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Republic of the Congo

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: African Countries

   République du Congo
   Republic of the Congo

   Flag of the Republic of the Congo Coat of arms of the Republic of the
                                     Congo
   Flag                              Coat of arms
   Motto: "Unité, Travail, Progrès"  (French)
   "Unity, Work, Progress"
   Anthem: La Congolaise
   Location of the Republic of the Congo
   Capital
   (and largest city) Brazzaville
   4°14′S 15°14′E
   Official languages French
   Kituba (national)
   Lingala (national)
   Government Republic
    - President Denis Sassou-Nguesso
    - Prime Minister Isidore Mvouba
   Independence from France
    - Date 15 August 1960
   Area
    - Total 342,000 km² ( 64th)
   132,047 sq mi
    - Water (%) 3.3
   Population
    - 2005 estimate 3,999,000 ( 125th)
    - n/a census n/a
    - Density 12/km² ( 204th)
   31/sq mi
   GDP ( PPP) 2005 estimate
    - Total $4.585 billion ( 154th)
    - Per capita $1,369 ( 161st)
   HDI  (2003) 0.512 (medium) ( 142nd)
   Currency CFA franc ( XAF)
   Time zone WAT ( UTC+1)
    - Summer ( DST) not observed ( UTC+1)
   Internet TLD .cg
   Calling code +242

          Not to be confused with the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
          also at one time known as the "Republic of the Congo".

   The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo- Brazzaville (locally,
   "Congo-Brazza") and Congo, is a former French colony of western-
   central Africa. Its borders are Gabon, Cameroon, Central African
   Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and the Gulf of
   Guinea. Upon independence in 1960, the former French region of Middle
   Congo became the Republic of the Congo. A quarter century of Marxism
   was abandoned in 1990 and a democratically elected government installed
   in 1992. A brief civil war in 1997 restored former Marxist President
   Denis Sassou-Nguesso.

History and politics

   The earliest inhabitants of the area were Pygmy peoples. They were
   largely replaced and absorbed by Bantu tribes during Bantu migrations.
   The Bakongo are comprised of Bantu groups that also occupied parts of
   present-day Angola, Gabon, and Democratic Republic of the Congo,
   forming the basis for ethnic affinities and rivalries among those
   states. Several Bantu kingdoms—notably those of the Kongo, the Loango,
   and the Teke—built trade links leading into the Congo River basin. The
   first European contacts came in the late 15th century, and commercial
   relationships were quickly established with the kingdoms—trading for
   slaves captured in the interior. The coastal area was a major source
   for the transatlantic slave trade, and when that commerce ended in the
   early 19th century, the power of the Bantu kingdoms eroded.

Colonial era

   The area came under French sovereignty in the 1880s (declared colony
   with the name of French Congo in 1891) as part of AEF, the French
   Equatorial Africa (modern-day Gabon, Chad, Central African Republic,
   and Republic of Congo). Economic development during the first fifty
   years of colonial rule in Congo centered on natural resource extraction
   by private companies. In 1924–34, the Congo-Ocean Railway (CFCO) was
   built at a considerable human and financial cost, opening the way for
   growth of the ocean port of Pointe-Noire and towns along its route.

   During World War II, Brazzaville became the symbolic capital of Free
   France during 1940–43. The Brazzaville Conference of 1944 heralded a
   period of major reform in French colonial policy, including the
   abolition of forced labour, granting of French citizenship to colonial
   subjects, decentralization of certain powers, and election of local
   advisory assemblies. Congo benefited from the postwar expansion of
   colonial administrative and infrastructural spending as a result of its
   central geographic location within AEF and the federal capital at
   Brazzaville.

Independence

   Following independence as the Congo Republic on August 15, 1960,
   Fulbert Youlou ruled as the country's first president until labour
   elements and rival political parties instigated a three-day uprising
   that ousted him. The Congolese military took charge of the country
   briefly and installed a civilian provisional government headed by
   Alphonse Massamba-Débat. Under the 1963 constitution, Massamba-Débat
   was elected President for a five-year term but it was ended abruptly
   with an August 1968 coup d'état. Capt. Marien Ngouabi, who had
   participated in the coup, assumed the presidency on December 31, 1968.
   One year later, President Ngouabi proclaimed Congo to be Africa's first
   "people's republic" and announced the decision of the National
   Revolutionary Movement to change its name to the Congolese Labour Party
   (PCT). On March 16, 1977, President Ngouabi was assassinated. An
   11-member Military Committee of the Party (CMP) was named to head an
   interim government with Col. (later Gen.) Joachim Yhombi-Opango to
   serve as President of the Republic.

1992 elections

   After decades of turbulent politics bolstered by Marxist-Leninist
   rhetoric, and with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Congo completed a
   transition to multi-party democracy with elections in August 1992.
   Denis Sassou-Nguesso conceded defeat and Congo's new president, Prof.
   Pascal Lissouba, was inaugurated on August 31, 1992.

1997 elections and civil unrest

   However, Congo's democratic progress was derailed in 1997. As
   presidential elections scheduled for July 1997 approached, tensions
   between the Lissouba and Sassou camps mounted. On June 5, President
   Lissouba's government forces surrounded Sassou's compound in
   Brazzaville and Sassou ordered his militia to resist. Thus began a
   four-month conflict that destroyed or damaged much of Brazzaville. In
   early October, Angolan troops invaded Congo on the side of Sassou and,
   in mid-October, the Lissouba government fell. Soon thereafter, Sassou
   declared himself President. The Congo Civil War continued for another
   year and a half until a peace deal was struck between the various
   factions in December 1999.

2002 elections

   Elections in 2002 saw Sassou win with almost 90% of the vote. His two
   main rivals Lissouba and Bernard Kolelas were prevented from competing
   and the only remaining credible rival, Andre Milongo, advised his
   supporters to boycott the elections and then withdrew from the race. A
   new constitution was agreed upon in January 2002 which granted the
   president new powers and also extended his term to seven years as well
   as introducing a new bicameral assembly.

Political parties

   Denis Sassou-Nguesso, President of the Republic of Congo.
   Enlarge
   Denis Sassou-Nguesso, President of the Republic of Congo.

   The most important of the many parties are the Democratic and Patriotic
   Forces or FDP [Denis Sassou-Nguesso, president], an alliance consisting
   of:
     * Convention for Alternative Democracy
     * Congolese Labour Party (PCT)
     * Liberal Republican Party
     * National Union for Democracy and Progress
     * Patriotic Union for the National Reconstruction
     * Union for the National Renewal

   Other significant parties include:
     * Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development or MCDDI
       [Michel Mampouya]
     * Pan-African Union for Social Development or UPADS [Martin Mberi]
     * Rally for Democracy and Social Progress or RDPS [Jean-Pierre
       Thystere Tchicaya, president]
     * Rally for Democracy and the Republic or RDR [Raymond Damasge
       Ngollo]
     * Union for Democracy and Republic or UDR [leader NA]
     * Union of Democratic Forces or UFD, Sebastian Ebao]

Administrative divisions

   The Republic of the Congo is divided into ten régions (regions) and one
   commune, the capital Brazzaville. These are:
     * Bouenza
     * Brazzaville
     * Cuvette
     * Cuvette-Ouest
     * Kouilou
     * Lékoumou

                      * Likouala
                      * Niari
                      * Plateaux
                      * Pool
                      * Sangha

   The regions are subdivided into forty-six districts.

Geography

   Map of the Republic of the Congo.
   Satellite image of Congo, generated from raster graphics data supplied
   by The Map Library
   Enlarge
   Satellite image of Congo, generated from raster graphics data supplied
   by The Map Library

   Congo is located in the central-western part of sub-Saharan Africa,
   straddling the Equator. To the south and east it is bounded by the
   Congo River and its tributary the Ubangi River, across which is the
   larger Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is also bounded by Gabon to
   the west, Cameroon and the Central African Republic to the north, and
   Cabinda (Angola) to the southwest. It has a short Atlantic coast.

   The capital, Brazzaville, is located on the Congo River, in the south
   of the country, immediately across from Kinshasa, the capital of the
   Democratic Republic of the Congo.

   The southwest of the country is a coastal plain for which the primary
   drainage is the Kouilou-Niari River; the interior of the country
   consists of a central plateau between two basins to the south and
   north. Below is a map of the Republic of the Congo.

Economy

   The economy is a mixture of village agriculture and handicrafts, an
   industrial sector based largely on petroleum, support services, and a
   government characterized by budget problems and overstaffing. Petroleum
   extraction has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the economy,
   providing a major share of government revenues and exports. In the
   early 1980s, rapidly rising oil revenues enabled the government to
   finance large-scale development projects with GDP growth averaging 5%
   annually, one of the highest rates in Africa. The government has
   mortgaged a substantial portion of its petroleum earnings, contributing
   to a shortage of revenues. The January 12, 1994 devaluation of Franc
   Zone currencies by 50% resulted in inflation of 61% in 1994, but
   inflation has subsided since. Economic reform efforts continued with
   the support of international organizations, notably the World Bank and
   the IMF. The reform program came to a halt in June 1997 when civil war
   erupted. When Sassou-Nguesso returned to power at the war ended in
   October 1997, he publicly expressed interest in moving forward on
   economic reforms and privatization and in renewing cooperation with
   international financial institutions. However, economic progress was
   badly hurt by slumping oil prices and the resumption of armed conflict
   in December 1998, which worsened the republic's budget deficit. The
   current administration presides over an uneasy internal peace and faces
   difficult economic problems of stimulating recovery and reducing
   poverty.

Demographics

   Demographics of the Republic of the Congo (FAO, 2005; number of
   inhabitants given in thousands.
   Enlarge
   Demographics of the Republic of the Congo ( FAO, 2005; number of
   inhabitants given in thousands.

   The Republic of the Congo's sparse population is concentrated in the
   southwestern portion of the country, leaving the vast areas of tropical
   jungle in the north virtually uninhabited. Thus, Congo is one of the
   most urbanized countries in Africa, with 85% of its total population
   living in a few urban areas, namely in Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, or
   one of the small cities or villages lining the 332-mile railway which
   connects the two cities. In rural areas, industrial and commercial
   activity has declined rapidly in recent years, leaving rural economies
   dependent on the government for support and subsistence. Before the
   1997 war, about 15,000 Europeans and other non-Africans lived in Congo,
   most of whom were French. Presently, only about 9,500 remain.

Weather and Climate

   The best overall time to visit is probably June-September. (Avoid the
   rainy season, October-May.) Since the country is located on the
   Equator, the climate is consistent year-round -- the average day
   temperature is a humid 75 F/24 C, with nights generally in the 60s
   F/16-21 C. −
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