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The Belgian Congo became independent in 1960 as the "Republic of the Congo", the same name as its neighbour the former French colony of Congo. The title Democratic Republic was adopted in 1966, but they were more usually distinguished by the names of their capitals, as Congo ( Léopoldville) and Congo ( Brazzaville). In the years after General Joseph-Désiré Mobutu came to power in 1965 he embarked on an " authenticity" campaign. The country was renamed the Republic of Zaïre, after a local word for "river", General Mobutu became Mobutu Sese Seko and forced all his citizens to adopt African names, a new currency, the zaïre of 100 makuta (singular likuta ) replaced the franc, and many cities were renamed:

• Léopoldville became Kinshasa
• Stanleyville became Kisangani
• Elisabethville became LubumbashiLubumbashi is the second largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the capital of the province Katanga (formerly Shaba). The city was founded in 1910 as Elisabethville but renamed after 1965 to Lubumbashi. It was also the capital of the
• Jadotville became Likasi
• Albertville became Kalemie

After the overthrow of Mobutu by Laurent-Desiré Kabila in 1997, the country reverted to the name Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Zaire is also the name of a province of AngolaThis article is about the nation, for the prison see Angola Prison Angola is a country in southwestern Africa bordering Namibia, Congo-Kinshasa, Congo-Brazzaville and Zambia and with a west coast along the Atlantic Ocean. A former Portuguese colony, it ha, see Zaire ProvinceZaire is one of the 18 provinces of Angola. It occupies 40130 square kilometres in the north west of the country and has a population of approximately 600,000. It has a tropical climate. M'Banza Kongo is the capital of the province. The provincial capital.