Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)
Republic of the Congo (1960–1964) République du Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo (1964–1971) République démocratique du Congo | |||||||||
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| 1960–1971 | |||||||||
| Motto: "Justice – Paix – Travail" (French) "Justice – Peace – Work" | |||||||||
| Anthem: Debout Congolais (French) Arise, Congolese | |||||||||
| Capital | Kinshasa (named Léopoldville before 1966) | ||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||
| Demonym(s) | Léopoldville-Congolese (1960–1966) Kinshasa-Congolese (1966–1971) | ||||||||
| Government | Federal parliamentary republic (1960–1964) Unitary parliamentary republic (1964–1965)
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| President | |||||||||
• 1960–1965 | Joseph Kasa-Vubu | ||||||||
• 1965–1971 | Joseph-Desiré Mobutu | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1960 | Patrice Lumumba | ||||||||
• 1960, 1961 | Joseph Iléo | ||||||||
• 1961–1964 | Cyrille Adoula | ||||||||
• 1964–1965 | Moïse Tshombe | ||||||||
• 1965 | Évariste Kimba | ||||||||
• 1965–1966 | Léonard Mulamba | ||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||
| 30 June 1960 | |||||||||
| 30 December 1961 | |||||||||
| 16 January 1962 | |||||||||
| 15 January 1963 | |||||||||
| 1 August 1964 | |||||||||
| 25 November 1965 | |||||||||
| 27 October 1971 | |||||||||
| Currency | Congolese franc (until 1967) Congolese zaire (1967–1971) | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Democratic Republic of the Congo | ||||||||
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| History of the Democratic Republic of the Congo | ||||||||||||||||
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| See also: Years | ||||||||||||||||
| DRC Portal | ||||||||||||||||
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The Republic of the Congo (French: République du Congo) was the period of the history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1960 and 1971. Located in Central Africa, the state was created with the independence of the Belgian Congo in 1960. From 1960 to 1966, the country was also known as Congo-Léopoldville (after its capital) to distinguish it from its northwestern neighbor, which is also called the Republic of the Congo, alternatively known as "Congo-Brazzaville". In 1964, the state's official name was changed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but the two countries continued to be distinguished by their capitals; with the renaming of Léopoldville as Kinshasa in 1966, it became also known as Congo-Kinshasa. After Joseph Désiré Mobutu, commander-in-chief of the national army, seized control of the government in 1965, the Democratic Republic of the Congo became the Republic of Zaire in 1971; but it was reverted back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1997. The period between 1960 and 1964 is referred to as the First Congolese Republic.