Kingdoms of Africa - Republic of the Congo / Congo-Brazzaville

Modern Republic of the Congo / Congo-Brazzaville
AD 1960 - Present Day
Incorporating Heads of State (1960-2025), Republic of the Congo (1960-1970), People's Republic of the Congo (1970-1992), & Republic of the Congo (1992-On)

In modern Africa the nation state of 'Republic of the Congo' is generally landlocked in western Central Africa, apart from a wide access point to the South Atlantic between the coastal city of Pointe-Noire and the Conkouati Reserve or Parc National de Conkouati-Douli.

The country is bordered to the north-west by Gabon, to the north by Cameroon and Central African Republic (or CAR), along almost all of its eastern border by Democratic Republic of the Congo (or DRC) from which it is largely separated by the River Congo, and to its coastal south by Angola's Cabinda exclave.

Although a large state in terms of territory which sits on either side of the Equator, it is dwarfed by DRC. Its capital city is Brazzaville (founded after 1880 as a French colonial settlement), which gives it the alternative name of Congo-Brazzaville to differentiate it from DRC's alter-ego of Congo-Kinshasa or that state's recent heritage as Congo-Leopoldville.

That capital of Brazzaville lies on the northern bank of the River Congo, directly opposite Kinshasa on the southern bank. One of the most sparsely populated countries in Africa, it is rich in diversity and landscapes, with more than sixty languages being spoken. The Kongo, the largest ethnic group, make up forty-eight percent of the population.

People who spoke ancient versions of Kikongo probably arrived from the north to enter the region which is covered by both of today's Congos, plus Angola and Gabon, as part of the larger Bantu migration. They were practicing agriculture by at least 1000 BC, and working iron by at least 400 BC.

Central Africa was poorly defined as a region until the creation of colonial-era territories in the eighteenth century. Before that at least parts of it appear to have been virgin territory, with no recent occupation. A collection of sultanates emerged across the area which today is partially covered by CAR and to its north, but prior to that there was a period of almost two centuries of gradual, increasing movement into the area.

To the south of that region, situated in the lower Congo and today's northern Angola, the Kongo kingdom was founded in the late fourteenth century. Its original home lies somewhere in the region along the lower stretches of the River Congo. According to a study of Kongo's traditions by John Thornton, that origin was in the small state of Mpemba Kasi, which is located just to the south of today's Matadi in DRC.

Colonial interests and interference helped an already-unstable political situation in the kingdom become toxic. The capital remained at a rebuilt São Salvador (formerly M'banza-Kongo, and today the capital of Zaire province in Angola). Based on the outcome of the Conference of Berlin of 1884-1885, Kongo was mainly incorporated into Portuguese Angola and partially into the reduced 'Independent State of Congo' (or Kongo).

By then the state of Tyo had already been added to the French colonial region of Middle Congo. Loango was also added and then, in 1886, Middle Congo and Gabon were combined to form French Congo. French Central African territories were organised in January 1910 into French Equatorial Africa, which consisted of French Chad, French Congo, and Ubangi-Shari. The independent Congo state was terminated by Portugal in 1914 and would later form the basis of modern Angola.

To the immediate north of this remnant former state, the entire French Equatorial Africa region became autonomous in 1958 in preparation for full independence in 1960. The new nation state of Congo-Leopoldville' then achieved independence from Belgium and its Belgian Congo colonial structure, while Middle Congo became 'Republic of the Congo'.

About half of Congo's inhabitants identify with the Kongo peoples, whose major subgroups include the Sundi, Kongo, Lali, Kougni, Bembe, Kamba, Dondo, Vili, and Yombe. The Ubangi peoples include the Makoua, Kouyou, Mboshi, Likouala, Ngala, and Bonga. The Teke and the Sanga, or 'Gabonese Bantu', are also divided into sub-groups.

The Binga pygmies live in small bands, usually as clients of surrounding farming groups. Of those Europeans who remained in Congo prior to the civil strife of the late 1990s only a fraction remain, with many of them having been French who resided in the major cities.

Following a military coup, between 1970-1992 the country was named the 'People's Republic of the Congo' before a quarter of a century of experimentation with Marxism was abandoned in 1990. A democratically-elected government took office in 1992, at which time the country's name reverted to 'Republic of the Congo'.

Today petroleum and mining are major export industries, followed by forestry and commercial agriculture. Light manufacturing which mainly centres around footwear, sugar processing, and assembly industries assumed greater importance in the 1980s, albeit employing only a small fraction of the workforce. Following a fall in world oil prices in the 1980s, Congo experienced a major financial crisis.

The 1990s witnessed serious increasing monetary debt and the outbreak of conflict before the situation began to improve in the early 2000s. A new constitution provided a multi-party political system and a seven-year presidential term of office. After a year of renewed fighting, the president and southern-based rebel groups agreed to a peace accord in 2003. Some areas remain tense, however, and banditry is a problem in the countryside.

African Kingdoms

Central Africa

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