1972 in Zaire

Decades:	; 1960s; 1970s; 1980s; 1990s;
See also:	History of Zaire

The following lists events that happened during 1972 in Zaire.

Incumbents[]

Date	event
2 January	President Mobutu Sese Seko announced his new campaign, "Authenticité", to remove all traces of the former Belgian Congo's colonial past in favor of "Africanized" names, customs and dress. Having changed his own name from Joseph-Desire Mobutu, the President required citizens with European-sounding names to change them to something more authentic.^[1]
22 August	Diocese of Baudouinville renamed as Roman Catholic Diocese of Kalemie–Kirungu

^ "Mobutu to Wipe Out Relics of Colonial 'Congo'", The Star-News (Pasadena), January 3, 1972, p2

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v t Years in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Congo Free State	1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908
Belgian Congo	1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960
Republic of Congo	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964
Democratic Republic of the Congo	1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971
Zaire	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
DR Congo	1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

v t 1972 in Africa
Sovereign states	Algeria Botswana Burundi Cameroon Central African Republic Chad Republic of the Congo Dahomey Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Niger Nigeria Rwanda Senegal Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South-West Africa Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Upper Volta Zambia Zaire
States with limited recognition	Rhodesia
Dependencies, colonies and other territories	Ascension Island Djibouti Réunion Saint Helena Spanish Sahara Tristan da Cunha