Congo (Kinshasa): Polity Style: 1960-2026

19 May 1960	a Basic Law on the Institutions of the Congo is passed by the Chamber of the Representatives (Chambre des représentants) and by the Senate (Sénat) of Belgium on 10 May 1960 and 18 May 1960 respectively, promulgated by the King of the Belgians on 19 May 1960 (Congo Official Gazette, No. 21 bis, 27 May 1960, pp. 1-25) [1]
30 Jun 1960	Belgian Congo constitutes an indivisible and democratic state in accordance with the Basic Law which came into operation on 30 Jun 1960, the date appointed by an order issued by command of the King of the Belgians on 1 Jun 1960 (Belgian Official Gazette, No. 127-128, 27-28 May 1960, pp. 3988-4012; Belgian Official Gazette, No. 288, 1 Dec 1960, pp. 9248-9249; Belgian Official Gazette, No. 296, 10 Dec 1960, p. 9412 (errata); Belgian Official Gazette, 2-3 Jan 1961, p. 7 (errata)) [2]
30 Jun 1960	Belgian Congo acceded to sovereignty and independence on 30 Jun 1960, the date appointed for the abrogation of the law on colonial administration of 18 Oct 1908, in accordance with Art. 259 of the Basic Law (Congo Official Gazette, No. 21 bis, 27 May 1960, pp. 1-25)
30 Jun 1960 - 1 Aug 1964	République du Congo [3]
1 Aug 1964	the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Constitution de la République Démocratique du Congo du 1^er août 1964) is promulgated by the President of the Republic on 1 Aug 1964 (Congo Official Gazette, Extra, 1 Aug 1964, pp. 1-33)
1 Aug 1964 - 29 Oct 1971	République Démocratique du Congo
29 Oct 1971	the designation République du Congo is replaced by République du Zaïre in the text of the Constitution of 1967, in accordance with a law adopted by the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) on 28 Oct 1971 and promulgated by the President of the Republic on 29 Oct 1971, effective retrospectively from 27 Oct 1971 (Congo Official Gazette, No. 21, 1 Nov 1971, p. 967) [4]
29 Oct 1971 - 17 May 1997	République du Zaïre
17 May 1997	the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of the Congo (Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo) assumes the state authority in accordance with a declaration issued at Lubumbashi on 17 May 1997 (Congo Official Gazette, May 1997, Extra, pp. 5-7) [5]
17 May 1997 -	République Démocratique du Congo

Full title: Loi fondamentale du 19 mai 1960 relative aux structures du Congo.
A provision for creation of the State of the Congo was included in Art. 6 of the Basic Law. A royal order of 1 Jun 1960 divided the articles of the Basic Law into three groups in terms of coming into effect (1 Jun 1960, 10 Jun 1960, 30 Jun 1960). The effective date for Art. 6 was determined as 30 Jun 1960.
The Basic Law of 1960 referred to the polity exclusively as État du Congo, but the Government of the Congo decided at its first meeting on 26 Jun 1960 that the official designation of the new state will be République du Congo.
A decision to change the name of the state was passed at a joint meeting of the Political Bureau of the Popular Movement of the Revolution (Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution) and the government on 27 Oct 1971. The National Assembly adopted a law approving the change on 28 Oct 1971 which was promulgated on 29 Sep 1971.
The declaration did not explicitly provide for the restoration of République Démocratique du Congo as the official name, but this designation was used in the text.