Democratic Republic of the Congo Civil Registration

Civil registration
Civil registration is a primary source for birth, marriage, and death information about people and links them to their families.

For the Democratic Republic of the Congo, civil registration is available from about 1900 to the present.

Legal informants for a birth: Father or mother, ascendants and relatives, those present at the birth.

For additional information, see UNICEF Democratic-Republic of the Congo.

FamilySearch Online Collections

 * 1970-2018: République democratique du congo, Kinshasa, état civil, 1970-2018 - images of birth records for Kinshasa


 * 1970-2018: République democratique du congo, Kinshasa, Limete, état civil, 1970-2018 at FamilySearch - images of birth records for Limete


 * 1998-2018: République democratique du Congo, Kinshasa, Masina état civil, 1998-2018 - images of birth and marriage records for Masina


 * 1999-2018: République démocratique de Congo, Kinshasa, commune de Ngaliema état civil, 1999-2018 - images of birth records for Ngaliema


 * 1996-2018: République démocratique de Congo, Kinshasa, commune de Ngiri-Ngiri état civil, 1996-2018 - images of birth records for Ngiri-ngiri

Digital Collections not yet available as of 15 June 2019


 * 1970-2018: République démocratique du Congo, Kinshasa, Kintambo naissances et mariages, 1970-2018 - images of birth and marriage records for Kintambo


 * 1998-2019: République démocratique du congo, Ndjili état civil, 1998-2019 - images of birth records

Offices to Contact

 * In DR Congo, the organization of the civil registration system is centralized. The country is divided into provinces, cities, territories (rural areas), communes and chiefdoms/sectors. There is a total of 979 local civil registration offices at the Chiefdom/Sectors administrative levels. Out of these, 102 are classified as urban and the remaining 877 as rural Chiefdom/Sectors. Each of these offices are manned by a civil registrar. Some of the Chiefdoms/Sectors cover a large territorial unit.


 * Accessibility to the civil registration office is very difficult in regions with equatorial climate where it rains almost all year and where there are no roads. Sometimes one has to borrow canoes with all the risk that entails to access the registration centers. Most households reside more than 10 kilometers from the local registration offices and it could take more than 8 hours for informants to reach a service centre on foot. In some places the furthest households are located more than 50 kilometers from the civil registration office and it could take about two days on foot to reach them.


 * The civil registration acts or register has four carbon copies for each event. The top sheet is given to the applicant; the second copy is kept at the registry of the High Court of the jurisdiction where the civil registry office is located, the third copy is sent and archived at the Central Records Office in Kinshasa, and the fourth copy is kept at the issuing registry office.

Some older civil registration records are also in national archives and in Belgium.

The National Archives of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Institut National des Archives du Congo) 42 / A, Justice Avenue Commune of Gombe Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo Website Facebook National Archives of Belgium Rue de Ruysbroeck 2 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium Telephone: +32 2 513 76 80 Email Website Federal Public Service Interior (previously the Ministry of Interior) - administrative control of civil registrars; issuance of birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates and other documents; establishing the secondary offices and making them operational; appointing and training civil registrars

Historical Background
1908 became part of Belgium and was called the Belgian Congo. Some of the civil registration records from 1908 to 1960 may be in the Belgian National Archives.

June 30, 1960, it became the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then Zaire, then the National Archives of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Civil registration stored in the National Archives.

"[i]t is a legal requirement to register birth, marriages and deaths. It is very difficult to ascertain whether birth, marriage and death certificates are genuine as there is no national registry office where copies of birth, marriage, and death certificates are kept. Local authorities issue these documents but do not keep copies for their records (United Kingdom Oct. 2003)."

Coverage and Compliance
From 1900 to 1930, civil registration covers:


 * 50% of the Belgians
 * 20% of Zairians

After 1930, civil registration covers:
 * 75% of the Belgians
 * 50% of the Zairians

These percentages are estimates only.

Birth Records
Contents may include:

About the child
 * Name
 * Sex
 * Date of birth
 * Date of registration
 * Place of birth
 * Place of registration

About the mother
 * Name
 * Date of birth or age
 * Place of usual residence
 * Occupation
 * Nationality

About the father
 * Name
 * Date of birth or age
 * Place of usual residence
 * Occupation
 * Nationality

Marriage
Contents may include:


 * Name of bride
 * Name of groom
 * Date and place of marriage
 * Date and place of registration
 * Father's name for both bride and groom
 * Mother’s name for both bride and groom
 * Age
 * Place of birth
 * Residence
 * Occupation
 * Names of witnesses

Death
Contents may include:


 * Name of deceased
 * Death date and place
 * Birth date and place
 * Burial date
 * Gender
 * Age
 * Residence at time of death
 * Occupation
 * Cause of death
 * Name, age, nationality, occupation and domicile or residence of:
 * parents (if known), spouse (if married), informant