The Republic of the Congo, often called Congo-Brazzaville to distinguish it from its larger neighbour across the river, is a country in Central Africa straddling the equator on the Atlantic coast. A land of dense rainforest, savanna, and the great Congo River, it shares much of its history and culture with the wider Congo region. Heavily reliant on oil, with much of its small population gathered in two cities, it is among the more urbanised countries on the continent.
The region was home to Bantu peoples and to kingdoms such as the Loango and the Kongo, which traded along the coast and the rivers. From the fifteenth century European traders arrived, and the area became drawn into the Atlantic trade. France colonised the territory in the late nineteenth century, making Brazzaville the capital of its central African empire. The country gained independence in 1960, and after independence it experienced a period of Marxist one-party rule and, in the 1990s, episodes of civil conflict.
The Republic of the Congo straddles the equator and is largely covered by dense tropical rainforest, part of the vast forests of the Congo Basin, the second largest in the world, interspersed with areas of savanna. The mighty Congo River and its tributary the Oubangui form much of the eastern border, separating the country from its larger namesake, while a short Atlantic coastline lies to the southwest. The hot, humid, forested land is rich in wildlife, including forest elephants and gorillas.
The flag of the Republic of the Congo is divided by a yellow diagonal band running from the lower hoist to the upper fly, separating a green triangle from a red one. These are the pan-African colours: the green is said to represent the country's forests and agriculture, the yellow its friendship and the nobility of its people, and the red, by some accounts, the blood shed in the struggle for independence. The flag was used at independence, set aside during the Marxist era, and later restored.
The Republic of the Congo is a predominantly Christian country, the legacy of French and missionary influence, with the majority belonging to the Roman Catholic Church and various Protestant and independent African churches, the last often blending Christian worship with local tradition. Traditional African religions, honouring ancestors and spirits, remain influential and are frequently practised alongside Christianity. There is a small Muslim minority, and religion plays a significant role in the community life of the country.
The cuisine of the Republic of the Congo is based on the produce of its forests and rivers. Cassava is the great staple, made into fufu or fermented into a dish wrapped and steamed in leaves, and cassava leaves themselves, known as saka-saka, are cooked into a popular dish. Plantains, rice, and beans are common, along with freshwater fish from the rivers and bushmeat from the forest. Peanut sauces, leafy greens, and palm oil characterise a food culture shaped by a lush, green land.
Agriculture plays a relatively limited role in the economy of the Republic of the Congo, which depends heavily on oil, and much of it is small-scale subsistence farming of cassava, plantains, and other food crops in the forest and savanna. Sugar, cocoa, coffee, and oil palm are grown commercially, and the vast rainforests yield valuable timber. The country's economy, however, rests above all on petroleum, which it produces from fields off its Atlantic coast and which dominates its exports and government revenue.
The kingdoms of the region, the role of Brazzaville as the capital of French Central Africa, and independence in 1960 shaped the nation. During the Second World War, Brazzaville served for a time as the symbolic capital of Free France. After independence the country adopted a Marxist-Leninist system for some years, and in the 1990s it suffered bouts of civil war connected to disputed elections, before returning to a measure of stability under a long-serving leadership, its fortunes tied closely to the price of oil.
The Republic of the Congo has a population of around 6 million people, made up of various Bantu ethnic groups, the largest including the Kongo and the Teke, speaking many languages with French as the official tongue. The country is among the most urbanised in Africa, with the great majority of its people living in just two cities, the capital, Brazzaville, which sits on the Congo River directly across from Kinshasa in the larger Congo, and the Atlantic port of Pointe-Noire.
