ZAIRE (Democratic Republic of Congo)

ZAIRE / ZAÏRE (Democratic Republic of Congo).

7th Anniversary of the New Regime.
Inga Dam, 1st Phase.
Last stamp in a set of 3, issued on 25.01.1973.
Face value: 0,18 Zairean zaire.
Printing: Photogravure.
Size: 43 x 33 mm.

Catalogs (Numbering of the Democratic Republic of the Congo)
- Belgium No. 825.
- Michel No. 472.
- Scott No. 792.
- StampWorld No. 469.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 813.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 831.

Republic of Zaire (French: République du Zaïre) is the name adopted by the Democratic Republic of the Congo from October 27, 1971 to August 15, 1974, following Mobutu's seizure of power in a military coup in 1965, following five years of political upheaval following independence from Belgium known as the Congo Crisis.

Inga Dam is located across the Congo River, approximately 150 km (93 mi), upstream of where the river empties into the Atlantic Ocean, at an altitude of 47 m (140 ft) above sea level. The stamp reproduces the first of the three planned dams, built between 1965 and 1971. It is 587 m (614 ft) long and its function is to produce hydroelectric power. The dam was built on the right bank of the river, taking advantage of the Nkokolo, a dry valley that used to be the riverbed, whose banks reached 150 m (492 ft) high at the level of the Inga Falls, parallel to the site. The water is withdrawn 10 km (6.21 mi) upstream of the dam, at an altitude of 125 m (410 ft).