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Kinshasa

Democratic Republic of Congo

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TO GO WITH STORY BY KATHY KATAYI AND JUNIOR KANNAH.This picture taken on January 22, 2014 shows a traffic robot cop on Triomphal boulevard of Kinshasa at the crossing of Asosa, Huileries and Patrice Lubumba streets. Two human-like robots were recently installed here to help tackle the hectic traffic usually experienced in the area. The prototypes are equipped with four cameras that allow them to record traffic flow, the information is then transmitted to a center where traffic infractions can be analyzed. The team behind the new robots are a group of Congolese engineers based at the Kinshasa Higher Institute of Applied Technique, known by its French acronym, ISTA. AFP PHOTO / JUNIOR D. KANNAH (Photo credit should read Junior D. Kannah/AFP/Getty Images)

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Overview

Sub-Saharan Africa's second-largest city, Kin (as locals universally call it) sprawls seemingly forever from the banks of the Congo River to its distant shanty towns. Shot through with chaos, music and a lust for life that is as infectious as it is overwhelming, Kinshasa is a city you experience rather than visit, but there's no better place for a whirlwind introduction to Congolese life. Everything in Kinshasa is bigger, faster and louder than you'll experience anywhere else in Central Africa.

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