The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC; the country is often simply called the “Congo” or “Congo-Kinshasa” to distinguish it from the neighboring Republic of the Congo) is located in Central Africa. D.R.
The D.R. Congo is the third-largest country in Africa, the size of Congo 2,345,410 square kilometers (905,567 sq mi), is slightly greater than the combined areas of Spain, France, Germany, Sweden, and Norway, slightly less than one-fourth the size of the United States.

It shares borders with the Central African Republic(1,577 kilometers, or 980 miles), Sudan (628 kilometers, or 390 miles), Uganda (765 kilometers, or 475 miles), Rwanda (217 kilometers, or 135 miles), Burundi (233 kilometers, or 145 miles), Tanzania (473 kilometers, or 294 miles, all on Lake Tanganyika), Zambia (1,930 kilometers, or 1,199 miles),Angola (2,511 kilometers, or 1,560 miles), and the Republic of the Congo (2,410 kilometers, or 1,498 miles), and has a small coastline of 37 kilometers (23 miles) on the South Atlantic Ocean.

As a result of its equatorial location, the DRC experiences high precipitation and has the highest frequency of thunderstorms in the world. The annual rainfall can total upwards of 2,000 millimeters (80 in) in some places, and the area sustains the Congo Rainforest, the second largest rain forest in the world (after the Amazon).

Kinshasa is the capital of the Congo. The Congo’s other major cities are Lubumbashi, Mbuji-Mayi, Kolwezi, Kisangani, and Matadi.

The country is divided into ten main provinces and the city-province of Kinshasa. These provinces are subdivided into districts which are divided into territories.
In article 2 of the 2005 Congolese Constitution, which came into effect on 18 February 2006, specifies twenty-five newprovinces while retaining the capital city/province of Kinshasa.

The twenty-five provinces denoted by the 2005 constitution are as follows: Bas-Uele, Equateur, Haut-Lomami, Haut-Katanga, Haut-Uele, Ituri, Kasai, Kasai Oriental, Kongo central, Kwango, Kwilu, Lomami, Lualaba, Lulua, MaiNdombe, Maniema, Mongala, Nord-Kivu, Nord-Ubangi, Sankuru, Sud Kivu, Sud Ubangi, Tanganyika, Tshopo, Tshuapa

Main provinces are:

1. Bandundu
2. Bas-Congo
3. Équateur
4. Kasai-Occidental
5. Kasai-Oriental
6. Katanga
7. Kinshasa (city-province)
8. Maniema
9. Nord-Kivu
10. Orientale
11. Sud-Kivu

• Bandundu is one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It borders the provinces of Kinshasa and Bas-Congo to the west, Équateur to the north, and Kasai-Occidental to the east. The provincial capital is also called Bandundu (formerly Banningstad/Banningville). In 1966, Bandundu was formed by merging the three post-colonial political regions: Kwilu, Kwango, and Mai-Ndombe. Most villages are situated on the higher ground, with the villagers practicing shifting slash-and-burn agriculture in the valleys. The main crops are manioc (cassava), maize, squash, and beans. The villagers raise chickens, ducks, goats, sheep and cattle, and supplement their diet with fish and bushmeat.

• Bas-Congo or Kongo Central, It was formerly known as Kongo Central and then Bas-Zaïre. At the time of the independence of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the province was part of the greater province of Leopoldville, along with the city of Kinshasa and the districts of Kwango, Kwilu and Mai-Ndombe. It is the only province with a coastline (Atlantic Ocean). It borders the provinces of Kinshasa to the north-east, Kwango to the east, and the Republic of Angola to the south as well as the Republic of the Congo and Cabinda to the north.

• Équateur, It is in the north of the country, and bordered the Republic of the Congo to the west, the Central African Republic to the north, to the east the Orientale province, and to the south the Kasai-Oriental, Kasai-Occidental, and Bandundu provinces. The word “Équateur” is French for the Equator, which lies less than 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) south of the provincial capital of Mbandaka, a city on the Congo River.

• Kasai-Occidental: The Province derives its name from the Kasaïriver which flows through the Kasaï District from south to north. The river is the second longest in DR. Congo and a major tributary of the Congo River. The Kasaï River was variously called Enzzadi, Nsadi, Nzadi, Kassabi, Kasye, Kassaba by the different local tribes (Luba, Tshokwe, Lunda, etc…), latter European explorers came to use the name Kasaï to refer to the river. Kasaï-Occidental borders the provinces of Bandundu to the west, Équateur to the north, Kasai-Oriental to the east, and Katanga to the southeast. To the south it borders the country of Angola. The province is crossed by many major rivers:Kasai, Lulua, loango, Sankuru, Lukeni, etc…

• Kasai-Oriental. It borders the provinces of Kasaï-Occidental to the west, Équateur to the northwest, Orientale to the northeast, Maniema to the east, and Katanga to the south. Kasaï-Oriental is one of the richest diamond producing regions in the world. The provincial capital is Mbuji-Mayi. Kasaï-Oriental is inhabited by members of the Luba tribe.

• Katanga is one of the provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its official name was Shaba Province. Katanga’s area is 497,000 km2. Farming and ranching are carried out on the Katanga Plateau. The eastern part of the province is a rich mining region, which supplies cobalt, copper, tin, radium, uranium, and diamonds. The region’s capital, Lubumbashi, is the second largest city in the Congo. Copper mining in Katanga dates back over 1,000 years and mines in the region were producing standard sized ingots of copper for international transport by the end of the 1st Millennium AD.

• Kinshasa is the capital and the largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the Congo River.Once a site of fishing villages, Kinshasa is now an urban area with a 2014 population of over 11 million. It faces the capital of the neighboring Republic of Congo, Brazzaville, which can be seen in the distance across the wide Congo River. The city of Kinshasa is also one of the DRC’s 11 provinces. Because the administrative boundaries of the city-province cover a vast area, over 90% of the city-province’s land is rural in nature, and the urban area only occupies a small section in the far western end of the city-province. Kinshasa is the third largest urban area in Africa after Cairo and Lagos. It is also the second largest “francophone” urban area in the world after Paris, French being the language of government, schools, newspapers, public services and high-end commerce in the city, while Lingala is used as a lingua franca in the street. If current demographic trends continue, Kinshasa should surpass Paris in population around 2020. Kinshasa hosted the 14th Francophonie Summit in October 2012.Residents of Kinshasa are known as Kinois (in French and sometimes in English) or Kinshasa’s (English).

• Maniema is a province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Kindu. Henry Morton Stanley explored the area, calling it Manyema. It borders the provinces of Kasai-Oriental to the west, Orientale to the north, North Kivu and South Kivu to the east, and Katanga to the south. Mining is the main industry in the province and diamonds, copper, gold and cobalt are mined outside of Kindu.

• North Kivu borders the provinces of Orientale to the north and northwest, Maniema to the southwest, and South Kivu to the south. To the east it borders the countries of Uganda and Rwanda. The province consists of three cities—Goma, Butembo and Beni—and six territories—Beni, Lubero, Masisi, Rutshuru, Nyiragongo and Walikale.
  The province is home to the Virunga National Park, a World Heritage Site containing the endangered mountain gorillas.

• Orientale is one of the ten provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The province lies in the northeast of the country. It borders Équateur to the west, Kasaï-Oriental province to the southwest, Maniema to the south, and North Kivu to the southeast. It also borders the Central African Republic and South Sudan to the north, and Uganda to the east. The provincial capital is Kisangani.The province is divided into the Bas-Uele, Haut-Uele and Tshopo districts and the Ituri Interim Administration.

• South Kivu Province was created in 1969, when the existing Kivu Province was divided into two parts. South Kivu borders the provinces of North Kivu to the north, Maniema to the west, and Katanga to the south. To the east it borders the countries of Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania.