Conflict in Eastern Congo Mapped

Map created by the Council on Foreign Relations, click for interactive version

The map above shows the location of armed groups (in green) and the areas with the number of internally displaced people (in purple) in the Eastern Congo.

The map was put together by the Council on Foreign Relations as part of their Eastern Congo InfoGuide Presentation.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the 2nd largest country in Africa (after Algeria) and home to over 85 million people, making it the world’s most populous country with French as an official language.

The conflict in the Eastern Congo has been going on for nearly two decades and is one of the deadliest since World War 2. Since 1994, it’s estimated that up 5.4 million people have been killed and that 3 million people remain displaced today.

Unfortunately civilians, especially women, have been targeted, often simply being from the wrong ethnic group.

The current conflict in the Eastern Congo has it’s roots in the Rwandan genocide of 1994, when many of the Hutus who perpetrated the genocide, fled into the DRC after being forced out of Rwanda.

You can read the full story on CFR’s website.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Congo’s complex history, consider the following books:

Find this post interesting? Please help us by sharing it: