Congo River and "Congo" is the preferred English name in 19th-century literature, although references to "Zahir" or "Zaire" as the name used by the inhabitants remained common. The Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo are named after it, as was the previous Republic of the Congo which had gained independence in 1960 from the Belgian Congo. The Republic of Zaire during 1971–1997 was also named after the river, after its name in French and Portuguese. The Congo's drainage basin covers , an area larger than India. The Congo's discharge at its mouth ranges from , with an
Keelay and Zaire Keelay and Zaire Kyle "Keelay" Pierce (born December 5, 1980) and Tim "Zaire" Lewis (born March 1, 1980), better known as Keelay & Zaire, are hip hop producers from the San Francisco, California and Newport News, Virginia areas respectively. The production team met on an online message board. Keelay, originally from the city of Salt Lake City, Utah, now resides in San Francisco, California, and is in charge of the duo's West Coast production headquarters, The Torta Oven. Keelay is a talented producer who got his start in hip hop by working with the likes of Cali Agents, Fortilive, and