On June 30, 1960 the Democratic Republic of Congo became independent from Belgium.
Power, at the time, was shared between president Joseph Kasa-Vubu and his prime minister, independence hero Patrice Lumumba. Their rivalry plunged the country into chaos.
In July 1960 there was a mutiny in the army and the mineral-rich Katanga province, in the southeast, seceded with Belgian backing.
In September Lumumba was removed as prime minister after a coup by army colonel Joseph-Desire Mobutu. He was assassinated in January 1961.
Mobutu returned power to Kasa-Vubu in February 1961 and Katanga reverted to central government authority in 1963.
Between 1964 and 1965, a communist-inspired rebellion left thousands dead.
Mobutu seizes power
Mobutu staged a second coup and imposed dictatorial rule on November 24, 1965 . In 1971 he renamed the country the Republic of Zaire and himself Mobutu Sese Seko.
Two years later he established a “Zairianisation” policy that involved pushing out foreign economic interests.
In 1976 the first known outbreak of Ebola virus is identified in DR Congo. It has since been hit by 10 Ebola epidemics.
In 1977-1978 Mobutu manages, with international help, to contain new secession attempts by Katanga province, renaming it Shaba.
Mobutu’s dictatorship, which lasted more than three decades, kept the country together but smothered all opposition and may have wrecked the economy.
Mobutu flees
On May 16, 1997 Mobutu went on exile after receiving an ultimatum to step down from rebel leader Laurent Kabila, whose forces were advancing on the capital. Backed notably by Rwanda, the rebels had launched their offensive in the east around eight months earlier.
Kabila proclaimed himself president on May 17 and renamed the country Democratic Republic of Congo.
In August 1998 a new rebellion in the east descended into a major regional conflict: Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe back government forces; Rwanda and Uganda back the rebels.
The fighting lasted until 2003, with millions estimated to have been killed.
Kabila father to son
On January 16, 2001 Kabila was murdered by a bodyguard. His 29-year-old son Joseph took over 10 days later, elected president in 2006 in the country’s first free elections since independence.
In 2011 Kabila was re-elected in a vote marred by violence and fraud.
In May 2012 the M23 movement, a mainly ethnic Tutsi rebel group, began an uprising in the eastern Kivu region that was eventually defeated at the end of 2013.
In 2015 demonstrations broke out in Kinshasa over a bill that would delay the 2016 elections and enable Kabila to remain in office beyond his two-term limit.
In September 2016 the central Kasai region descended into violence after security forces killed a powerful local chieftain.
First peaceful transition
In December 2016 a political agreement permitted Kabila to remain in power until elections within a year.
But there were delays — and opposition protests that were severely repressed — and the election is eventually set for December 2018.
Kabila ended speculations about his intentions by choosing former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary to run as his successor.
Results of the December 30, 2018 election gave opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi victory with just over 38 percent of votes.
Pre-poll favourite Martin Fayulu rejected the surprise result as “an electoral coup” and the international community raised doubts.
On January 20 the Constitutional Court rejected Fayulu’s appeal against the result and confirmed Tshisekedi as the next president.
His inauguration due on January 24 will mark the first peaceful transition of power in the history of the country.