreme instability and civil unrest, [[Mobutu Sese Seko|Joseph-Désiré Mobutu]], now [[Lieutenant General]], overthrew Kasavubu in a 1965 [[coup]]. He had the support of the United States on account of his staunch opposition to Communism, which would presumably make him a roadblock to Communist schemes in Africa. It is also argued that the Western support for Mobutu was also related to his allowing businesses to export the many natural resources of Zaire without worrying about environmental, labour, or other regulations. A one-party system was established, and Mobutu declared himself head of state. He would periodically hold elections in which he was the only candidate.
*the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' episode "[[Captive Pursuit]]"
*the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' episode "[[Homecoming (Buffy episode)|Homecoming]]"
*the ''[[The Simpsons (TV series)|The Simpsons]]'' episode "[[Treehouse of Horror XVI]]"
*the ''[[American Dad!]]'' episode "[[The Vacation Goo]]".
*the ''[[Gilligan's Island]]'' episode "The Hunter"
*the ''[[Fantasy Island]]'' original pilot episode
*the ''[[Johnny Quest]]'' episode "Shadow of the Condor"
*the ''[[Get Smart]]'' episode "Island of the Darned"
*the ''[[Johnny Bravo]]'' episode "Hunted!"
*the ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'' episode "[[List of Dexter's Laboratory episodes|Dial M for Monkey: Huntor]]"
*the ''[[Kids Next Door]]'' episode "[[List Of Codename: Kids Next Door Episodes#Operation S.A.F.A.R.I|S.A.F.A.R.I]]"
*the ''[[The Incredible Hulk (TV series)|Incredible Hulk]]'' 3rd season episode "The Snare"
*the ''[[Criminal Minds]]'' episode "Open Season"
*the ''[[Supernatural (TV Series)|Supernatural]]'' episode "The Benders"
*the ''[[Relic Hunter]]'' episode "Run Sydney Run"
*the ''[[Lost in Space]]'' episode "Hunter's Moon"
*the ''[[Dark Angel (TV series)|Dark Angel]]'' episode "Pollo Loco"
*''[[Bet Your Life (TV movie)]]''


'''Comics:'''
Relative peace and stability was achieved; however, Mobutu's government was guilty of severe [[human rights]] violations, political repression, a [[cult of personality]] (every Congolese bank note displayed his image, his portrait was displayed in all public buildings, most businesses, and on billboards, and it was common for ordinary people to wear his likeness on their clothing), and excessive corruption. Corruption became so prevalent the term "le mal Zairois" or "Zairean Sickness" {{Fact|date=January 2008}} was coined, reportedly by Mobutu himself.{{Fact|date=October 2007}} As soon as 1984, he was said to have $4 billion (USD), an amount close to the country's national debt, deposited in a personal [[Swiss bank account]]. International aid, most often in the form of loans, enriched Mobutu while national infrastructure such as roads deteriorated to as little as one-fourth of what had existed in 1960. The term "[[kleptocracy]]" was in fact coined to describe Mobutu's embezzlement of government funds.
*The ''[[Spider-Man]]'' villain [[Kraven the Hunter]] (Sergi Kravenoff) was inspired by Zaroff.{{Fact|date=August 2008}}
*The tagline of [[DC Comics]]' ''[[Manhunter (comics)|Manhunter]]'' title was "He hunts the world's most dangerous game".
Yeha.


==Influences==
In a campaign to identify himself with African nationalism, starting on [[June 1]], [[1966]], Mobutu renamed the nation's cities (Léopoldville became Kinshasa [the country was now Democratic Republic of The Congo&nbsp;– Kinshasa], Stanleyville became Kisangani, and Elisabethville became Lubumbashi). This renaming campaign was completed in the 1970s. In 1971, he renamed the country the ''Republic of Zaire'', its fourth name change in 11 years and its sixth overall. The Congo River became the Zaire River. In 1972, Mobutu renamed himself [[Mobutu Sese Seko|Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga]].
The character of General Zaroff may have been influenced by the character of [[Prospero]] in [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[The Tempest]]''. Both characters live on isolated islands, and cause shipwrecks in order to bring unsuspecting sailors there, where they manipulate them to their own ends.


==Zodiac Killer==
Following the [[collapse of the Soviet Union]], U.S. relations with [[Kinshasa]] cooled, as Mobutu was no longer deemed necessary as a [[Cold War]] ally, and his opponents within Zaire stepped up demands for reform. This atmosphere contributed to Mobutu's declaring the Third Republic in 1990, whose constitution was supposed to pave the way for democratic reform. The reforms turned out to be largely cosmetic, and Mobutu's rule continued until conflict forced him to flee Zaire in 1997. The name of the nation was returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as the name ''Zaire'' carried strong connections to the rule of Mobutu.
"The Most Dangerous Game" is also said to have possibly been an inspiration to the [[Zodiac Killer]]. [[Arthur Leigh Allen]], the one time primary suspect of the notorious murders since cleared by DNA evidence, told police that he had read the story, which many thought had been referenced in one of the killer's letters.

==Government==
{{update}}
{{main|Politics of the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}<!--Please add new information into relevant articles of the series-->
After 4 years of [[interim]] between two constitutions that established different political institution at the various levels of all branches of government, as well as different administrative divisions of the country, politics in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are settling into a stable [[presidential system|presidential]] democratic [[republic]].

The transitional constitution<ref>[http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_de_la_transition_de_la_R%C3%A9publique_d%C3%A9mocratique_du_Congo_%282003%29 Full text of constitution (French)]</ref> established a system composed of a [[bicameralism|bicameral]] [[legislature]] with a [[Senate of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|Senate]] and a [[National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|National Assembly]]. The Senate has, among other things, the charge of drafting the new constitution of the country. The executive branch is vested in a 60-member cabinet, headed by a [[pentarchy]] of a [[President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|President]], and four vice presidents. The President is also the Commander-in Chief of the Armed forces. The unusual organization of the executive&nbsp;— considering the large number of vice presidents&nbsp;— has earned it the very official nickname of "The 1 + 4". {{Fact|date=November 2007}}

The transition constitution also established a relatively independent judiciary, headed by a Supreme Court with constitutional interpretation powers.

The 2006 constitution, also known as the ''Constitution of the Third Republic,'' came into effect in February 2006. It has concurrent authority, however, with the transitional constitution until the inauguration of the elected officials who will emerge from the July 2006 elections. Under this constitution, the legislature will remain bicameral; the executive will be concomitantly undertaken by a President and the government; and the latter will be led by a Prime Minister, appointed from the party with the majority at the National Assembly. The government&nbsp;– not the President&nbsp;– is responsible to the Parliament.

The provincial governments will gain new powers, under the new decentralized model, with the creation of provincial parliaments, with oversight over the Governor, head of the provincial government, whom they elect.

The new constitution also sees the disappearance of the Supreme Court, which is divided into three new institutions. The constitutional interpretation prerogative of the Supreme Court will be held by the [[Constitutional Court of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|Constitutional Court]].

==Provinces and territories==
{{main|Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|Territories of the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}{{see|Administrative divisions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}

The [[Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|constitution approved in 2005]] divided the country into 26 fairly autonomous provinces, including the capital, [[Kinshasa]] to be formed by February 2009.
[[Image:Provinces de la République démocratique du Congo - 2005.svg|thumb|250px|A new provincial map of Democratic Republic of Congo]]
{| style="background:transparent;"
| <!----First column---->
{| class="wikitable"
! !! Province !!style="font-size:90%;"| Capital</tr>
| 1. || [[Kinshasa]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Kinshasa]]</tr>
| 2. || [[Kongo Central|Kongo central]]{{nbsp|2}} ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Matadi]]</tr>
| 3. || [[Kwango Province|Kwango]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Kenge]]</tr>
| 4. || [[Kwilu Province|Kwilu]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Kikwit]]</tr>
| 5. || [[Mai-Ndombe Province|Mai-Ndombe]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Inongo]]</tr>
| 6. || [[Kasai Province|Kasaï]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Luebo]]</tr>
| 7. || [[Lulua Province|Lulua]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Kananga]]</tr>
| 8. || [[Kasai-oriental Province|Kasaï oriental]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Mbuji-Mayi]]</tr>
| 9. || [[Lomami Province|Lomami]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Kabinda]]</tr>
| 10. || [[Sankuru Province|Sankuru]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Lodja]]</tr>
| 11. || [[Maniema Province|Maniema]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Kindu]]</tr>
| 12. || [[Sud-Kivu Province|Sud-Kivu]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Bukavu]]</tr>
| 13. || [[Nord-Kivu Province|Nord-Kivu]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Goma]]</tr>
|}
| <!----Second column---->
{| class="wikitable"
! !! Province !!style="font-size:90%;"| Capital</tr>
| 14. || [[Ituri Province|Ituri]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Bunia]]</tr>
| 15. || [[Haut-Uele Province|Haut-Uele]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Isiro]]</tr>
| 16. || [[Tshopo Province|Tshopo]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Kisangani]]</tr>
| 17. || [[Bas-Uele Province|Bas-Uele]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Buta]]</tr>
| 18. || [[Nord-Ubangi Province|Nord-Ubangi]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Gbadolite]]</tr>
| 19. || [[Mongala Province|Mongala]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Lisala]]</tr>
| 20. || [[Sud-Ubangi Province|Sud-Ubangi]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Gemena]]</tr>
| 21. || [[Équateur Province|Équateur]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Mbandaka]]</tr>
| 22. || [[Tshuapa Province|Tshuapa]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Boende]]</tr>
| 23. || [[Tanganyika Province|Tanganyika]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Kalemie]]</tr>
| 24. || [[Haut-Lomami Province|Haut-Lomami]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Kamina]]</tr>
| 25. || [[Lualaba Province|Lualaba]] ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Kolwezi]]</tr>
| 26. || [[Haut-Katanga Province|Haut-Katanga]]{{nbsp|2}} ||style="font-size:90%;"| [[Lubumbashi]]</tr>
|}
|}

The old eleven provinces, were as follows:
<div style="-moz-column-count:3; column-count:3;">
* [[Kinshasa]]
* [[Province Orientale]]
* [[Kasai-oriental Province|Kasaï Oriental]]
* [[Kasaï Occidental]]
* [[Maniema Province|Maniema]]
* [[Katanga Province|Katanga]]
* [[Sud-Kivu Province|Sud-Kivu]]
* [[Nord-Kivu Province|Nord-Kivu]]
* [[Bas-Congo]]
* [[Équateur Province|Équateur]]
* [[Bandundu Province|Bandundu]]

</div>

The provinces are subdivided into [[Territories of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|territories]].

[[Image:Nyiragongo volcano&nbsp;— SRTM.jpg|thumb|[[Nyiragongo]] volcano]]
[[Image:Kinshasa 2003.jpg|thumb|[[Kinshasa]]]]

===Population of major cities===
{|class="wikitable"
!City!!Population
|-
| [[Kinshasa]] ||6,301,100
|-
| [[Lubumbashi]] ||1,074,600
|-
| [[Mbuji-Mayi]]||905,800
|-
| [[Kolwezi]] ||803,900
|-
| [[Kananga]] ||539,700
|-
| [[Kisangani]] ||510,300
|-
| [[Likasi]] ||375,100
|-
|}

==Geography==
[[Image:Cg-map.png|275px|thumb|left|The map of Democratic Republic of Congo from the CIA World Factbook]]
{{main|Geography of the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
{{MapLibrary|dem_congo_sat.jpg|Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
The Congo is situated at the heart of the west-central portion of [[sub-Saharan Africa]] and is bounded by (clockwise from the southwest) [[Angola]], the [[Republic of Congo]], the [[Central African Republic]], the [[Sudan]], [[Uganda]], [[Rwanda]], [[Burundi]], [[Tanzania]] across [[Lake Tanganyika]], and [[Zambia]]. The country straddles the [[Equator]], with one-third to the north and two-thirds to the south. The size of Congo, {{convert|2345408|km2|sqmi}}, is comparable to that of [[Western Europe]].

As a result of its equatorial location in Africa, the Congo experiences large amounts of precipitation and has the highest frequency of thunderstorms on Earth. The annual rainfall can total upwards of 80 inches (200 cm) in some places, and the area sustains the second largest rain forest in the world (after the [[Amazon rainforest|Amazon]]). This massive expanse of lush jungle covers most of the vast, low-lying central [[drainage basin|basin]] of the river, which slopes toward the [[Atlantic Ocean]] in the west. This area is surrounded by plateaus merging into savannas in the south and southwest, by mountainous terraces in the west, and dense [[grasslands]] extending beyond the [[Congo River]] in the north. High, glaciated mountains are found in the extreme eastern region.

The [[tropical climate]] has also produced the [[Congo River|Congo River system]] which dominates the region topographically along with the rainforest it flows through, (though they are not mutually exclusive). The name for the "Congo" state is derived from that of the river, along with that of the [[Kingdom of Kongo|Kongo Empire]] which controlled much of the region in precolonial times. The river basin (meaning the Congo River and all of its myriad tributaries) occupy nearly the entire country and an area of nearly one million square kilometers (400,000 sq mi). The river and its tributaries (major offshoots include the [[Kasai River|Kasai]], [[Sangha]], [[Ubangi]], [[Aruwimi]], and [[Lulonga River|Lulonga]]) form the backbone of Congolese economics and transportation, they have a drastic impact on the daily lives of the people. The sources of the Congo are in the highlands and mountains of the [[Great Rift Valley|East African Rift]], as well as [[Lake Tanganyika]] and [[Lake Mweru]]. The river flows generally west from [[Kisangani]] just below [[Boyoma Falls]], then gradually bends southwest, passing by [[Mbandaka]], joining with the [[Ubangi River]], and running into the [[Pool Malebo]] (Stanley Pool). [[Kinshasa]] and [[Brazzaville]] are actually on opposite sides of the river at the Pool (see NASA image), then the river narrows and falls through a number of cataracts in deep canyons (collectively known as the [[Livingstone Falls]]), and then running past [[Boma, Congo|Boma]] into the Atlantic Ocean. The river also has the second-largest flow and the second-largest [[drainage basin|watershed]] of any river in the world (trailing the [[Amazon River|Amazon]] in both respects). The river and a forty-kilometre-wide strip of land on its north bank provide the country's only outlet to the Atlantic, otherwise it would be completely landlocked.

The previously mentioned [[Great Rift Valley]], in particular the Eastern Rift, plays a key role in shaping the Congo's geography. Not only is the northeastern section of the country much more mountainous, but due the rift's [[tectonics|tectonic]] activities, this area also experiences low levels of [[volcanic]] activity. The rifting of the African continent in this area has also manifested itself as the famous [[African Great Lakes|Great Lakes]], three of which lie on the Congo's eastern frontier: [[Lake Albert (Africa)|Lake Albert]] (known previously as Lake Mobutu), [[Lake Edward]], and [[Lake Tanganyika]]. Perhaps most important of all, the Rift Valley has exposed an enormous amount of [[mineral]] wealth throughout the south and east of the Congo, making it accessible to mining. Cobalt, copper, cadmium, industrial and gem-quality diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, germanium, uranium, radium, bauxite, iron ore, and coal are all found in plentiful supply, especially in the Congo's southeastern Katanga region.

On January 17, 2002 [[Mount Nyiragongo]] erupted in Congo, with the lava running out at {{convert|40|mi/h|km/h|-1|abbr=on}} and {{convert|50|yd|m|-1}} wide. One of the three streams of lava emitted flowed through the nearby city of [[Goma]], killing 45 and leaving 120,000 homeless. 400,000 people were evacuated from the city during the eruption.
The lava poisoned the water of [[Lake Kivu]], killing fish. Only two planes left the local airport because of the possibility of the explosion of stored petrol. The lava passed the airport but ruined the runway, entrapping several airplanes.
Six months after the 2002 eruption, nearby [[Mount Nyamuragira]] also erupted, and again more recently in 2006. Both volcanos remain active.

==Economy==
{{main|Economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
The economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a nation endowed with vast potential wealth, has declined drastically since the mid-1980s. The two recent conflicts (the [[First Congo War|First]] and [[Second Congo War|Second]] Congo Wars), which began in 1996, have dramatically reduced national output and government revenue, have increased external debt, and have resulted in the deaths from war, [[famine]], and disease of perhaps over 5 million people. Foreign businesses have curtailed operations due to uncertainty about the outcome of the conflict, lack of infrastructure, and the difficult operating environment. The war has intensified the impact of such basic problems as an uncertain legal framework, corruption, inflation, and lack of openness in government economic policy and financial operations. [[Malnutrition]] affects approximately two thirds of the country's population. Conditions improved in late 2002 with the withdrawal of a large portion of the invading foreign troops. A number of [[International Monetary Fund]] and [[World Bank]] missions have met with the government to help it develop a coherent economic plan, and President [[Joseph Kabila]] has begun implementing reforms. Much economic activity lies outside the GDP data. A [[United Nations Human Development Index]] report shows human development to be one of the worst in decades.

The Congo is the world's largest producer of [[cobalt]] (as ore),<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.indexmundi.com/en/commodities/minerals/cobalt/cobalt_t8.html |title = Cobalt: World Mine Production, By Country |accessdate = 2008-06-30}}</ref> and a major producer of [[copper]] and industrial [[diamond]]s. It has significant deposits of [[tantalum]], which is used in the fabrication of electronic components in computers and mobile phones. Katanga Mining Limited, a London based company, now owns the Luilu Metallurgical Plant, which has a capacity of 175,000 tonnes of copper and 8,000 tonnes of cobalt per year, making it the largest cobalt refinery in the world. After a major rehabilitation program, copper production was restarted in December 2007. Work on the cobalt circuit continues, with production expected by the end of Q1 2008<ref>[http://www.katangamining.com/operations/LuiluPlant.html Error Page<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

According to a United Nations report smuggling and exportation of [[coltan]], an ore which contains [[tantalum]], helped fuel the war in the Congo, a crisis that has resulted in approximately 5.4 million deaths since 1998&nbsp;– making it the world’s deadliest documented conflict since WW II.

==Demographics==
{{main|Demographics of the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
The population was estimated at 62.6 million people according to the [[United Nations]] 2007 estimate, growing quickly from 46.7 million in 1997. As many as 250 ethnic groups have been distinguished and named. The most numerous people are the [[Kongo people|Kongo]], [[Luba people|Luba]], and [[Mongo]]. Although seven hundred local languages and dialects are spoken, the linguistic variety is bridged both by the use of [[French language|French]] and the intermediary languages [[Kongo language|Kongo]], [[Tshiluba language|Tshiluba]], [[Swahili language|Swahili]], and [[Lingala language|Lingala]].

==Status of women==
{{main|Women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
[[Image:Fufuprep.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Young women preparing [[fufu]]]]

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 2006 expressed concern that in the post-war transition period, the promotion of women’s human rights and gender equality is not seen as a priority.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/cedaw36/cc/DRC/0647846E.pdf
|title=Concluding comments of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Democratic Republic of the Congo
|format=PDF}}</ref>

A 2006 report by the African Association for the Defence of Human Rights prepared for that committee provides a broad overview of issues confronting women in the DRC in law and in daily life.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.peacewomen.org/un/ecosoc/CEDAW/36th_session/DRC/NGO_report.pdf
|title=Violence Against Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
|format=PDF}}</ref>
Women are decreasing rapidly in Congo. They are raped and kept as slaves for men, and when they are finally released, they some times kill themselves or check into a hospital were they die anyway because the brutal soldiers have ruined them internally, completely.

The war situation has made the life of women more precarious. Violence against women seems to be perceived by large sectors of society to be normal.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.onug.ch/__80256edd006b9c2e.nsf/(httpNewsByYear_en)/a4f381eea9d4ab63c12573280031fbf3?OpenDocument&Click=
|title=UN expert on violence against women expresses serious concerns following visit to Democratic Republic of Congo
}}</ref> In July 2007, the International Committee of the Red Cross expressed concern about the situation in eastern DRC.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73033
|title=DRC: 'Civilians bearing brunt of South Kivu violence'
|quote=The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has expressed concern over abuses against civilians, especially women and children, in South Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, saying it frequently receives reports of abductions, executions, rapes, and pillage.
}}</ref> A phenomenon of 'pendulum displacement' has developed, where people hasten at night to safety. According to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence, Yakin Ertürk, who toured eastern Congo in July 2007, violence against women in North and South Kivu included “unimaginable brutality”. "Armed groups attack local communities, loot, rape, kidnap women and children and make them work as sexual slaves," Ertürk said.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73524
|title=DRC: 'Pendulum displacement' in the Kivus
}}</ref> A local initiative by women in [[Bukavu]] aims for recovery from violence based on women's own empowerment.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://womenof.ourcongo.net/bukavu/0708amina.htm
|title=The Bukavu Women's Trauma Healing and Care Centre
}}</ref>

==Religion==
{{main|Religion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
Christianity is the majority religion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, followed by about 94% of the population, comprising [[Roman Catholic]] 55%, [[Protestant]] 29%, [[Kimbanguism|Kimbanguist]] 10%.<ref name=Adherents>[http://adherents.com/adhloc/Wh_365.html "Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo)", Adherents.com - Religion by Location.] Sources quoted are ''CIA Factbook'' (1998), ''Library of Congress Country Studies'', 'official government web site' of ''Democratic Republic of Congo''. Retrieved 25 may 2007. </ref> Kimbanguism was seen as a threat to the colonial regime and was banned by the Belgians. Kimbanguism, officially "the church of Christ on Earth by the prophet Simon Kimbangu," now has about three million members,<ref name=Adherents/> primarily among the [[Kongo people|Bakongo]] of [[Bas-Congo]] and [[Kinshasa]].

As well as being the largest religious organisation in the country with about 30 million members, the [[Roman Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo]] is one of the largest Christian Churches in Africa. The Congo has more Catholics than any other African country, and one of the highest proportions of Catholics.

62 of the Protestant denominations in the country are federated under the umbrella of the [[Church of Christ in Congo]] or CCC (in French, ''Église du Christ au Congo'' or ECC). It is often simply referred to as 'The Protestant Church', since it covers most of the 20% of the population who are Protestants.

Of the remaining 20% of the population, just 10% are [[Muslim]],<ref>[http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51462.htm "International Religious Freedom Report 2005"], [[United States Department of State]]</ref> and the rest follow traditional beliefs or syncretic sects. Islam was introduced, and mainly spread by Arabic merchants<ref>The Archaeology of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa By Timothy Insoll</ref> involved in the ivory trade. Traditional religions embody such concepts as [[monotheism]], [[animism]], [[vitalism]], [[spirit worship|spirit]] and [[ancestor worship]], [[witchcraft]], and sorcery and vary widely among ethnic groups. The syncretic sects often merge Christianity with traditional beliefs and rituals, and may not be accepted by mainstream churches as part of Christianity.

==Languages==
[[Image:Map - DR Congo, major languages.svg|thumb|200px|Major Bantu languages in the Congo.]]
{{main|Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
There is an estimated total of 242 languages spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Out of these, only four have the status of national languages: [[Kikongo language|Kikongo]], [[Lingala language|Lingala]], [[Tshiluba language|Tshiluba]] and [[Swahili language|Swahili]].

[[Lingala language|Lingala]] was made the official language of the colonial army, the "[[Force Publique]]" under Belgian colonial rule. But since the recent rebellions, a good part of the army also uses [[Swahili language|Swahili]] in the East.

[[French language|French]] is the official language of the country. It is meant to be an ethnically neutral language, to ease communication between all the different ethnic groups of the Congo.

When the country was a Belgian colony, the four national languages were already used in primary schools, making the country one of the few to have had literacy in local languages during the occupation by Europeans.

==Culture==
{{main|Culture of the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
The culture of the Democratic Republic of the Congo reflects the diversity of its hundreds of [[ethnic group]]s and their differing ways of life throughout the country&nbsp;— from the mouth of the [[Congo River|River Congo]] on the coast, upriver through the [[rainforest]] and [[savanna]] in its centre, to the more densely populated mountains in the far east. Since the late 19th century, traditional ways of life have undergone changes brought about by [[colonialism]], the struggle for independence, the stagnation of the [[Mobutu Sésé Seko|Mobutu]] era, and most recently, the [[First Congo War|First]] and [[Second Congo War]]s. Despite these pressures, the [[convention (norm)|customs]] and cultures of the Congo have retained much of their individuality. The country's 60 million inhabitants are mainly rural. The 30 percent who live in urban areas have been the most open to [[Western culture|Western]] influences.

Another notable feature in Congo culture is its [[sui generis]] music. The DROC has blended its ethnic musical sources with [[Cuba]]n [[Cuban Rumba|Rumba]], and [[Merengue music|Merengue]] to give birth to [[Soukous]]. Influential figures of Soukous and its offshoots ([[N'dombolo]], [[Rumba rock]]...) are [[Franco Luambo]], [[Tabu Ley]], [[Lutumba Simaro]], [[Papa Wemba]], [[Koffi Olomide]], Kanda Bongo, [[Ray Lema]], Mpongo Love, Abeti Masikini, Reddy Amisi, [Pasnas] Pepe Kalle and [[Nyoka Longo]].
Africa produces music genres which are direct derivatives of Congolese soukous. Some of the African bands even sing in [[Lingala]], the main language in the DRC. The same Congolese Soukous, under the guidance of "le sapeur", [[Papa Wemba]], has set up the tone for a generation of young guys always dressed up in expensive designer's clothes.

The Congo is also known for its art. Traditional art includes masks and wooden statues. Notable contemporary artists and Fashion designer are [[Chéri Samba]] and [[Odette Krempin]].

==Flora and fauna==
{{main|Wildlife of the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
[[Image:Bas-congo.JPG|thumb|[[Bas-Congo]] landscape]]
The [[rainforest]]s of the Democratic Republic of the Congo contain great [[biodiversity]], including many rare and [[endemic (ecology)|endemic]] species, such as both species of chimpanzee: the [[common chimpanzee]] and the [[bonobo]] (also known as the Pygmy Chimpanzee), [[mountain gorilla]], [[okapi]] and [[white rhino]]. Five of the country's [[national park]]s are listed as [[World Heritage Site]]s: the [[Garamba National Park|Garumba]], [[Kahuzi-Biega National Park|Kahuzi-Biega]], [[Salonga National Park|Salonga]] and [[Virunga National Park|Virunga]] National Parks, and the [[Okapi Wildlife Reserve]]. The civil war and resultant poor economic conditions have endangered much of this biodiversity. Many park wardens were either killed or could not afford to continue their work. All five sites are listed by [[UNESCO]] as World Heritage In Danger. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most biodiverse African country.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/468283.html |title = Lambertini, A Naturalist's Guide to the Tropics, excerpt |accessdate = 2008-06-30}}</ref>

Over the past century or so, the DRC has developed into the center of what has been called the [[Central Africa]]n "[[bushmeat]]" problem, which is regarded by many as a major [[natural environment|environmental]], as well as, [[socio-economic]] crisis. "Bushmeat" is another word for the meat of wild animals. It is typically obtained through trapping, usually with wire snares, or otherwise with shotguns or arms originally intended for use in the DRC's numerous military conflicts.

The "bushmeat crisis" has emerged in the DRC mainly as a result of the poor living conditions of the Congolese people. A rising population combined with deplorable economic conditions has forced many Congolese to become dependent on bushmeat, either as a means of acquiring income (hunting the meat and selling), or are dependent on it for food. [[Unemployment]] and [[urbanization]] throughout Central Africa have exacerbated the problem further by turning cities like the urban sprawl of [[Kinshasa]] into the prime market for bushmeat.[[Image:Bonobo.jpg|225px|thumb|right|A [[Bonobo]] climbing a tree.]] This combination has caused not only widespread endangerment of local fauna, but has forced humans to trudge deeper into the wilderness in search of the desired animal meat. This overhunting results in the deaths of more animals and makes resources even more scarce for humans. The hunting has also been facilitated by the extensive logging prevalent throughout the Congo's rainforests (from corporate [[logging]], in addition to farmers clearing out forest in order to create areas for [[agriculture]]), which allows [[hunters]] much easier access to previously unreachable jungle terrain, while simultaneously eroding away at the [[habitats]] of animals.<ref>{{PDFlink|[http://www.bushmeat.org/pdf/19%20May%2001%20AM%2001%20Policy-Fotabong%20and%20Gartlan.pdf "The Bushman crisis: long term solutions - international, national and local policies"]|67.9&nbsp;[[Kibibyte|KiB]]<!-- application/pdf, 69536 bytes -->}}, ''[[World Wide Fund for Nature|WWF]]'', 2001.</ref>

A case that has particularly alarmed conservationists is that of [[primates]]. The Congo is inhabited not only by two distinct species of chimpanzee&nbsp;— the [[Common chimpanzee]] (''Pan troglodytes'') and the [[bonobo]] (''Pan paniscus'') - but by the [[gorilla]] as well. It is the only country in the world in which bonobo are found in the wild. The two species of chimpanzees, along with gorillas, are the closest living evolutionary relatives to humans. Much concern has been raised about [[ape extinction|Great ape extinction]]. Because of hunting and habitat destruction, the chimpanzee and the gorilla, both of whose population once numbered in the millions have now dwindled down to only about 200,000 per species. Gorillas and both species of chimpanzee are classified as [[Wikipedia:Conservation status|Endangered]] by the [[World Conservation Union]], as well as the [[okapi]], which is also native to the area geography.

==Transport==
{{main|Transport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
Ground transport in the Democratic Republic of Congo has always been difficult. The terrain and climate of the [[Congo Basin]] present serious barriers to road and rail construction, and the distances are enormous across this vast country. Furthermore, chronic economic mismanagement and internal conflict has led to serious under-investment over many years.

On the other hand, the Democratic Republic of Congo has thousands of kilometres of [[navigable]] [[waterway]]s, and traditionally water transport has been the dominant means of moving around approximately two-thirds of the country.

All air carriers certified by the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been banned from European Union airports by the European Commission, because of inadequate safety standards.<ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air-ban/pdf/list_en.pdf List of airlines banned within the EU (24 July 2008)] - Official EC list</ref>

==See also==
{{DRC topics}}


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Mealer, Bryan: "All Things Must Fight To Live",2008. ISBN 1-59691-345-2
* [[Tim Butcher|Butcher, Tim]]: ''Blood River&nbsp;— A Journey To Africa's Broken Heart'', 2007. ISBN 0-701-17981-3
* Clark, John F., ''The African Stakes of the Congo War'', 2004
* {{cite book| last=Devlin| first=Larry| authorlink=Larry Devlin| title=Chief of Station, Congo: A Memoir of 1960-67| publisher=PublicAffairs| location=New York| year=2007| isbn=9781586484057}}
* Drummond, Bill and Manning, Mark, ''The Wild Highway'', 2005
* Edgerton, Robert, ''The Troubled Heart of Africa: A History of the Congo.'' St. Martin's Press, December 2002.
* [[Adam Hochschild|Hochschild, Adam]], ''[[King Leopold's Ghost]]: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa'', 1998.
* Joris, Lieve, translated by Waters, Liz, ''The Rebels' Hour'', Atlantic, 2008
* Larémont, Ricardo René, ed. 2005. ''Borders, nationalism and the African state''. Boulder, Colorado and London: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
* Lemarchand, Reni and Hamilton, Lee; ''Burundi: Ethnic Conflict and Genocide.'' Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1994.
* [[Linda Melvern|Melvern, Linda]], ''Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwandan Genocide and the International Community''. Verso, 2004
* Mwakikagile, Godfrey, ''Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era'', Third Edition, New Africa Press, 2006, "Chapter Six: Congo in The Sixties: The Bleeding Heart of Africa," pp. 147 - 205, ISBN 978-0980253412; Mwakikagile, Godfrey, ''Africa and America in The Sixties: A Decade That Changed The Nation and The Destiny of A Continent'', First Edition, New Africa Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0980253429.
* Nzongola-Ntalaja, Georges, ''The Congo from Leopold to Kabila: A People's History'', 2002
* O'Hanlon, Redmond, ''Congo Journey'', 1996
* O'Hanlon, Redmond, ''No Mercy: A Journey into the Heart of the Congo'', 1998
* Renton, David; Seddon, David; Zeilig, Leo. ''The Congo: Plunder and Resistance'', 2007. ISBN 978-1-84277-485-4
* Rorison, Sean, ''Bradt Travel Guide: Congo&nbsp;— Democratic Republic/Republic'', 2008
* Tayler, Jeffrey, ''Facing the Congo'', 2001.
* Turner, Thomas, ''The Congo Wars: Conflict, Myth and Reality'', 2007
* Wrong, Michela, ''In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo''
* National Geographic Journalist [[Kira Salak]]'s 2004 Article [http://www.kirasalak.com/Darkness.html <u>"PLACES OF DARKNESS"<u>] appearing in [[National Geographic Adventure]]
* [http://www.kirasalak.com/PhotosCongoWar.html <u>Photos<u>] from National Geographic Journalist [[Kira Salak]]'s 2004 Article "PLACES OF DARKNESS" appearing in [[National Geographic Adventure]] showing pictures of the war in Democratic Republic of the Congo


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/danger.html Full text at Classic Shorts]
{{portal|Democratic Republic of the Congo|Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg}}
*[http://eserver.org/fiction/the_most_dangerous_game.html Full text at E-Server]
{{sisterlinks}}
*[http://tesla.liketelevision.com/liketelevision/tuner.php?channel=238&format=movie&theme=guide Watch 1932 film Most Dangerous Game]
* {{wikiatlas|Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
* {{wikitravel}}
* {{wikia|world:Democratic Republic of the Congo|Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
* {{CIA World Factbook link|cg|Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
* {{dmoz|Regional/Africa/Congo,_Democratic_Republic_of_the}}
* [http://www.3tamis.org Sud Kivu - Bukavu, Maniema - Kalima, Nord Katanga - Kalemie, photos & informations - www.3tamis.org]
* [http://www.rdcongo.com RD Congo (In French and English)]
* [http://www.mediastorm.org/0022.htm "Rape of a Nation" by Marcus Bleasdale on MediaStorm]
*Maps of Congo, before and after Independancy http://www.stiopka.com/cartographie.html

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Most Dangerous Game, The}}
[[Category:1924 short stories]]
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Revision as of 17:46, 10 October 2008

This article is about the short story by Richard Connell. For the novel by Gavin Lyall, see The Most Dangerous Game (Gavin Lyall novel).
"The Most Dangerous Game"
Short story by Richard Connell
Translatorenglish
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Short Story
Publication
Published inCollier's Weekly
Media typeadventure
Publication dateJanuary 19, 1924
Seriesnone

"The Most Dangerous Game" or "The Hounds of Zaroff" is a short story by Richard Connell. It was published in Collier's Weekly on January 19, 1924.

Widely anthologized, and the author's best-known work, "The Most Dangerous Game" features as its main character a big-game hunter from New York, who becomes shipwrecked on an isolated island in the Caribbean, and is hunted by a Russian aristocrat. The story is an inversion of the big-game hunting safaris in Africa and South America that were fashionable among wealthy Americans in the 1920s.

  • Sanger Rainsford, an accomplished and experienced hunter from New York.
  • General Zaroff, a man of pre-Revolutionary Russian aristocratic background. Above middle-age. Utterly fixated on hunting.
  • Ivan, Zaroff's large Cossack slave and bodyguard. He is deaf and has no tongue. Ivan is also dumb. This makes him ideal to Zaroff as it is impossible for Ivan to tell anyone of General Zaroff's murders if he somehow escapes the island.
  • Whitney, Rainsford's friend who appears briefly in the introduction, wondering what it would be like if he was the hunted instead of hunter.

Summary

Ship-Trap Island, that is the subject of local superstition.

He finds a Palatial Chateau owned by a Cossack hunter named General Zaroff and his Cossack servant Ivan. General Zaroff had heard of Rainsford as he is a big game hunter. Zaroff has read Rainsford's book. Over dinner, General Zaroff explains to Rainsford how he became so good at hunting that he became bored and unchallenged with it. He then decided to live on an island where he captured shipwrecked sailors and sent them, with only food, a knife, and moccassins, into the jungle. Three hours later, he followed them to hunt them. If they eluded him for three days, he let them go, but he had so far managed to kill them all.

Zaroff tells Rainsford that he would be the next person he hunted. Rainsford runs into the forest and climbs a t Sanger Rainsford, a hunter in the time, and his hunting companion, Whitney, are traveling to the Amazon Rainforest to hunt the fabled big cat of that region, the Jaguar. After a discussion about how they were the hunters instead of the hunted, Rainsford hears shots, drops his pipe, and falls off of their boat while trying to retrieve it. He washes up on an island, ree. Zaroff finds him easily, but decides to play with him like a cat with a mouse. Next he sets a tiger trap, which kills one of Zaroff's hounds. Finally, he set a trap with his knife that kills Ivan , but not Zaroff. As the hounds approach, Rainsford jumps off a cliff into the ocean. Zaroff assumes he has killed himself and returns home. Rainsford is there, having swam around the island. Zaroff congratulates him and offers to send him home, but Rainsford decides to fight him, and says "I'm still a beast at bay,".

The last sentence of the book depicts the General accepting the fight, and saying that the loser should be fed to the dogs and the victor would sleep in the master bedroom's bed. Although it has not been stated in the story, it is believed that the General was fed to his hounds because of Rainsford's last words- he had never slept in a better bed.

Adaptations

The story has been adapted for film numerous times. The most significant of these adaptations (and apparently the only one to use the original characters) was RKO's The Most Dangerous Game, released in 1932, having been shot (mostly at night) on sets used during the day for the "Skull Island" sequences of King Kong. The movie starred Joel McCrea as Rainsford (renamed "Robert" instead of "Sanger") and Leslie Banks as Zaroff, and added two other principal characters: Eve Trowbridge (Fay Wray) and Martin Trowbridge (Robert Armstrong), who are brother and sister (Wray and Armstrong were also starring in King Kong on the same sets during the day).

The story was also twice produced as a radio play for the series Suspense, on 23 September 1943 with Orson Welles as Zaroff and Keenan Wynn as Rainsford, and on 1 February 1945 with frequent Welles collaborator Joseph Cotten playing Rainsford. In these productions, Rainsford narrates the story in retrospect as he waits in Zaroff's bedroom for the final confrontation.

A second movie adaptation, a remake of the 1932 movie, also produced by RKO was A Game of Death, released in 1945. Directed by Robert Wise at the very beginning of his long and distinguished directing career, the movie was regarded poorly. Footage from the original was recycled, and one actor from the original, Noble Johnson, was cast in the remake. In keeping with events of the time, A Game of Death changed Zaroff into "Erich Kreiger", a German Nazi, and was set in the aftermath of WWII. In 1956 a second official remake was made, Run for the Sun, starring Richard Widmark and Jane Greer.

Other versions include Bloodlust! (1961), The Woman Hunt (1973), Turkey Shoot (1982) and Surviving the Game (1994).[1]

The concept of The Most Dangerous Game has been reused in numerous works of fiction, including:

Films:

Television:

Comics:

Yeha.

Influences

The character of General Zaroff may have been influenced by the character of Prospero in William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Both characters live on isolated islands, and cause shipwrecks in order to bring unsuspecting sailors there, where they manipulate them to their own ends.

Zodiac Killer

"The Most Dangerous Game" is also said to have possibly been an inspiration to the Zodiac Killer. Arthur Leigh Allen, the one time primary suspect of the notorious murders since cleared by DNA evidence, told police that he had read the story, which many thought had been referenced in one of the killer's letters.

References

  1. ^ Stafford, Jeff "The Most Dangerous Game" (TCM article)

External links

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