w:Republic of the Congo

{{further|Congo River|Kongo people}}

It is named after the Congo River whose name is derived from Kongo, a Bantu kingdom that occupied its mouth around the time the Portuguese first arrived in 1483Gates, Louis & Appiah, Anthony. Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, p. 1105. 1999. or 1484.Olson, James S. & Shadle, Robert. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uyqepNdgUWkC&pg=PA225 Historical Dictionary of European Imperialism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502165932/https://books.google.com/books?id=uyqepNdgUWkC&pg=PA225 |date=2 May 2016 }}, p. 225. Greenwood Publishing Grp., 1991. {{ISBN|0-313-26257-8}}. The kingdom's name derived from its people, the Bakongo, an endonym said to mean "hunters" ({{langx|kg|mukongo}}, nkongo).Bentley, Wm. Holman. Pioneering on the Congo. Fleming H. Revell Co., 1900.{{Verify source|date=October 2011}}

During the period when France colonised it, it was known as the French Congo or Middle Congo. The Republic of the Congo, or simply the Congo, is a distinct country from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, also known as the DR Congo.{{Cite news |date=2011-05-04 |title=DR Congo country profile |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13283212 |access-date=2024-08-17 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} Brazzaville's name derives from the colony's founder, Pierre Savorgnan de Brazzà, an Italian nobleman whose title referred to the town of Brazzacco, in the Italian comune of Moruzzo in Friuli Venezia Giulia, whose name derived from the Latin Brattius or Braccius, both meaning literally "arm".Frau, Giovanni Dizionario Toponomastico Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Istituto per l'Enciclopedia del Friuli-Venezia Giulia, 1978.

{{main|History of the Republic of the Congo}}Bantu-speaking peoples, who founded tribes during the Bantu expansions, mostly displaced and absorbed the earlier inhabitants of the region, the Pygmy people, about 1500{{nbsp}}BC. The Bakongo, a Bantu ethnic group that occupied parts of what later became Angola, Gabon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formed the basis for ethnic affinities and rivalries among those countries.

By the 13th century, there were three main confederations of states in the western Congo Basin. In the east were the Seven Kingdoms of Kongo dia Nlaza, considered to be the oldest and most powerful, which likely included Nsundi, Mbata, Mpangu, and possibly Kundi and Okanga. South of these was Mpemba which stretched from modern-day Angola to the Congo River. It included various kingdoms such as Mpemba Kasi and Vunda. To its west across the Congo River was a confederation of three small states; Vungu (its leader), Kakongo, and Ngoyo.{{Citation |title=The Development of States in West Central Africa to 1540 |date=2020 |work=A History of West Central Africa to 1850 |pages=16–55 |editor-last=Thornton |editor-first=John K. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/history-of-west-central-africa-to-1850/development-of-states-in-west-central-africa-to-1540/CE71122CF8DFD7B4B188BA34F8F65BFC |access-date=2024-09-21 |series=New Approaches to African History |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-56593-7}}{{Rp|pages=24–25}} Some Bantu kingdoms—including those of the Kongo, the Loango, and the Teke—built trade links leading into the Congo Basin.{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2825.htm|title=Background Note: Republic of the Congo|publisher=Department of State|date=March 2009|access-date=25 June 2017|archive-date=14 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170714082702/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2825.htm|url-status=live}}

The Portuguese explorer, Diogo Cão reached the mouth of the Congo in 1484. Commercial relationships grew between the inland Bantu kingdoms and European merchants who traded in commodities, manufactured goods, and people captured and enslaved in the hinterlands. After centuries as a central hub for transatlantic trade, direct European colonization of the Congo River delta began in the 19th century, subsequently eroding the power of the Bantu societies in the region.Boxer, C. R. The Portuguese Seaborne Empire, 1415–1825, A. A. Knopf, 1969, {{ISBN|0090979400}}

File:Court of Loango.png, from the book Description of Africa (1668)]]

The area north of the Congo River came under French sovereignty in 1880 as a result of Pierre de Brazza's treaty with King Makoko{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2752833.stm|title=BBC NEWS – Africa – The man who would be Congo's king|date=12 February 2003|access-date=29 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161129212544/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2752833.stm|archive-date=29 November 2016|url-status=live}} of the Bateke.Olson, James S. & Shadle, Robert. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uyqepNdgUWkC&pg=PA225 Historical Dictionary of European Imperialism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502165932/https://books.google.com/books?id=uyqepNdgUWkC&pg=PA225 |date=2 May 2016 }}, p. 225. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1991. {{ISBN|0-313-26257-8}}. Accessed 9 October 2011. After the death of Makoko, his widow Queen Ngalifourou upheld the terms of the treaty and became an ally to the colonizers.{{Citation|last=jeremy|first=rich|editor1-first=Emmanuel K|editor1-last=Akyeampong|editor2-first=Henry Louis|editor2-last=Gates|title=Ngalifourou|date=2012|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195382075.001.0001/acref-9780195382075-e-1533|work=Dictionary of African Biography|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195382075.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-538207-5|access-date=2021-01-16|archive-date=22 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122130300/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195382075.001.0001/acref-9780195382075-e-1533|url-status=live}} This Congo Colony became known first as French Congo, then as Middle Congo in 1903.

In 1908, France organized French Equatorial Africa (AEF), comprising the Middle Congo, Gabon, Chad, and Oubangui-Chari (which later became the Central African Republic). The French designated Brazzaville as the federal capital. Economic development during the first 50 years of colonial rule in Congo centered on natural resource extraction. Construction of the Congo–Ocean Railway following World War I has been estimated to have cost at least 14,000 lives.

During the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, Brazzaville functioned as the symbolic capital of Free France between 1940 and 1943.United States State Department. Office of the Historian. A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country, since 1776. "[https://history.state.gov/countries/congo-republic Republic of the Congo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170512065606/https://history.state.gov/countries/congo-republic |date=12 May 2017 }}". Accessed 9 October 2010. The Brazzaville Conference of 1944 heralded a period of reform in French colonial policy. Congo "benefited" from the postwar expansion of colonial administrative and infrastructure spending as a result of its central geographic location within AEF and the federal capital at Brazzaville. It had a local legislature after the adoption of the 1946 constitution that established the Fourth Republic.

Following the revision of the French constitution that established the Fifth Republic in 1958, AEF dissolved into its constituent parts, each of which became an autonomous colony within the French Community. During these reforms, Middle Congo became known as the Republic of the Congo in 1958 and published its first constitution in 1959.Robbers, Gerhard (2007). [https://books.google.com/books?id=M3A-xgf1yM4C Encyclopedia of World Constitutions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506124534/https://books.google.com/books?id=M3A-xgf1yM4C |date=6 May 2016 }}. Infobase Publishing. {{ISBN|0-8160-6078-9}}. Accessed 9 October 2011. Antagonism between the Mbochis (who favored Jacques Opangault) and the Laris and Kongos (who favored Fulbert Youlou, the first black mayor elected in French Equatorial Africa) resulted in a series of riots in Brazzaville in February 1959, which the French Army subdued.[http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//RTV/1959/02/27/BGY503110492/?s=evacuations CONGO REPUBLIC: BRAZZAVILLE RIOTS AFTERMATH] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505233442/http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//RTV/1959/02/27/BGY503110492/?s=evacuations |date=5 May 2014 }}. Reuters (27 February 1959)

Elections took place in April 1959. By the time the Congo became independent in August 1960, Opangault, the former opponent of Youlou, agreed to serve under him. Youlou, an avid anti-communist, became the first President of the Republic of the Congo.{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/african-history-biographies/fulbert-youlou|title=Fulbert Youlou facts, information, pictures – Encyclopedia.com articles about Fulbert Youlou|access-date=27 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161128051046/http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/african-history-biographies/fulbert-youlou|archive-date=28 November 2016|url-status=live}} Since the political tension was so high in Pointe-Noire, Youlou moved the capital to Brazzaville.

File:Alphonse Massamba-Debat.png's 1-party rule (1963–1968) attempted to implement a political economic strategy of "scientific socialism".]]

The Republic of the Congo became fully independent from France on 15 August 1960. Youlou ruled as the country's first president until labor elements and rival political parties instigated a 3-day uprising that ousted him.Alain Mabanckou "The Lights of Pointe-Noire" {{ISBN|978-1620971901}}. 2013. p.175 The Congolese military took over the country 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. During Massamba-Débat's term in office, the regime adopted "scientific socialism" as the country's constitutional ideology. In 1964, Congo sent an official team with a single athlete at the Olympic Games for the first time in its history. In 1965, Congo established relations with the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, North Korea, and North Vietnam.{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of African history|author=Shillington, Kevin |page=301|publisher=CRC Press|year=2005|isbn=978-1579582456}} Under his presidency, the Congo began to industrialize. Some large production units with large workforces were built: the textile factory of Kinsoundi, the palm groves of Etoumbi, the match factory of Bétou, the shipyards of Yoro, etc. Health centers were created as well as school groups (colleges and elementary school). The country's school enrollment rate became the highest in Black Africa.John F. Clark, "Congo: Transition and the Struggle to Consolidate", in Political Reform in Francophone Africa (1997)

On the night of February 14 to 15, 1965, 3 public officials of the Republic of the Congo were kidnapped: {{ill|Lazare Matsocota|fr}} (prosecutor of the Republic), {{ill|Joseph Pouabou|fr}} (President of the Supreme Court), and {{ill|Anselme Massouémé|fr}} (director of the Congolese Information Agency). The bodies of 2 of these men were later found, mutilated, by the Congo River.Bazenguissa-Ganga, Rémy. [https://books.google.com/books?id=15Qza8LQcFMC Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801213039/https://books.google.com/books?id=15Qza8LQcFMC |date=1 August 2020 }}. Paris: Karthala, 1997. p. 110[https://books.google.com/books?id=UGoEAQAAIAAJ Africa Research Bulletin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413223836/https://books.google.com/books?id=UGoEAQAAIAAJ |date=13 April 2021 }}. Oxford, England: Blackwell, 1965. p. 242 Massamba-Débat's regime invited some hundred Cuban army troops into the country to train his party's militia units. These troops helped his government survive a coup d'état in 1966 led by paratroopers loyal to future President Marien Ngouabi. Massamba-Débat's regime ended with a bloodless coup in September 1968.

Marien Ngouabi, who had participated in the coup, assumed the presidency on 31 December 1968. One year later, Ngouabi proclaimed the Congo Africa's first "people's republic", the People's Republic of the Congo, and announced the decision of the National Revolutionary Movement to change its name to the Congolese Labour Party (PCT). He survived an attempted coup in 1972 and was assassinated on 18 March{{nbsp}}1977."Congo President Slain by Gunman— Military Group Takes Control, Radio Reports", Los Angeles Times, March 20, 1977, p. I-1 An 11-member Military Committee of the Party (CMP) was then named to head an interim government, with Joachim Yhombi-Opango serving as president. Two years later, Yhombi-Opango was forced from power, and Denis Sassou Nguesso became the new president.

Sassou Nguesso aligned the country with the Eastern Bloc and signed a 20-year friendship pact with the Soviet Union. Over the years, Sassou had to rely more on political repression and less on patronage to maintain his dictatorship.{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of African history|author=Shillington, Kevin |page=302|publisher=CRC Press|year=2005|isbn=978-1579582456}} The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in the ending of Soviet aid to prop up the regime, and it abdicated power.

Pascal Lissouba who became Congo's first elected president (1992–1997) during the period of multi-party democracy attempted to implement economic reforms with IMF backing to liberalize the economy. In the years 1993 and 1994 the first Congo Civil War in Congo occurred. In June 1996, IMF approved a 3-year SDR69.5m (US$100m) enhanced structural adjustment facility (ESAF) and was on the verge of announcing a renewed annual agreement when civil war broke out in Congo in 1997.{{cite book |title=Country Report Congo-Brazzaville |year=2003 |publisher=The Economist Intelligence Unit |page=24 |url=http://store.eiu.com/Product.aspx?pid=50000205&gid=1310000331&sid=735820073 |access-date=16 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013100410/http://store.eiu.com/Product.aspx?pid=50000205&gid=1310000331&sid=735820073 |archive-date=13 October 2013 |url-status=live}}

Congo's democratic progress was derailed in 1997 when Lissouba and Sassou started to fight for power in the civil war. As presidential elections scheduled for July 1997 approached, tensions between the Lissouba and Sassou camps mounted. On 5 June, President Lissouba's government forces surrounded Sassou's compound in Brazzaville, and Sassou ordered members of his private militia (known as "Cobras") to resist. Thus began a 4-month conflict that destroyed or damaged some of Brazzaville and caused tens of thousands of civilian deaths. In October, the Angolan government began an invasion of Congo to install Sassou in power and the Lissouba government fell. After that, Sassou declared himself president.

File:Pro-constitutional reform demonstration in Brazzaville - 2015-10 (21518932913).jpg

In the elections in 2002, Sassou won with almost 90% of the vote cast. His two main rivals, Lissouba and Bernard Kolelas, were prevented from competing. A remaining rival, André Milongo advised his supporters to boycott the elections and then withdrew from the race.

{{cite web|url=http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&year=2006&country=7093|title=Congo, Republic of|year=2006|publisher=Freedom House|access-date=12 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015231843/http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&country=7093&year=2006|archive-date=15 October 2009|url-status=live}}

A constitution, agreed upon by referendum in January 2002, granted the president new powers, extended his term to seven years and introduced a new bicameral assembly. International observers took issue with the organization of the presidential election and the constitutional referendum, both of which were reminiscent in their organization of Congo's era of the 1-party state.

{{cite news | title=Congo approves new constitution | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1779007.stm | date=24 January 2002 | publisher=BBC | access-date=12 June 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930011021/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1779007.stm | archive-date=30 September 2009 | url-status=live | df=dmy-all }}

Following the presidential elections, fighting restarted in the Pool region between government forces and rebels led by Pastor Ntumi; a peace treaty to end the conflict was signed in April 2003.

{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2859881.stm | title=Congo peace deal signed | date=18 March 2003 | publisher=BBC | access-date=15 June 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930011034/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2859881.stm | archive-date=30 September 2009 | url-status=live | df=dmy-all }}

Sassou won the following presidential election in July 2009.

{{cite news | url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jqfjSxI0cOeNG4TITywUuuQMNTGA | title=17 candidates in Congo presidential race: commission | publisher=AFP | date=13 June 2009 | access-date=15 June 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312165149/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jqfjSxI0cOeNG4TITywUuuQMNTGA | archive-date=12 March 2011 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}

According to the Congolese Observatory of Human Rights, a non-governmental organization, the election was marked by "very low" turnout and "fraud and irregularities".[http://www.france24.com/en/20090715-congo-government-expected-release-vote-results-fraud-opposition-poll Vote results expected as opposition alleges fraud] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727141917/http://www.france24.com/en/20090715-congo-government-expected-release-vote-results-fraud-opposition-poll |date=27 July 2009 }}. France24 (16 July 2009). In March 2015, Sassou announced that he wanted to run for yet another term in office and a constitutional referendum in October resulted in a changed constitution that allowed him to run during the 2016 presidential election. He won the election believed by some to be fraudulent. After violent protests in the capital, Sassou attacked the Pool region where the Ninja rebels of the civil war used to be based, in what was believed to be a distraction. This led to a revival of the Ninja rebels who launched attacks against the army in April 2016, leading 80,000 people to flee their homes. A ceasefire deal was signed in December 2017.

{{cite news|url=http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/special-report/2018/06/18/updated-congo-brazzaville-s-hidden-war|title=Congo-Brazzaville's hidden war|publisher=New Humanitarian|date=18 June 2018|access-date=7 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408002300/http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/special-report/2018/06/18/updated-congo-brazzaville-s-hidden-war|archive-date=8 April 2019|url-status=live}}

In 2023, the Forest Massif of Odzala-Kokoua, for its savanna ecosystems and post-glacial recolonisation of forests, was listed as a natural UNESCO World Heritage Site.

{{main|Geography of the Republic of the Congo}}

Natural landscapes range from the savanna plains in the North Niari flooded forests, to the Congo River, to the rugged mountains and forests of Mayombe, and 170 km of beaches along the Atlantic coast.{{cite web|url=https://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/congo/cgland.htm|title=Congo Geography|first=John|last=Moen|publisher=World Atlas|website=www.worldatlas.com|access-date=21 March 2020|archive-date=21 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321044429/https://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/congo/cgland.htm|url-status=live}}

File:StatisticalData 1.svg]]

Congo is located in the central-western part of sub-Saharan Africa, along the Equator, lying between latitudes 4°N and 5°S, and longitudes 11° and 19°E. To the south and east of it is the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is bounded by Gabon to the west, Cameroon and the Central African Republic to the north, and Cabinda (Angola) to the southwest. It has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean.

The southwest 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 2 basins to the south and north. Forests are under increasing exploitation pressure.[http://pdf.wri.org/gfw_congo_atlas_v1_affiche_fr.pdf Map: Situation de l'exploitation forestière en République du Congo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114040015/http://pdf.wri.org/gfw_congo_atlas_v1_affiche_fr.pdf |date=14 January 2009 }}. (PDF) . Retrieved on 25 February 2013. Congo had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.89/10, ranking it 12th globally out of 172 countries.{{cite journal|last1=Grantham|first1=H. S.|last2=Duncan|first2=A.|last3=Evans|first3=T. D.|last4=Jones|first4=K. R.|last5=Beyer|first5=H. L.|last6=Schuster|first6=R.|last7=Walston|first7=J.|last8=Ray|first8=J. C.|last9=Robinson|first9=J. G.|last10=Callow|first10=M.|last11=Clements|first11=T.|last12=Costa|first12=H. M.|last13=DeGemmis|first13=A.|last14=Elsen|first14=P. R.|last15=Ervin|first15=J.|last16=Franco|first16=P.|last17=Goldman|first17=E.|last18=Goetz|first18=S.|last19=Hansen|first19=A.|last20=Hofsvang|first20=E.|last21=Jantz|first21=P.|last22=Jupiter|first22=S.|last23=Kang|first23=A.|last24=Langhammer|first24=P.|last25=Laurance|first25=W. F.|last26=Lieberman|first26=S.|last27=Linkie|first27=M.|last28=Malhi|first28=Y.|last29=Maxwell|first29=S.|last30=Mendez|first30=M.|last31=Mittermeier|first31=R.|last32=Murray|first32=N. J.|last33=Possingham|first33=H.|last34=Radachowsky|first34=J.|last35=Saatchi|first35=S.|last36=Samper|first36=C.|last37=Silverman|first37=J.|last38=Shapiro|first38=A.|last39=Strassburg|first39=B.|last40=Stevens|first40=T.|last41=Stokes|first41=E.|last42=Taylor|first42=R.|last43=Tear|first43=T.|last44=Tizard|first44=R.|last45=Venter|first45=O.|last46=Visconti|first46=P.|last47=Wang|first47=S.|last48=Watson|first48=J. E. M.|title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material|journal=Nature Communications|volume=11|issue=1|year=2020|page=5978|issn=2041-1723|doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3|pmid=33293507|pmc=7723057|bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G }}

Congo lies within four terrestrial ecoregions: Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests, Northwestern Congolian lowland forests, Western Congolian swamp forests, and Western Congolian forest–savanna mosaic.{{cite journal|last1=Dinerstein|first1=Eric|last2=Olson|first2=David|last3=Joshi|first3=Anup|last4=Vynne|first4=Carly|last5=Burgess|first5=Neil D.|last6=Wikramanayake|first6=Eric|last7=Hahn|first7=Nathan|last8=Palminteri|first8=Suzanne|last9=Hedao|first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed|last11=Hansen|first11=Matt|last12=Locke|first12=Harvey|last13=Ellis|first13=Erle C|last14=Jones|first14=Benjamin|last15=Barber|first15=Charles Victor|last16=Hayes|first16=Randy|last17=Kormos|first17=Cyril|last18=Martin|first18=Vance|last19=Crist|first19=Eileen|last20=Sechrest|first20=Wes|last21=Price|first21=Lori|last22=Baillie|first22=Jonathan E. M.|last23=Weeden|first23=Don|last24=Suckling|first24=Kierán|last25=Davis|first25=Crystal|last26=Sizer|first26=Nigel|last27=Moore|first27=Rebecca|last28=Thau|first28=David|last29=Birch|first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter|last31=Turubanova|first31=Svetlana|last32=Tyukavina|first32=Alexandra|last33=de Souza|first33=Nadia|last34=Pintea|first34=Lilian|last35=Brito|first35=José C.|last36=Llewellyn|first36=Othman A.|last37=Miller|first37=Anthony G.|last38=Patzelt|first38=Annette|last39=Ghazanfar|first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first40=Jonathan|last41=Klöser|first41=Heinz|last42=Shennan-Farpón|first42=Yara|last43=Kindt|first43=Roeland|last44=Lillesø|first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow|last45=van Breugel|first45=Paulo|last46=Graudal|first46=Lars|last47=Voge|first47=Maianna|last48=Al-Shammari|first48=Khalaf F.|last49=Saleem|first49=Muhammad|title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm|journal=BioScience|volume=67|issue=6|year=2017|pages=534–545|issn=0006-3568|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014|pmid=28608869|pmc=5451287}} Since the country is located on the Equator, the climate is more consistent year-round, with the average day temperature a humid {{convert|24|C|F}} and nights generally between {{convert|16|C|F}} and {{convert|21|C|F}}. The average yearly rainfall ranges from {{convert|1100|mm|in}} in the Niari Valley in the south to over {{convert|2000|mm|in}} in central parts. The dry season is from June to August, while in the majority of the country, the wet season has 2 rainfall maxima: 1 in March–May and another in September–November.{{cite journal

| title = Rainfall and temperature variations over Congo-Brazzaville between 1950 and 1998

|author1=Samba G. |author2=Nganga D. |author3=Mpounza M. | journal = Theoretical and Applied Climatology

| volume = 91

| issue = 1–4

| pages = 85–97

| year = 2008

| doi=10.1007/s00704-007-0298-0| bibcode = 2008ThApC..91...85S

|s2cid=120659948 }}

In 2006–07, researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society studied gorillas in "heavily forested" regions centered on the Ouesso District of the Sangha Region. They suggest a population on the order of 125,000 western lowland gorillas whose isolation from humans has been mostly preserved by "inhospitable" swamps.{{cite news |url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93254830 |title = 'Mother Lode' Of Gorillas Found in Congo Forests : NPR |newspaper = NPR.org |access-date = 15 August 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080828044221/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93254830 |archive-date = 28 August 2008 |url-status = live |df = dmy-all }}

{{Main|Wildlife of the Republic of the Congo}}

{{main|Politics of the Republic of the Congo|Cabinet of the Republic of the Congo}}

{{see also|Constitution of the Republic of the Congo|Foreign relations of the Republic of the Congo|Armed Forces of the Republic of the Congo|Biens mal acquis}}

The government of the Republic is a semi-presidential system with an elected president who appoints the Council of Ministers, or Cabinet. The council, including the Prime Minister, is selected from the elected representatives in Parliament. Since the 1990s, the country has had a multi-party political system that is dominated by President Denis Sassou Nguesso. Sassou Nguesso is backed by his own Congolese Labour Party ({{langx|fr|Parti Congolais du Travail}}) as well as a range of smaller parties.

Sassou's regime has seen corruption revelations, with attempts to censor them. One French investigation found over 110 bank accounts and dozens of "lavish properties" in France.{{cite web |url=https://af.reuters.com/article/idAFLR9382820090429?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0 |title=FACTBOX-African leaders' French assets under scrutiny |publisher=Reuters |date=29 April 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204033107/https://af.reuters.com/article/idAFLR9382820090429?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0 |archive-date=4 February 2012 |access-date=1 July 2017}} Sassou denounced embezzlement investigations as "racist" and "colonial".{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6948281.stm|title=Congo leader son fails in gag bid|publisher=BBC|date=15 August 2007|access-date=26 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930011028/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6948281.stm|archive-date=30 September 2009|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/6209|title=Propping Up Africa's Dictators|publisher=Foreign Policy in Focus|date=22 June 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091012122950/http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/6209|archive-date=12 October 2009}}{{cite news|url=https://af.reuters.com/article/idAFLR9382820090429?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0 |title=FACTBOX-African leaders' French assets under scrutiny |newspaper=Reuters |date=29 April 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204033107/https://af.reuters.com/article/idAFLR9382820090429?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0 |archive-date=4 February 2012 }} Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso, son of Denis Sassou Nguesso, has been named in association with the Panama Papers.{{cite news |url=http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2016/04/04/les-africains-du-panama-1-les-circuits-offshore-des-fils-de_4895102_3212.html#JWAeAK6oVt0UvEe4.99 |title=Les Africains du Panama (1) : les circuits offshore des " fils de " |author1=Joan Tilouine |author2=ICIJ |date=4 April 2016 |work=Le Monde |language=fr |access-date=10 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161112044052/http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2016/04/04/les-africains-du-panama-1-les-circuits-offshore-des-fils-de_4895102_3212.html#JWAeAK6oVt0UvEe4.99 |archive-date=12 November 2016 |url-status=live}}

On 27 March 2015, Sassou Nguesso announced that his government would hold a referendum on changing the country's 2002 constitution to allow him to run for a third consecutive term in office.Ross, Aaron (27 March 2015) [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-congo-president-idUSKBN0MN25N20150327 Congo Republic president says expects referendum over the third term] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929205702/http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/27/us-congo-president-idUSKBN0MN25N20150327 |date=29 September 2015 }}. Reuters On 25 October, the government held a referendum on allowing Sassou Nguesso to run in the next election. The government claimed that the proposal was approved by 92% of voters, with 72% of eligible voters participating. The opposition who boycotted the referendum said that the government's statistics were false and the vote was a fake one.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-congo-opposition-idUSKCN0SO24720151030#6gUx7xJL8tLmw1OB.97|title=Congo opposition holds ceremony for killed protesters|newspaper=Reuters|date=30 October 2015|access-date=1 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151128070432/http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/30/us-congo-opposition-idUSKCN0SO24720151030#6gUx7xJL8tLmw1OB.97|archive-date=28 November 2015|url-status=live}} The election raised questions and was accompanied by civil unrest and police shootings of protesters;{{cite web |url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2016/04/04/01003-20160404ARTFIG00174-violences-au-congo-le-gouvernement-accuse-les-opposants-a-sassou-nguesso.php |title=Violences au Congo : le government accuse les opposants à Sassou-Nguesso |work=Le Figaro |date=4 April 2016 |author=lefigaro.fr |language=fr |access-date=1 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514153900/http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2016/04/04/01003-20160404ARTFIG00174-violences-au-congo-le-gouvernement-accuse-les-opposants-a-sassou-nguesso.php |archive-date=14 May 2016 |url-status=live}} at least 18 people were killed by security forces during opposition rallies leading up to the referendum held in October.

File:Congo regions named.png

{{main|Departments of the Republic of the Congo|Communes of the Republic of the Congo|Districts of the Republic of the Congo}}

It is divided into 12 départements (departments). Departments are divided into communes and districts.

With inconsistent figures:

• The [http://www.presidence.cg/congo/administration.php site of the Presidency of the Republic of the Congo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727221905/http://www.presidence.cg/congo/administration.php |date=27 July 2009 }} lists 11 departments, 7 communes, and 76 districts.
• The 2004 [http://www.cnsee.org/Publication/Annuaire_04.pdf Statistical directory of Congo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091113142137/http://www.cnsee.org/Publication/Annuaire_04.pdf |date=13 November 2009 }} lists 12 departments, 6 communes, and 85 districts
• A list of subprefects (higher representatives of State in a district) nominated in December 2008 lists 86 districts. Search {{cite web |url=http://www.zenga-mambu.com/fiche.php?id=693 |title=Archived copy |access-date=6 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116112954/http://www.zenga-mambu.com/fiche.php?id=693 |archive-date=16 January 2009}}
• Finally, the good figures seem to come from [http://www.congo-siteportail.info/Les-donnees-generales-sur-le-Congo_a18.html this site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090518092837/http://www.congo-siteportail.info/Les-donnees-generales-sur-le-Congo_a18.html |date=18 May 2009 }}: 12 departments, 7 communes, and 86 districts

These are as follows:

{{columns-list|colwidth=10em|

• Bouenza
• Brazzaville
• Cuvette
• Cuvette-Ouest
• Kouilou
• Lékoumou
• Likouala
• Niari
• Plateaux
• Pointe-Noire
• Pool
• Sangha

}}

{{Clear}}

{{main|Human rights in the Republic of the Congo}}

{{see also|LGBT rights in the Republic of the Congo}}

Some Pygmies belong from birth to Bantus in a relationship some refer to as slavery.{{cite news|url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/111113/pygmy-pets-congo-pygmies-slavery-human-rights|title=Pygmies in the Congo treated like "pets": report|publisher=globalpost.com|access-date=13 November 2011|date=13 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114021904/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/111113/pygmy-pets-congo-pygmies-slavery-human-rights|archive-date=14 November 2011|url-status=live}}{{cite news |first=Katie |last=Thomas |title=Slaves of the Congo |url=http://internationalreportingproject.org/stories/view/slaves-of-the-congo |publisher=International Reporting Project |date=4 March 2007 |access-date=13 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714221201/http://internationalreportingproject.org/stories/view/slaves-of-the-congo |archive-date=14 July 2014 |url-status=live}} The Congolese Human Rights Observatory says that the Pygmies are treated as property in the same way as pets. On 30 December 2010, the Congolese parliament adopted a law to promote and protect the rights of indigenous peoples.{{clarify|how's this working out in practice? The statutory law is 1 thing; and what is actually happening with human rights de facto in the countryside?|date=October 2019}} This law is "the first" of its kind in Africa.{{cite web |url=http://www.iwgia.org/sw153.asp |title=UN expert praises Congo's draft law on indigenous rights |access-date=17 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124090322/http://www.iwgia.org/sw153.asp |archive-date=24 November 2010}}. iwgia.org, 15 November 2010{{update after|2019|10|7}}

{{main|Economy of the Republic of the Congo}}

{{see also|Hydrocarbon exploration|List of companies of the Republic of the Congo}}

File:GDP per capita development of the Republic of the Congo.svg

File:Republic of the Congo Product Exports (2019).svg

The economy is a mixture of village agriculture and handicrafts, an industrial sector based mainly on petroleum,{{cite web|url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/congo2.html |title=Congo-Brazzaville |publisher=Energy Information Administration, U.S. Government |access-date=11 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080323115110/http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/congo2.html |archive-date=23 March 2008 }} support services, and a government characterized by budget problems and "overstaffing". Petroleum extraction has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the economy. In 2008, the oil sector accounted for 65% of the GDP, 85% of government revenue, and 92% of exports.[http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/CONGOEXTN/0,,menuPK:349223~pagePK:141132~piPK:141107~theSitePK:349199,00.html Republic of the Congo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504123157/http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/CONGOEXTN/0,,menuPK:349223~pagePK:141132~piPK:141107~theSitePK:349199,00.html |date=4 May 2009 }} World Bank The country has untapped mineral wealth.

In the 1980s, rising oil revenues enabled the government to finance larger-scale development projects. GDP grew an average of 5% annually. The government has mortgaged a portion of its petroleum earnings, contributing to a "shortage of revenues". On 12 January 1994, the devaluation of Franc Zone currencies by 50% resulted in an inflation of 46% in 1994, and inflation has subsided since.

{{cite web

| url = http://www.econstats.com/weo/CCOG.htm

| title = Congo, Republic of

| publisher = EconStats

| access-date = 11 June 2009

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090428114157/http://www.econstats.com/weo/CCOG.htm

| archive-date = 28 April 2009

| url-status = live

| df = dmy-all

}}

Between 1994 and 1996, the economy underwent a difficult transition. The Congo took a number of measures to liberalize its economy, including reforming the tax, investment, labor, timber, and hydrocarbon codes. In 2002–03, Congo privatized parastatals, primarily banks, telecommunications, and transportation monopolies, to help improve and unreliable infrastructure. By the end of 1996 Congo had made progress in various areas targeted for reform. It made great strides toward macroeconomic stabilization through improving public finances and restructuring external debt. This change was accompanied by improvements in the structure of expenditures, with a reduction in personnel expenditures. Before June 1997, Congo and the United States ratified a bilateral investment treaty designed to facilitate and protect foreign investment. The country also adopted a new investment code intended to attract foreign capital. Despite these success, Congo's investment climate has challenges, offering few meaningful incentives for new investors.{{Cite web |title=Congo (Brazzaville) (11/05) |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/congobrazzaville/58673.htm |access-date=2024-11-16 |website=U.S. Department of State}}

File:Jeunes filles apprenant la couture - Ecole Spéciale de Brazzaville.jpg

Economic reform efforts continued with the support of international organizations, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The reform program came to a halt in June 1997 when civil war erupted. When Sassou Nguesso returned to power in October 1997, he publicly expressed interest in moving forward on economic reforms and privatization and in renewing cooperation with international financial institutions. 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.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024|reason=I believe this paragraph doesn't have a source as the quotes do not appear via ctrl-f in the documents cited in the next paragraph.}}

The administration presides over an "uneasy internal peace" and faces "difficult" economic problems of stimulating recovery and reducing poverty, with record-high oil prices since 2003. Natural gas and diamonds are other exports, while Congo was excluded from the Kimberley Process in 2004 amid allegations that most of its diamond exports were, in fact, being smuggled out of the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo; it was re-admitted to the group in 2007.{{cite web|url=http://www.kimberleyprocess.com/download/getfile/310 |title=Kimberley Process Removes the Republic of Congo from the List of Participants |publisher=Kimberley Process |date=9 July 2004 |access-date=11 June 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090510045124/http://www.kimberleyprocess.com/download/getfile/310 |archive-date=10 May 2009 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.kimberleyprocess.com/download/getfile/678 |title=2007 Kimberley Process Communiqué |publisher=Kimberley Process |date=8 November 2007 |access-date=11 June 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080304225023/http://www.kimberleyprocess.com/download/getfile/678 |archive-date=4 March 2008 }}

The Republic of the Congo has untapped base metal, gold, iron, and phosphate deposits.{{cite web | url=http://www.mbendi.com/indy/ming/af/co/p0005.htm | title=Mining in Congo | publisher=MBendi | access-date=14 June 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227073149/https://www.mbendi.com/indy/ming/af/co/p0005.htm | archive-date=27 December 2016 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }} It is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).

{{cite web

| title = OHADA.com: The business law portal in Africa

| url = http://www.ohada.com/index.php

| access-date = 22 March 2009

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090326033744/http://www.ohada.com/index.php

| archive-date = 26 March 2009

| url-status = live

| df = dmy-all

}}

The Congolese government signed an agreement in 2009 to lease 200,000 hectares of land to South African farmers to reduce its dependence on imports.Goodspeed, Peter (21 October 2009) {{cite web |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2130070 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110218183659/http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2130070 |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 February 2011 |title=South Africa's white farmers prepare to trek to the Congo |access-date=10 September 2016}}. National Post.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/congo/6398253/Congo-hands-land-to-South-African-farmers.html Congo hands land to South African farmers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521201638/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/congo/6398253/Congo-hands-land-to-South-African-farmers.html |date=21 May 2018 }}. Telegraph. 21 October 2009. The GDP of the Republic of the Congo grew by 6% in 2014 and is expected to have grown by 7.5% in 2015.{{Cite web|title = Republic of the Congo GDP Annual Growth Rate|website = Trading Economics}}{{Cite web|url = https://www.gfmag.com/global-data/country-data/republic-of-the-congo-gdp-country-report|title = Republic of the Congo GDP and Economic Data|access-date = 14 January 2016|website = Global Finance|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160124211901/http://www.gfmag.com/global-data/country-data/republic-of-the-congo-gdp-country-report|archive-date = 24 January 2016|url-status = live|df = dmy-all}}

In 2018, the Republic of the Congo joined the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.{{cite web |title=OPEC Member Countries |url=https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/25.htm |publisher=Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries |access-date=20 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190208202051/https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/25.htm |archive-date=8 February 2019 |url-status=live}}

Congo–Ocean Railway was built by forced laborers during the 1930s. Some colonial architectural heritage is preserved. Restoration of architectural works is underway in Brazzaville, for example, at the Basilica of Sainte-Anne du Congo, which was completed in 2011.{{cite news|url=http://latitudefrance.org/25-mars-Inauguration-officielle-de.html|title=Inauguration de la basilique Sainte-Anne du Congo à Brazzaville|newspaper=Latitude France|place=Brazzaville|date=31 March 2011|access-date=21 March 2020|language=fr|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110413224106/http://latitudefrance.org/25-mars-Inauguration-officielle-de.html|archive-date=13 April 2011}}

{{main|Demographics of the Republic of the Congo}}

Its population is concentrated in the southwestern portion, leaving the areas of tropical jungle in the north virtually uninhabited. 70% of its total population lives in urban areas, namely in Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, or one of the cities or villages lining the {{convert|534|km|adj=on}}, railway which connects the two cities. In rural areas, industrial and commercial activity has declined in some years, leaving rural economies dependent on the government for support and subsistence.

Before the 1997 war, about 9,000 Europeans and other non-Africans lived in Congo, most of whom were French; a fraction of this number remains. Around 300 American immigrants reside in the Congo.

According to a 2011–12 survey, the total fertility rate was 5.1 children born per woman, with 4.5 in urban areas and 6.5 in rural areas.[http://www.measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/FR267/FR267.pdf Congo. Enquête Démographique et de Santé 2011–2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222140728/http://www.measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/FR267/FR267.pdf |date=22 February 2014 }}. Centre National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (CNSEE), Brazzaville. December 2012

{{Largest cities

| country = Republic of the Congo (2023 census)

| stat_ref ={{Cite web|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/congo/admin/|title=Congo (Rep.): Administrative Division|work=City Population|access-date=2025-02-03}}

| list_by_pop =

| div_name =

| div_link = Departments of the Republic of the Congo{{!}}Department

| city_1 = Brazzaville

| div_1 = Brazzaville Department{{!}}Brazzaville

| pop_1 = 2,138,236

| img_1 = Brazzaville bird eye view.jpg

| city_2 = Pointe-Noire

| div_2 = Pointe-Noire Department{{!}}Pointe-Noire

| pop_2 = 1,398,812

| img_2 = Pointe-Noire downtown.jpg

| city_3 = Dolisie

| div_3 = Niari Department{{!}}Niari

| pop_3 = 178,172

| img_3 =

| city_4 =Nkayi, Republic of the Congo{{!}}Nkayi

| div_4 = Bouenza

| pop_4 = 104,083

| img_4 =

| city_5 = Ouésso

| div_5 = Sangha Department (Republic of the Congo){{!}}Sangha

| pop_5 = 75,095

| img_5 =

| city_6 = Kintélé

| div_6 = Pool Department{{!}}Pool

| pop_6 = 71,629

| img_6 =

| city_7 = Oyo, Republic of the Congo{{!}}Oyo

| div_7 = Cuvette Department{{!}}Cuvette

| pop_7 = 63,598

| img_7 =

| city_8 = Bétou

| div_8 = Likouala Department{{!}}Likouala

| pop_8 = 59,563

| img_8 =

| city_9 = Gamboma

| div_9 = Plateaux Department (Republic of the Congo){{!}}Plateaux

| pop_9 = 52,652

| img_9 =

| city_10 = Owando

| div_10 = Cuvette Department{{!}}Cuvette

| pop_10 = 48,642

| img_10 =

}}

{{Main|Languages of the Republic of the Congo}}

French is the official language of the Republic of the Congo. In addition, Ethnologue recognizes 62 spoken languages in the country.{{cite web | url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=CG | title=Languages of Congo | publisher=SIL International | access-date=13 June 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080923225148/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=CG | archive-date=23 September 2008 | url-status=live | df=dmy-all }} The Kongo are the largest ethnic group and form roughly half of the population. The most significant subgroups of the Kongo are Laari, in Brazzaville and Pool regions, and the Vili, around Pointe-Noire and along the Atlantic coast. The second largest group is the Teke, who live to the north of Brazzaville, with 16.9% of the population. Mbochi live in the north, east and in Brazzaville and form 13.1% of the population.{{cite book | title=Ethnic groups worldwide | author=Levinson, David | year=1998 | pages=120–121 | isbn=978-1-57356-019-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uwi-rv3VV6cC&pg=PA120 | publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group | access-date=20 December 2020 | archive-date=13 April 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413223837/https://books.google.com/books?id=uwi-rv3VV6cC&pg=PA120 | url-status=live }}{{cite web | url=http://www.minorityrights.org/?lid=4141 | title=Congo Overview | publisher=Minority Rights Group International | access-date=13 June 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614031740/http://www.minorityrights.org/?lid=4141 | archive-date=14 June 2008 | url-status=live | df=dmy-all }} Pygmies make up 2% of Congo's population.{{cite news | url=http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2011/08/05/les-pygmees-du-congo-en-danger-d-extinction_1556735_3212.html#ens_id=1259967 | title=Les pygmées du Congo en "danger d'extinction" | newspaper=Le Monde | date=5 August 2011 | access-date=5 November 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107030414/http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2011/08/05/les-pygmees-du-congo-en-danger-d-extinction_1556735_3212.html#ens_id=1259967 | archive-date=7 November 2017 | url-status=live | df=dmy-all }}

{{Main|Religion in the Republic of the Congo}}

{{Pie chart

|thumb = right

|caption = Religion in the Republic of the Congo by the Association of Religion Data Archives (2015){{cite web|date=2015|title=Congo, Republic of the|access-date=18 May 2020|publisher=Association of Religion Data Archives|url=http://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_58_1.asp|archive-date=22 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022230535/https://thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_58_1.asp|url-status=live}}

|label1 = Roman Catholic

|value1 = 52.9

|color1 = Blue

|label2 = Protestant and other Christian

|value2 = 35.6

|color2 = DarkOrchid

|label3 = Traditional African religions

|value3 = 4.7

|color3 = Gold

|label4 = Other religions

|value4 = 2.3

|color4 = MediumSeaGreen

|label5 = No religion

|value5 = 3.0

|color5 = Grey

|label6 = Don't know

|color6 = black

|value6 = 1.4

}}

According to CIA World Factbook, the people of the Republic of the Congo are largely a mix of Catholics (33.1%), Awakening Lutherans (22.3%), and other Protestants (19.9%) as of 2007. Followers of Islam make up 1.6%; this is primarily due to an influx of foreign workers into the urban centers.

{{Main|Education in the Republic of the Congo}}

File:SAINTE RITA CONG-BR2.jpg

Public expenditure of the GDP was less in 2002–05 than in 1991. Public education is theoretically free and mandatory for under-16-year-olds,[http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,,,COG,456d621e2,4aba3ee628,0.html Refworld | 2008 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor – Congo, Republic of the] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510033931/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,,,COG,456d621e2,4aba3ee628,0.html |date=10 May 2011 }}. UNHCR. Retrieved on 25 February 2013. and in practice, expenses exist. In 2005 net primary enrollment rate was 44%, a drop from 79% in 1991.

{{Main|Health in the Republic of the Congo}}

Public expenditure health was at 8.9% of the GDP in 2004 whereas private expenditure was at 1.3%.{{cite web |url=http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/data_sheets/cty_ds_COG.html |title=Human Development Report 2009 |access-date=24 June 2014 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117223815/http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/data_sheets/cty_ds_COG.html |archive-date=17 January 2010}}. undp.org

{{As of|2012}}, the HIV/AIDS prevalence was at 2.8% among 15- to 49-year-olds. Health expenditure was at US$30 per capita in 2004. A proportion of the population is undernourished, and malnutrition is a problem in Congo.{{cite web|url=http://www.irinnews.org/report/73653/congo-grappling-with-malnutrition-and-post-conflict-woes|title=IRIN Africa – CONGO: Grappling with malnutrition and post-conflict woes – Congo – Food Security – Health & Nutrition|work=IRINnews|access-date=23 January 2015|date=8 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129020635/http://www.irinnews.org/report/73653/congo-grappling-with-malnutrition-and-post-conflict-woes|archive-date=29 November 2014|url-status=live}} There were 20 physicians per 100,000 persons in the 2000s (decade).

{{As of|2010}}, the maternal mortality rate was 560 deaths/100,000 live births, and the infant mortality rate was 59.34 deaths/1,000 live births. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is confined to limited geographic areas.{{cite web|url=http://inthenews.unfpa.org/?p=15146|title=CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE): UNFPA Leads Fight Against FGM " UNFPA in the News|access-date=23 January 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129011052/http://inthenews.unfpa.org/?p=15146|archive-date=29 November 2014}}

{{Main|Culture of the Republic of the Congo}}

{{Main|Music of the Republic of the Congo}}

{{Main|Mass media in the Republic of the Congo}}

{{Main|Congolese cuisine}}

{{Further information|Football in the Republic of the Congo|Rugby union in the Republic of the Congo}}

{{Portal|Republic of the Congo|Africa|Countries}}

• Index of Republic of the Congo–related articles
• List of people from the Republic of the Congo
• Outline of the Republic of the Congo

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{{Notelist}}

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• Petringa, Maria (2006). Brazza, A Life for Africa. {{ISBN|978-1-4259-1198-0}}.

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{{Sister project links|Republic of the Congo|voy=Republic of the Congo}}

Government

• [http://www.presidence.cg/accueil/ Presidency of the Republic] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222012727/http://www.presidence.cg/accueil/ |date=22 December 2010 }} {{in lang|fr}}
• [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/world-leaders-c/congo-republic-of-the.html Chief of State and Cabinet Members] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210080257/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/world-leaders-c/congo-republic-of-the.html |date=10 December 2008 }}

General

• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1076794.stm Country Profile] from BBC News
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081207054856/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/Congo.htm Republic of the Congo] from UCB Libraries GovPubs
• {{wikiatlas|the Republic of the Congo}}

Tourism

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{{Congo-Brazzaville topics}}

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Category:Central African countries

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