Even in the best of circumstances, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a weak country prone to fragmentation. The largely landlocked terrain enclosed within its borders is nearly the same size as Western Europe and is difficult to navigate. Since gaining its independence from Belgium in 1960, the Congo has been plagued by political power struggles and rebellions, and none of its governments have willingly ceded power to their successors. The country's valuable but unexploited natural resources have only exacerbated these problems. Meanwhile, its expansive, far-flung regions and weak central government have yielded a fractious society riven by communal rivalry. As a result, the Congo's neighbors have repeatedly intervened in the country to protect their own security interests, while many Congolese communities have taken security into their own hands by setting up local militias known as the Mai-Mai.