CONGO (Democratic Republic)

CONGO Democratic Republic / République démocratique du CONGO.

25th anniversary of the United Nations. International Cooperation.
Mines in Katanga.
Second stamp in a set of 6, issued on 25.10.1965.
Face value: 8 Congolese francs.
Design: Jean Van Noten (1903-1982).
Printing: Potogravure.
Size: 61 x 26 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 241.
- Scott No. 548.
- StampWorld No. 238.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 587.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 600.

Katanga was one of the four large provinces created in the Belgian Congo in 1914. Katanga was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was split into four provinces. Between 1971 and 1997 (during the rule of Mobutu Sese Seko when Congo was known as Zaire), its official name was Shaba Province. The eastern part of the province is considered to be a rich mining region, which supplies cobalt, copper, tin, radium, uranium, and diamonds. 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 10th century CE. After 1900, the Société Génerale de Belgique practically controlled all of the mining in the province through Union Minière du Haut-Katanga (UMHK). In 1960, after the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then called Republic of the Congo) gained independence from Belgium, the UMHK, Moise Tshombe and Godefroid Munongo supported the secession of Katanga province from the Congo. This was supported by Belgium but opposed by the Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. This led to the assassination of Lumumba and the Congo Crisis, which lasted from 1960 to 1965. The breakaway State of Katanga existed from 1960 to 1963. In 1966, the Congolese central government nationalized the UMHK, under the name of Gécamines.

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).

CONGO (Democratic Republic)

CONGO Democratic Republic / République démocratique du CONGO.

Commemoration of Independence of Belgium, June 30, 1960.
Simplified political map of the independent Republic.
Fourth stamp in a set of 10, issued on 30.06.1960.
Face value: 1.50 Congolese franc.
Printing: Photogravure.

Catalogues
- Scott No. 359.
- Michel No. 4.
- StampWorld No. 4.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 395.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 375.

In the 1870s European exploration of the Congo Basin was carried out, first led by Henry Morton Stanley under the sponsorship of Leopold II of Belgium. Leopold formally acquired rights to the Congo territory at the Berlin Conference in 1885 and declared the land his private property, naming it the Congo Free State. During the Free State, his colonial military unit, the Force Publique, forced the local population to produce rubber. From 1885 to 1908, millions of the Congolese people died as a consequence of disease and exploitation. In 1908, Leopold, despite his initial reluctance, ceded the so-called Free State to Belgium, thus it became known as the Belgian Congo.

Congo achieved independence from Belgium on 30 June 1960 under the name Republic of the Congo.