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Vehicle registration plates of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Issue of the current design of registration plate in the DRC began in April 2009. The plates are based on the layout of registration plates in the European Union, but are of a slightly different size (480 × 112 mm) from the standard European size (520 × 110 mm). On the left-hand side is the national flag of the DRC, under which are the letters "CGO". This is followed by a four-digit number and two letters. In addition, located on the windshield of the vehicle is a so-called third mark in the form of an 84 × 53 mm sticker. It repeats the number and letters on the plate and it also includes the chassis number of the vehicle.[1]

The DRC plates are produced by Utsch. [2][3] The plates have various security features to make counterfeiting difficult.[4] For example, the background of all letters has a hologrammatic foil. Similar measures are also found in the registration plates produced by Utsch for Egypt and Kyrgyzstan.

Special plates

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International organisation plate.
  • Diplomatic plate: red on yellow, 3 digits corresponding to a country code, the CD symbol, 2 or 3 digits
  • Consular corps plate: red on yellow, 3 digits corresponding to a country code, the CC logo, 2 or 3 digits
  • Plate of the FARDC: white on black, FARDC followed by 7 digits
  • Plate from the United Nations, MONUC: black and white, the symbol A, 3 or 4 digits
  • EUSEC plate: yellow to dark blue, EUSEC abbreviation followed by 3 figures
  • EUPOL plate: yellow to dark blue, EUPOL abbreviation followed by 3 figures
  • Registration plate for international organisations: white on dark blue, 3 figures identifying the organisation, the IT acronym, 3 figures
  • Governmental plates:
    • Presidential: black and white, the initials PR followed by 3 or 4 digits
    • National Assembly: black and white, the acronym AA followed by 3 figures
    • Senate: black and white, the symbol ASEN followed by 3 figures
    • Justice: black and white, the abbreviation ADJ followed by 3 figures

Previous plates

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Registration plate from 1958 until 1979

Older style registration plates have different letters and background colors depending upon the era when the plate was issued. Each plate carried the initials of the province where the car was registered, but sometimes the abbreviation of another province would be issued.

  • Yellow numbers on Blue background (1958 - 1960), Belgian Congo
  • Yellow numbers on Blue background (1960 - 1979), DRC/Zaire, but no change from Belgian Congo style
  • Yellow numbers on Green background (1979 - 1997), Zaire
  • Black numbers on yellow background (1997)
  • Yellow numbers on blue background (1980 - 2009)

The style of the Belgian Congo plates, yellow numbers on a blue background, was continued by the DRC/Zaire until 1979. Plates started with a yellow star, followed by one or two letters with a maximum of four digits after the letter.

In 1979 the plate colors were changed to yellow numbers on a green background. At the beginning were now two provincial letters followed by four digits and a further letter.

In 1997 the plates were redesigned to show a two letter province code, followed by four numbers, and a two letter suffix. These plates had black numbers on a yellow background (430 × 105 mm).[5]

With the change of the country's name back to the DRC in 1997, registration plates returned to the traditional colors of yellow numbers on a blue background. The first two letters of the plate indicated the Province followed by a star, then four digits, and finally two letters. These plates were used until the introduction of the current system in 2009.

Province codes

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Current Codes

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Province Code Previous province
Kinshasa 01 Kinshasa[6]
Bas-Uele 02 Orientale
Équateur 03 Équateur
Haut-Katanga 04 Katanga
Haut-Lomami 05 Katanga
Haut-Uele 06 Orientale
Ituri 07 Orientale
Kasaï 08 Kasaï-Occidental
Kasaï-Oriental 09 Kasaï-Oriental
Kongo Central 10 Bas-Congo[6]
Kwango 11 Bandundu
Kwilu 12 Bandundu
Lomami 13 Kasaï-Oriental
Lualaba 14 Katanga
Kasaï-Central 15 Kasaï-Occidental
Mai-Ndombe 16 Bandundu
Maniema 17 Maniema[6]
Mongala 18 Équateur
Nord-Kivu 19 Nord-Kivu[6]
Nord-Ubangi 20 Équateur
Sankuru 21 Kasaï-Oriental
Sud-Kivu 22 Sud-Kivu[6]
Sud-Ubangi 23 Équateur
Tanganyika 24 Katanga
Tshopo 25 Orientale
Tshuapa 26 Équateur

Previous Codes

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Province Code Code
(1996)[7] 		Code
(1980)
Bandundu BN BN BN
Bas-Congo BC BZ BZ
Equator EQ EQ EQ
Kasai Occidental KW KW KW
Kasai Oriental KE KE KE
Katanga KT SH SH
Kinshasa KN KN KN
Maniema MN MN
North Kivu NK NK
Orientale OR HZ HZ
South Kivu SK SK
Kivu KV

References

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  1. ^ Decree no. 08/15 of 28 June 2008 on the design of the vehicle's license plate Journal Officiel de la République Démocratique du Congo from 15 January 2009 (French) (PDF; 83 kB)
  2. ^ Controverse autour de la mise en circulation par la DGI des nouvelles plaques d’immatriculation, initiative jugée inappropriée, La République, 8 juin 2009.
  3. ^ Lancement de l’opération de vente de nouvelles plaques minéralogiques pour véhicules [permanent dead link], Agence congolaise de Presse, 14 avril 2009
  4. ^ Uch AG produces indicator for DR Congo
  5. ^ Dekret 0048 vom 22. November 1996 zur Gestaltung der Kfz-Kennzeichen auf leganet.cd (französisch)
  6. ^ a b c d e "Annuaire statistique 2014" (PDF). Uns-rdc.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-01-14. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  7. ^ Décret 0048 du 22 novembre 1996, déterminant les spécifications techniques des nouvelles plaques d'immatriculation relevant de la compétence de la direction générale des contributions. (Ministère des Transports et Communications), leganet.cd
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