Likouala Department

The earliest inhabitants of the region were the Aka people, a Pygmy tribe. During the Bantu expansion, they were pushed into the forests by newcomers.{{cite book |last1=NDINGA MBO |first1=Abraham Constant |editor1-last=Obenga |editor1-first=Theophile |title=HISTOIRE GÉNÉRALE DU CONGO DES ORIGINES À NOS JOURS I. Méthodologie historique Genèse du Congo |date=2010 |publisher=L'Harmattan |pages=141–143 |language=French |chapter=LES PRELUDES HISTORIQUES : GENESES, MIGRATIONS, INSTALLATION DES PEUPLES}}

Historically, this department was cut off from part of Lobaye, an area of the Central African Republic.{{Source needed|date=May 2023}}

Between 1984 and 2002 the population of Likouala Department more than tripled, due in large part to inflows of refugees from the Central African Republic, Rwanda, and the DRC. During this period, refugees made up more than half of the population, mostly concentrated in Impfondo and Betou.

File:Districts of Likouala.jpg

Likouala Department is divided into seven districts:

1. Impfondo District
2. Epena District
3. Dongou District
4. Bétou District
5. Bouanéla District
6. Enyellé District
7. Liranga District

Likouala is almost covered with dense and often flooded forests of lakes and very full of fish ponds. Its ground is argillaceous and sandy by places. The north of the department belongs to the mountainous Massif Oubanguien.{{cite web|url=https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.congo-site.com/pub/fr/v4x/actualites/article.php?num=3677&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=9&ct=result&prev=/search?q=likouala&start=30&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&rls=SUNA,SUNA:2006-49,SUNA:en&sa=N|title=Google Translate|publisher=congo-site.com}} The shallow Lac Tele is 5 km across and circular in shape.

Likouala has a tropical climate. The dry season is from March to July, the remainder of the year being dominated by the rainy season. The variations in temperatures are in general important (24° to 25°C).

The populations of Likouala would have come from North, the South, the East and the West. The Pygmies are regarded as the first occupants of this ground. The department counts many Rwandan, Central African refugees today and of Congo-Kinshasa.

Six forest units of installation (UFA) are in the course of exploitation by several companies, of which Processing industry of the wood of Likouala (ITBL) and Likouala-Timber. Likouala currently occupies the first place in the production of wood of Congo.

The department has an important hydraulic network. The principal rivers are Oubangui, Likouala-aux-herbes, Libenga and Motaba. Fishing is practised in these rivers in an artisanal way. According to FAO, its halieutic potential is evaluated with 100.000 tons per annum.

Agriculture is of traditional type.

The principal food crops are the manioc, the banana, the taros; as well as products of gathering. One also produces the coffee, the cocoa and the palm oil. The crop year of last year yielded 1500 tons of cocoa. This production is falling because of the irregularity of the marketing of the products and the closing of the principal company which ensured the marketing of the cocoa in the department, Congo Otto-Export.

Geographic insulation is a handicap. Transport is very limited; the river port and the airport are the only access routes.

The department counts seven districts. The administrations are badly equipped and lack executives and personnel. Each of the seven districts corresponds to the basins of the region's principal rivers. The districts of Liranga, Impfondo and Bétou comprised the villages located on right bank of the rivers Congo and Oubangui. The district of Dongou gathers the villages of the basin of Motaba. The district of Enyellé corresponds to the basin of Libenga and its confluence with Oubangui, to the border with the Central African Republic. The basin of Likouala-aux-herbes is divided by the district of Epena to the north and that of Bouanela in the south.

The regional capital is Impfondo. Other towns include Ancien Sandjala, Boyelle, Dongou, Ibenga, Kitadi, Mabelou, Makasa, Makengo,{{cite web |title=Makengo, Congo, Republic of the - Geographical Names, map, geographic coordinates |url=https://geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-3055047&fid=1003&c=congo_republic_of_the |website=Geographical Names |accessdate=14 June 2018}} Mongouala, and Motaba.

The region is undergoing a campaign to minimise hunting and reduce the impact of logging due to the establishment of nature reserves in the region.

The forest of Likouala abounds in animal species such as elephants, gorillas and chimpanzees. Likouala is home to, among other animals, the dwarf crocodile Osteolaemus tetraspis osborni.{{cite web |url=http://apt.allenpress.com/aptonline/?request=get-abstract&issn=0045-8511&volume=999&issue=02&page=0313 |title=African Dwarf Crocodiles in the Likouala Swamp Forests of the Congo Basin: Habitat, Density, and Nesting |website=apt.allenpress.com |access-date=2 February 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070625224518/http://apt.allenpress.com/aptonline/?request=get-abstract&issn=0045-8511&volume=999&issue=02&page=0313 |archive-date=25 June 2007 |url-status=dead}}

{{cite web|url=http://www.wcs-congo.org/02consstrategies/05protection/100burning.html |title=WCS-Congo: Conservation Strategies: Wildlife Law Enforcement: Law Enforcement Patrol Strategies |accessdate=2006-12-31 |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930001445/http://www.wcs-congo.org/02consstrategies/05protection/100burning.html |archivedate=2007-09-30 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.nric.net/pub_project/proj_detail.cfm?ProjectID=173&Searchtopic=NRM |title=NRIC: Project Record |accessdate=2006-12-31 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928032820/http://www.nric.net/pub_project/proj_detail.cfm?ProjectID=173&Searchtopic=NRM |archivedate=2007-09-28 }}

Reports of a surviving sauropod called the Mokele Mbembe or n'yamala emanate from here.

• O'Hanlon, R: No Mercy: a journey to the heart of the Congo

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• [https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.congo-site.com/pub/fr/v4x/actualites/article.php%3Fnum%3D3677&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=9&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dlikouala%26start%3D30%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26safe%3Doff%26rls%3DSUNA,SUNA:2006-49,SUNA:en%26sa%3DN A French site about the region]

{{Regions and capital district of the Republic of the Congo}}

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Category:Departments of the Republic of the Congo