Lifestyle & family

The family unit has been suffered a lot throughout the conflict due to the violence and the need for people to leave their homes.

In a population of around 60 million nearly half are under the age of 15. The nationality is Congolese and the official language is French. The country has 25 provinces and one independent city, Kinshasa, which has a population of around 4 million. Within the country there are over 200 ethnic groups and the main religion is Christianity.

Only 65% of the population over 15 can read and write and and 53% of girls do not attend primary school. In fact life in DRC can be difficult for women. They are not always treated equally to men and war has added to a culture of violence against women.

Congolese meals usually consist of starchy ingredients, vegetables and meat in the form of a stew. Congo’s national dish is moambe – it has eight ingredients: palm nuts, chicken, fish, rice, cassava leaves, bananas and hot pepper sauce.

Colonialism brought Western influence, particularly with regard to clothes and football is the most popular sport.