b46_0297 - 500 Francs CONGO, DEMOCRATIQUE REPUBLIC 1961 P.007a

CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

When the Belgian Congo gained independence in 1960, the country became the Republic of Congo. In 1964, it was renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo. Between 1971 and 1997, President Joseph-Désiré Mobutu advocated African authenticity and renamed the Congo the Republic of Zaire (Zaire for short). In 1997, when Mobutu fell, the country resumed the name of the Democratic Republic of Congo..