1. Officially Democratic Republic of the Congo. Formerly (1971-1997) Za·ire (zīîr, zä-îr) and (1960-1971) Congo and (1908-1960) Belgian Congo and (1885-1908) Congo Free State. A country of central Africa astride the equator. Inhabited originally by Pygmy peoples and later by migrating Bantu and Nilotic groups, the region came under the control of Leopold II of Belgium in the late 1870s and was annexed outright in 1908. Full independence was achieved in 1960. Army general Mobutu Sese Seko took control of the country in 1965, ruling until his ouster by rebel forces in 1997. Kinshasa is the capital and the largest city.

2. Officially Republic of the Congo. A country of west-central Africa with a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean. It was part of French Equatorial Africa before becoming independent in 1960. A Marxist state was established in 1970, but in the early 1990s Marxism was abandoned in favor of a multiparty system, and a new constitution was adopted. Brazzaville is the capital and the largest city.