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The Republic of the Congo (French: République
du Congo; Kongo: Repubilika ya Kongo; Lingala: Republiki ya Kongó), also known
as Congo-Brazzaville or the Congo, is a country in Central Africa. It is
bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of
Guinea.
The republic is a former French colony. Upon
independence in 1960, the former French region of Middle Congo became the
Republic of the Congo. After a quarter century of Marxism, Congo became a
multi-party democracy in 1992. However, a brief civil war in 1997 ended in the
restoration of former Marxist President Denis Sassou Nguesso to power.
History and
politics
The earliest inhabitants of the area were Pygmy
peoples. They were largely replaced and absorbed by Bantu tribes of during Bantu
expansions. 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.
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 members of his private militia (known as "Cobras") to resist.
Thus began a four-month conflict that destroyed or damaged much of Brazzaville
and caused tens of thousands of civilian deaths. 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 cast. 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, agreed upon by referendum in January 2002, granted the
president new powers and also extended his term to seven years as well as
introducing a new bicameral assembly. International observers took issue with
the organization of the presidential election as well as the constitutional
referendum, both of which were reminiscent in their organization of Congo's era
of the single-party state. Currently, Congo holds a rotating seat in the UN
Security Council.
Political
parties
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
Regions and
districts
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
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- Likouala
- Niari
- Plateaux
- Pool
- Sangha
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The regions are subdivided into forty-six
districts.
Geography
Congo is located in the central-western part of
sub-Saharan Africa, Equator. To the south and east of it is the Democratic
Republic of 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
[1], 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,
despite record-high oil prices since 2003. Natural gas and diamonds are also
recent major Congolese exports, although 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 Congo.
Demographics
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.
References
- Maria Petringa, Brazza, A Life for
Africa (2006) ISBN 9781-4259-11980
Web Links
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- Overviews
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- Ethnic groups
- Human Rights
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[2] Amnesty International Human
Rights Report, 2006
- Tourism
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