African state from 1971-'97 (5)

I believe the answer is:

zaire

(Other definitions for zaire that I've seen before include "Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly" , "Previous name of Congo" , "renamed African area" , "Central African country's former name" , "Until 1997 the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo" .)

I've seen this clue in the Universal.

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