Blogs and News - St George's School, Edinburgh
The Republic of Congo, and the DRC
The Congo is confusing because there is a Republic of Congo (also known as Congo-Brazzaville) to the west, where Ouesso is (where the teams stayed overnight), and then The DRC (The Democratic Repulic of The Congo) to the East. The teams travelled through both today. These are vast nations in Africa, taking in much of the interior.
As both countries straddle the equator, we, as Geographers, know what to expect:
•thousands of miles of rainforest, (the Congo Rainforest is the largest rainforest area in the world outside The Amazon), and large wide rivers snaking their way through(the Congo River is the second largest river in the world – second to The Amazon).
As both countries are still on land contiguous with the tectonically active African Rift Valley (as already mentioned in yesterday’s Geography of The Cameroon), again, we, as Geographers, know what to expect:
•tectonic hazards, high-value rare minerals, exploitation, and conflict
Neither of these nations disappoint with either of these.
The Congo was formerly a French colony of this part of Equatorial Africa (called that because the equator passes through these countries) that gained independence in 1960. Oil dominates the economy - 65% of GDP, 85% of Government Revenue, and 92% of exports – all Geographers amongst us know just how hazardous a over-dependence on just one product (whether this be bananas, whiskey, cocoa beans, oil…. etc.) can be…. What happens if something happens world-wide and the price drops (which of course it did in 2008 and again in 2015 – largely due to the main OPEC oil producing countries artificially dropping the price to try to undermine the recently heavily-invested in fracking for oil in the USA making the USA self-sufficient in energy and no longer reliant on ‘friendly-relatios’ with other nations to import it). The Congo’s other major economic activities are handicrafts, and village agriculture – so it is currently struggling economically.
The DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) was a Belgian colony, and is very rich in a diverse range of natural resources. It has suffered political instability, a lack of infrastructure, corruption and exploitation. Civil war is not only responsible for amongst the lowest levels of the world in terms of human development, but also this is endangering much of the country’s vast biodiversity. The level of the DRCs development (HDI – the Human Development Index) the country is ranked 176th out of 187. China is the biggest recipient of the DRCs exports (over 50%) – an possible example of neo-colonialism the A Level Geographers will be saying. Internal fighting (largely caused by conflict over the high-value minerals) has displaced 4.5mn people.
One of the best known tectonic disasters, that our 4th Fm are experts on - is the eruption of the Nyrangongo Volcano in 2002 – where lava ran at 40mph, with many thousands of people from the nearby city of Goma fleeing for their lives. The lava reached Lake Kivu poisoning the waters and killing the fish, impacting food security and the livelihood of the fishing communities living on the shores.
Do you ever wish your mobile phone’s battery life was such that your phone lasted for longer prior to needing charging – well….. close to where the teams are staying tonight the hard graft of the dangerous and exploited work of the people who live here, is the mineral that is responsible for your mobile phone batteries lasting as long as they do….. and that is Coltan (which 4th Formers also know all about as part of their Africa unit). Locals mining Coltan is shown in the photographs below. Note the highly sophisticated machinery and obvious health and safety measures being used. I wonder how much of the mobile phone manufacturer’s profits trickle down to these miners??
The teams have bedded down for the night in Brazzaville, the capital and largest city (1.8mn people = 40% of the population of the nation) of the Republic of the Congo. It is located on the north side of the Congo River, opposite Kinshasa (once a site of fishing and trading villages, Kinshasa is now a megacity with an estimated population of more than 11 million), in the Democratic Republic of the Congo the south side of the Congo River.
The Republic of Congo, and the DRC
January
Careers Newsletter January 2022
Fencing medal for Alexia (Upper 4)
Rosie on Tour in Florida for Lacrosse World Cup Training
February
Primary 6 Project on Space Tourism
Spring Revision @ St George’s Online
Chinese New Year at Houldsworth 2022
Lunar New Year Celebrations in Primary 4
House Event in Junior School: PHOTO GALLERY
March
Connected Culture: Lower School Conference
Love and Kindness for Valentine's Day
Crafty outings with the Boarders
P6 Author Visit: Elle McNicoll
Deepti wins the National SSBU Secondary Junior U13 title
An Evening with Allistair McCaw
UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge
International Women's Day - Junior School
Summer Sports Camps: 15-18 August 2022
Success for U11 Hockey at the Compass School Tournament
Young Enterprise Best Company Award Winners 2022
Success in Hockey and Lacrosse
April
May
National Representation in the Scotland Lacrosse Team
Sport Scotland event with Judy Murray and Allistair McCaw
Staff Fundraising Walk for Ukraine
Primary 3 Travel Back in Time to Stone Age Times
National Representation for Deepti at Badminton
Bea Competes at the National Schools Equestrian Association Event
Rosie Hazell Selected for the World Cup Lacrosse Squad
Target Ovarian Cancer Walk/Run
Rights Respecting Schools Bronze award
Primary 4 Visit The Birds of America
Scottish Mathematical Challenge Awards
Celebration for Upper 6 Boarders
Equestrian Club at Floors Castle
Inter-District Hockey Tournament
Miss Campbell selected for Wales Match
P6 Netball club had a ‘ball’ at EPSSA netball festival
Scottish Fencing Youth Development Series 2
u17 Edinburgh District Netball
A.F. Steadman visits the Junior School
Butterflies for Chelsea in Bloom
Emma-Louise Beeson visits Nursery
U4 Digital International Exchange Week
Primary 4 Learn about Electricity
June
Erasmus Exchange Hosting Visit
First Impressions of St George's
Theatre Visit to The Lion King
Work Experience at The Royal Highland Show
Festival of Chemistry at Heriot Watt
August
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