The Democratic Republic of the Congo The Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo

• The Congo is located along the equator and is rich in raw materials. • In the late 1800’s, European Powers got together at the Berlin Conference to divide Africa amongst themselves (this created a kind of Supranational Organization).

• Because of Industrialization, European powers needed more raw materials for their factories, which resulted in them taking over most of the continent of Africa in what is known as Imperialism.

• One positive result the came from Imperialism is that European countries built things such as roads, schools, ports, and railroads. Together, these services are known as Infrastructure.

DRC - HDI DRC is ranked last in HDI (tied with Niger) Reminder: HDI is an indicator of the level of development for each country constructed by the United Nations combining income, literacy, education, and life expectancy. On a scale of 0 -1 with 1 being the best possible score.

Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Conrad wrote the novel Heart of Darkness about his journey to the Congo with a Belgian trading company. He documented Belgian imperialism and the treatment of the native population. This eventually led to segregating whites and blacks (which was known as apartheid in South Africa) throughout the Congo during imperialism. Joseph Conrad (1857 -1924)

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