Location:
Central Africa
Capital City:
Brazzaville
Area:
total: 342,000 sq km
land: 341,500 sq km
water: 500 sq km
Land boundaries:
Total: 5,008 km
border countries (5):
Angola 231 km,
Cameroon 494 km,
The central African Republic 487 km,
The Democratic Republic of the Congo 1,229 km,
Gabon 2,567 km
Coastline: 169 km
Total: 5077 km

The Republic of Congo


Climate:
Terrain:
tropical; rainy season (March to June); dry season (June to October); persistent high temperatures and humidity; particularly enervating climate astride the Equator
Elevation:
mean elevation: 430 m
elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Berongou 903 m
Natural resources:
petroleum, timber, potash, lead, zinc, uranium, copper, phosphates, gold, magnesium, natural gas, hydropower
Land use:
agricultural land: 31.1%
arable land 1.6%; permanent crops 0.2%; permanent pasture 29.3%
forest: 65.6%
other: 3.3% (2011 est.)
Irrigated land:
20 sq km (2012)
Population – distribution:
the population is primarily located in the south, in and around the capital of Brazzaville
Natural hazards:
seasonal flooding

People and Society
The earliest inhabitants of the region comprising present-day Congo were the Bambuti people. The Bambuti were linked to Pygmy tribes whose Stone Age culture was slowly replaced by Bantu tribes coming from regions north of the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo about 2,000 years ago, introducing Iron Age culture to the region. The main Bantu tribe living in the region were the Kongo, also known as Bakongo, who established mostly weak and unstable kingdoms along the mouth, north, and south of the Congo River. The capital of this Kongolese kingdom, Mbanza Kongo, later baptized as São Salvador by the Portuguese, is a town in northern Angola near the border with the DRC.
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 70% 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 534-kilometer (332 mi) 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.
Population:
4,954,674
Nationality:
Congolese
Ethnic groups:
Kongo 48%, Sangha 20%, M’Bochi 12%, Teke 17%, Europeans and other 3%
Languages:
French (official), Lingala and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages), many local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo is the most widespread)
Religions:
Roman Catholic 33.1%, Awakening Churches/Christian Revival 22.3%, Protestant 19.9%, Salutiste 2.2%, Muslim 1.6%, Kimbanguiste 1.5%, other 8.1%, none 11.3% (2010 est.)
Ethnicity, Language, and Religion
Congo’s population is estimated at 4.95 million, over half of which live in the two major cities of Brazzaville and Pointe- Noire. Rural exoduses since the 20th century and a sparse population have meant that three fourth of the population lives in urban areas, thus making Congo one of Africa’s most urbanized countries. Almost all Congolese are Bantu, a name that refers to the people living in Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa. The Bantu originated from Nigeria and Cameroon and migrated to Southern Africa 2,000 years ago. In present-day Congo, non-Bantu tribes account for only 3% of the population. The Bantu include 74 peoples belonging to different ethnic groups such as the Kongo, the Teke, the Mbochi and the Sangha.
The Bakongo live in the south from Brazzaville to Pointe-Noire on the Atlantic coast. The Bakongo include the Lari around Brazzaville, the Vili near Pointe-Noire, the Yombe ( Bayombe) in the Mayombe Range, the Babembe, the Basoundi, the Bakamba and of course the Bakongo, after the powerful Kings of Kongo. The Mbochi, another major ethnic group includes the Mbochi, Kouyou, Makoua, Bonga, Bobangi, Moye, Ngare and Mboko. Most live in the deep forests of the north and west.
Except for the Pygmies and the Adamawa-Ubangi speaking populations in the northeast, the indigenous peoples all speak Bantu languages. Intergroup communication and trade fostered the development of two trade languages, Lingala and Kituba (Mono kutuba). Lingala is spoken north of Brazzaville, and Kituba is common in the area between the capital and the coast. French is the official language and the medium of educational instruction, as well as the language of the upper classes.
Almost 50% of the population is Christian, with about 90% of all Christians affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. Protestant denominations include Methodists, Seventh-Day Adventists, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. A small number of Christians practice Kimbanquism, a combination of Christian and native customs and beliefs which originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Less than 2% of the population are Muslim, mostly immigrants from north and west Africa who work or reside in urban centers. The remainder practice traditional indigenous religions or no religion.
Education
The Republic of Congo intends to use education as a key lever for development in order to ensure its economy is well integrated into the global economy. In particular, education is seen as a way to produce a well-trained and qualified workforce. 12.6% of the Congolese budget is spent on education; 40% on primary education, 31% on the secondary level, and 27% on the tertiary level. Only 1% goes to pre-primary education. Education in Congo takes 13 years, from the first level of Primary School to the Higher Certificate. According to the 2005 UNDP report, 66.8% of Congolese are literate.
Primary level education in the Republic of the Congo takes six years. The average age at which children arrive at school is 5½ years. Primary school consists of six grades; two preparatory, two elementary, and two medium classes. At the end of the second medium class, the young learner is required to do the Secondary School Entry Test, on which his entry to secondary level is hinged.
The secondary school takes seven years. It consists of two parts, the first one being “college”, and the second “lycée”. The term “lycée” (or lycee) on the other hand refers to the three subsequent grades of Secondary Level, including Grades 11, 12 and 13. There are three kinds of lycées in the country: Agricultural, Technical, and General Lycées. At Grade 13, every student is required to do the Senior School Higher Certificate Examination, no matter which lycée they are studying in.
tertiary education institutions include the Christian Polytechnic & Professional Institute of Arts, the Institute of Business & Economic Development, the Mondongo Higher Institute of Agricultural Sciences, and Marien Ngouabi University. The latter was founded in 1971 as the University of Brazzaville and re-named a few years later after an assassinated president. In its heyday, it produced a wide variety of graduates. Its current status is uncertain.

Economy
The Republic of the Congo’s economy is a mixture of subsistence farming, an industrial sector based largely on oil and support services, and government spending. Oil has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the economy, providing a major share of government revenues and exports. Natural gas is increasingly being converted to electricity rather than being flared, greatly improving energy prospects. New mining projects, particularly iron ore, which entered production in late 2013, may add as much as $1 billion to annual government revenue. The Republic of the Congo is a member of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) and shares a common currency – the Central African Franc – with five other member states in the region.
While some progress has been made in transforming its natural resources into economic growth, the country has not fully succeeded in leveraging them to achieve robust socio-economic outcomes. Overall, the heavy reliance on hydrocarbon resources has crowded out the development of sectors such as agriculture and forestry.
Though oil production increased in 2017 with a new field (Moho Nord) coming on stream and oil prices start recovering, the increase in oil GDP did not off-set the contraction of non-oil activities. The latter sharply decreased by 9.2 percent in 2017 as a tight financial situation linked to the accumulation of government arrears forced many companies to reduce activities and staff. The non-oil sector was mostly affected by reduced activities in Telecommunications, Transport, and Construction.
Economic growth is projected to slowly recover at 1.4 percent an average over 2018-2020. This recovery is supported by higher oil production and an increase in ICT and manufacturing output, as the Dangote cement plant has started production in November 2017. Non-oil production will continue its gradual recovery for reaching the peak in 2019. Average inflation is expected to stand below the CEMAC norm of 3 percent. As a result, overall fiscal and external balances are expected to be contained over 2018-2020 in the hopes of successful implementation of the fiscal and economic reforms.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$29.16 billion (2017 est.)
$30.26 billion (2016 est.)
$31.13 billion (2015 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
GDP (official exchange rate):
$7.799 billion (2017 est.)
GDP – real growth rate:
-3.6% (2017 est.)
-2.8% (2016 est.)
2.6% (2015 est.)
GDP – per capita (PPP):
$6,700 (2017 est.)
$7,100 (2016 est.)
$7,500 (2015 est.)
Gross national saving:
13.5% of GDP (2017 est.)
-26.3% of GDP (2016 est.)
-2.2% of GDP (2015 est.)
GDP – composition, by sector of origin:
agriculture: 8.9%
industry: 50.8%
services: 40.3% (2017 est.)
Agriculture – products:
cassava (manioc, tapioca), sugar, rice, corn, peanuts, vegetables, coffee, cocoa; forest products
Industries:
petroleum extraction, cement, lumber, brewing, sugar, palm oil, soap, flour, cigarettes
Population below poverty line:
46.5% (2011 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $2.516 billion
expenditures: $3.336 billion (2017 est.)
Agriculture
Agriculture in the Republic of the Congo is mostly at the subsistence level. Self-sufficiency in food production is yet to be achieved. Cassava (manioc) is the basic food crop everywhere in the country except in the southern region, where bananas and plantains are prevalent. Among the cash crops, the most important are sugarcane and tobacco, though palm kernels, cacao, and coffee are also cultivated to some extent. The main consumption crops are bananas, manioc, peanuts, plantains, sugarcane, and yams. Subsistence agriculture is the country’s most significant employer, and it is one of the three most important economic sectors.
The Republic of Congo’s agricultural sector is limited and cannot satisfy domestic demand. Approximately 40% of the population is engaged in subsistence agricultural production, which contributes just 4.0 % of Congo’s gross domestic product (GDP). Only a small percentage of arable land is currently under cultivation; the exact percentage is not known, but it is certainly less than 10%, and the quantity under cultivation has not increased appreciably in recent years. The country relies heavily on food imports, which account for about 80% of domestic food consumption. Imported foodstuffs come mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo, France, and the United States. France is the largest source of the Republic of Congo’s agricultural imports.
Agriculture is mainly in the peri-urban and remote areas of Congo where the main crops grown are manioc (Cassava), plantains, bananas, peanuts, palm oil, fruits, vegetables, yams, beans, peas, and maize. Rice is cultivated in the Niari Valley and in the Djambala District. Exports are limited to sugar, forest-based products, coffee, tobacco, and rubber, with sugar and timber being profitable items of export.
Livestock husbandry has traditionally been performed on a limited scale in the country, with cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and poultry being reared. In an effort to increase the availability of meat in rural areas, the government instituted a lend-lease system. Farmers would be lent animals by the state with the requirement to pay back the same number of animals at a later date.
Opportunities exist for exporting food products to the Republic of Congo, as well as setting up operations in the Republic of Congo for the production and/or processing of food. South African farmers have recently leased land for food production in the Republic of Congo, and the U.S.-based NGO International Partnership for Human Development (IPHD) has successfully prototyped large-scale industrial farming in three different areas of the country.
Electricity access:
population without electricity: 2,600,000
electrification – total population: 42%
electrification – urban areas: 62%
electrification – rural areas: 5% (2013)
Electricity – production:
1.676 billion kWh (2015 est.)
Electricity – consumption:
900.5 million kWh (2015 est.)
Electricity – exports:
22 million kWh (2015 est.)
Electricity – imports:
18 million kWh (2015 est.)
Electricity – installed generating capacity:
545,000 kW (2015 est.)
Electricity – from fossil fuels:
61.7% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)
Electricity – from nuclear fuels:
0% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)
Telephones – fixed lines:
total subscriptions: 17,000
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: less than 1 (July 2016 est.)
Telephones – mobile cellular:
total: 5.424 million
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 109 (July 2016 est.)
Internet country code:
.cj
Internet users:
total: 362,000
percent of population: 7.6% (July 2016 est.)
Industry and Mining
The manufacturing sector is limited by small domestic markets, dependence upon foreign investment, and a lack of skilled labor. Most factories are located in Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, Kayes, Loubomo, and towns in the Niari valley. Products include processed foods (particularly flour and sugar), beer and other beverages, cigarettes, textiles and clothing, footwear, processed wood and paper, chemicals, cement and bricks, glassware, and metal goods such as nails and metal furniture. The first petroleum refinery went into operation in 1976 at Pointe-Noire. Handicrafts include carvings, pottery, needlework, tiles, and bricks.
The Republic of Congo is the fourth largest oil producing country in sub-Saharan Africa and is expected to produce 260,000 barrels per day by the end of the last quarter of 2017. Oil accounts for over 90% of Congolese exports. By 2018, production is expected to grow to 350,000 barrels per day as new offshore fields come online. Despite new finds and better drilling technology, oil production is still expected to decline to 275,000 barrels per day by 2020 as older oil fields are retired.
Eighty percent of the Republic of Congo’s 22.5 million hectare rainforest is commercially viable. The rainforest covers about 60% of the country’s total area. Timber is the Republic of Congo’s second main export after oil. Okoume, a light hardwood used for plywood, is the most commercially active (accounting for about 50 % of production), but some two dozen species can be marketed. Crude logs make up to 90% of timber exports; the remainder is processed woods, mainly plywood. China buys 90% of Congo’s forestry sector exports.
International organizations including Forest Monitor are currently working with the government to reform the timber industry to improve and enforce transparency, simplify the tax code, expand responsible logging practices, and put in place a new and improved Forest Law. The current Forest Law requires all logging companies to process at least 80% of their production domestically, but compliance has been limited given the Republic of Congo’s current lack of technical capacity in this regard. Congo is also striving to increase the number of forest concessions that are FSC certified.
Banking and Finance
The Congolese financial sector is one of the least developed in Africa. However, the recent acceleration in growth, improved infrastructure, and ample liquidity have laid the ground for sustained financial deepening. However, financial intermediation remains low, with a liquidity ratio (M2/GDP) of 22.4% in 2011 and financial depth remains an issue at only 6.5 percent. The main barriers limiting credit supply include insufficient investor protection, weak contract enforcement, low project bankability, lack of property ownership and bottlenecks in land registration.
The Bank of the Central African States (BEAC), headquartered in Cameroon, regulates the banking system. Overall authority for Republic of Congo’s banking system rests with the Ministry of Finance. The Republic of Congo’s banking system includes eleven commercial banks. Commercial banks offer most corporate banking services or can procure them from overseas. Local credit to the private sector is limited and expensive but available to both foreign and local investors on equal terms. The country’s main economic actors, the oil companies, finance themselves outside of the Republic of Congo. Commercial banks have transferred excess liquidity to correspondent banks outside the region.
The country’s banking sector appears to have been largely insulated from the effects of the global financial crisis, thanks, in part, to its limited integration with world markets, low exposure to toxic assets, and relatively strong compliance with regional banking regulations. Most banks appear to be sound and the sector generally maintains high liquidity, with risk ratio coverage above the regulatory 8 percent minimum and total weighted risks limits of over 15 percent of equity capital maintained. As of 2012, 9 commercial banks were operating in the country with only 58 branches and 62 ATMs.
As part of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), The Republic of Congo shares a common currency with other member states and delegates monetary policy to the Bank of Central African States (BEAC). In 1993, CEMAC established a Banking Commission (COBAC) to administer, regulate, and supervise banks that are part of the BEAC region. BEAC offers a form of deposit insurance, the FOGADAC, a regional deposit insurance fund that was created in 1994 and is managed by the national banking association with a monitoring role by the COBAC.
Tourism
A land of steamy jungles hiding half the world’s lowland gorillas, masses of forest elephants, and hooting, swinging troops of chimpanzees, the Republic of Congo is on the cusp of becoming one of the finest ecotourism destinations in Africa. Boasting three excellent and little-visited national parks where everything from luxurious safaris to bush camping is possible, the main attraction to this alluring slice of West Africa is the raw, untrammeled call of nature. However, Congo-Brazzaville (as it’s often called to distinguish it from Democratic Republic of Congo, south of the Congo River) also enjoys a pleasantly laid-back capital city in Brazzaville, some decent beaches on its Atlantic coastline and the warm and welcoming Congolese culture. For those ready to heed the call of the wild – and are not afraid of adventure – the Congo awaits.
The upscale lodges at Odzala National Park provide a glimpse of what is possible at the high end of the tourism market. The American NGO Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is also prototyping tourism – on a potentially more affordable scale – in a few of the national parks (Nouabalé-Ndoki and Conkouati) and could be a source of guidance to serious, competent investors hoping to develop tourism in the region. The Republic of Congo government, as well as WCS, is committed to welcoming tourism as a way to provide sustainable employment for people living near the national park areas.
Place of Attractions
The capital and largest city of the Republic of Congo, Brazzaville is located on the mighty Congo River, just opposite the sprawling city of Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Diosso is a town in the Republic of Congo, situated about 15 miles (25km) north of Pointe Noire in the Kouilou Department. The town is conveniently close to Pointe Noire and has a few attractions including a small museum, a mausoleum, and the nearby Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Centre which will interest animal lovers, but it is not generally the village that attracts tourists.
The Odzala-Kokoua National Park is in the northwest of the Republic of Congo and is one of the most amazing protected wilderness areas in the world. The park was founded in 1935 and remains one of the most important strongholds for forest elephants and western gorilla conservation in Central Africa.
Pointe Noire is the second largest city in the Republic of Congo, the commercial hub of the country, and a very popular destination with tourists in the Congo. It is the center of the oil industry in the region and a major seaport.