evidence: The larger of the two countries, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is located to the southeast, while the smaller nation, the Republic of the Congo, is situated to the northwest. While they share a name, each country has its own interesting history and statistics. Read on to learn more about these closely related but distinctly different nations. The Democratic Republic of the Congo The capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, also known as "Congo-Kinshasa," is Kinshasa, which is also the country's largest city. Prior to its present name, the Democratic Republic of Congo was formerly known as Zaire, and before that, it was the Belgian Congo. The Democratic Republic of Congo borders the Central African Republic and South Sudan to the north; Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi in the east; Zambia and Angola to the south; the Republic of the Congo, the Angolan exclave of Cabinda, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The country has access to the ocean through a 25-mile stretch of Atlantic coastline at Muanda and the roughly five-and-a-half-mile-wide mouth of the Congo River, which opens into the Gulf of Guinea.