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October 27, 2011 – Three-Z Day

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n– Democratic Republic of the Congo

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nOn this day inn1971, the then-president of Congo, Mobutu Sese Seko, changed thencountry’s name to Zaire. He also renamed the Congo River the ZairenRiver, and the money, franc congolais, also became zaire. n

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nSee? Three Zs.

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nUnfortunately,nMobutu was a horrible leader. He repressed any criticism or politicalnopposition, stole money from the nation, and violated his people’snrights—including torturing and killing people!

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nThe Congolesenpeople rose up to oppose this autocratic and corrupt president, andnin 1997, he had to flee the nation. The people of Zaire reclaimedntheir older name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, because thenname Zaire was so closely connected to Mobutu. I’m sure thatnthe people of Democratic Congo no longer celebrate Three-Z Dayn(sometimes called Name Day), but that doesn’t stop it from stillnbeing a listed holiday all over the internet!

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nThenheart of Africa…

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    nDemocraticn Congo’s position in the middle of Africa doesn’t mean that it isn landlocked. The nation includes a narrow arm of land surrounding then Congo River all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. Remember, it isn important to a nation to have access to the sea so it cann participate in shipping and trade without relying on anothern nation…

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    nCongo has a lotn of rain – more than 80 inches (2,000 mm) per year – and the mostn thunderstorms in the world. It has a large, lush jungle that is then second largest rainforest in the world. (Any idea what the largestn rainforest in the world is?….Hint: it starts with the letter “A.”)

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  • nA rift valleyn in Congo has exposed some minerals that are useful or beautiful.n These minerals are mined: cobalt, copper, cadmium, diamonds, gold,n silver, zinc, manganese, tin, germanium, uranium, radium, bauxite,n and iron.

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  • nBy the way, onen of Democratic Congo’s neighbors is named the Republic of the Congo,n also known as Congo-Brazzaville. Confusing, huh?

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Gorillas live in the rainforests of Congo.

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nChecknout…

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  • nthe rainforestn of the Congo river basin. 

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  • nthe life of an 10-year-old boy, Kani, who lives in Congo.

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  • nthe lives ofn other kids in Congo. 

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