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Destination : REPUBLIC OF CONGO

The Republic of Congo is situated in Western Africa. The capital is the city of Brazzaville. Its neighbouring countries are Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, the Angolan Cabinda Enclave and the Atlantic. Vast areas are swamps, grassland or thick forests with rivers. The vast Congo River draws much of its water from swamp lands in the north. The narrow sandy coastal plain is broken by lagoons behind which rise the Mayombe Mountains. Upon independence in 1960, the former French region of Middle Congo became the Republic of the Congo. A quarter century of experimentation with Marxism was abandoned in 1990 and a democratically elected government installed in 1992. A brief civil war in 1997 restored former Marxist President SASSOU-NGUESSO
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 9,000 Europeans and other non-Africans lived in Congo, most of whom were French. Only a fraction of this number remains.

The capital, Brazzaville, lies on the west side of Malebo Pool on the River Congo. Sights include the beautiful Basilique Ste Anne, the Temple Mosque and the Municipal Gardens. To the south of Brazzaville are the Congo Rapids (9km/6 miles away) and the Loufoulakari Falls. Waterskiing on the Congo and Kouillou rivers is a popular sporting activity in peacetime. The main coastal town is Pointe-Noire (with its lively evening market) and there are good beaches close by in the Côte Sauvage region. Some restaurants specialise in African dishes such as piri piri chicken and Mouambe chicken in palm oil. Local musicians are popular in the main towns. Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire have several nightclubs.

First inhabited by pygmies, Congo was later settled by Bantu groups that also occupied parts of present-day Angola, Gabon, and Zaire, 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.

The area came under French sovereignty in the 1880s. Pierre Sauvignon de Brazza, a French empire builder, competed with agents of Belgian King Leopold's International Congo Association (later Zaire) for control of the Congo River basin. Between 1882 and 1891, treaties were secured with all the main local rulers on the river's right bank, placing their lands under French protection. In 1908, France organized French Equatorial Africa (AEF), comprising its colonies of Middle Congo (modern Congo), Gabon, Chad, and Oubangui-Chari (modern Central African Republic). Brazzaville was selected as the federal capital.

Economic development during the first 50 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, the AEF administration sided with Charles DeGaulle, and 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 labor, 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.