Business hours are 8am to 4pm Monday to Friday, closing at 12pm on Saturdays.The official currency is the Congolese Franc (CDF).
The international dialling code for the DRC is +243.
Electrical current is 220 volts, 50Hz. Plug types in use are round two-pin attachment plugs and round pin plugs with grounding.
The DRC is made up of 25 provinces:
Kongo central
Kwango
Kwilu
Mai-Ndombe
Kasaï
Lulua
Kasaï oriental
Lomami
Sankuru
Maniema
Sud-Kivu
Nord-Kivu
Ituri
Haut-Uele
Tshopo
Bas-Uele
Nord-Ubangi
Mongala
Sud-Ubangi
Équateur
Tshuapa
Tanganyika
Haut-Lomami
Lualaba
Haut-Katanga
Garamba National Park (1980)
Kahuzi-Biega National Park (1980)
Okapi Wildlife Reserve (1996)
Salonga National Park (1984)
Virunga National Park (1979)
The Democratic Republic of the Congo previously known as Zaire, is the third largest country (by area) in Africa.
As a result of its equatorial location, the Congo experiences large amounts of precipitation and has the highest frequency of thunderstorms in the world. The annual rainfall can total upwards of 80 inches (2,032 mm) in some places, and the area sustains the second largest rain forest in the world (after the Amazon).
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and is located on the Congo River.
Garamba National Park
Garamba National Park, was established in 1938. One of Africa's oldest National parks, it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980. Garamba was the home to the world's last known wild population of Northern White Rhinoceros. Due to poaching of the rhinos within the park, it was added to the list of World Heritage Sites in danger in 1996. The park is also well known for its African elephant domestication programme started in the 1960s, which managed to train tourist-rideable animals from the naturally wild beasts.
Kahuzi-Biega National Park
The park is one of the last refuges of the rare Eastern Lowland Gorilla and was the original site where Dian Fossey studied gorillas before relocating to Rwanda. As a result of the remaining gorilla population, the park was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.
Okapi Wildlife Reserve
The Okapi Wildlife Reserve was added to the list of world heritage sites in danger in 1997. The main threats to the reserve are deforestation, primarily caused by agriculture, and commercial hunting for the sale of bush meat. Gold mining has also been problematic to the Reserve. The reserve is home to many okapis.
Salonga National Park
Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984, Salonga National Park is Africa's largest tropical rainforest reserve. Situated at the heart of the central basin of the Congo river, the park is very isolated and accessible only by water. It is the habitat of many endemic endangered species, such as the dwarf chimpanzee, the Congo peacock, the forest elephant and the African slender-snouted or 'false' crocodile.
Virunga National Park
Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, Virunga National Park comprises an outstanding diversity of habitats. Mountain gorillas are found in the park, hippopotamuses live in the rivers and birds from Siberia spend the winter there.
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