The history of the Republic of the Congo has been marked by diverse civilisations: Indigenous, French and post-independence.
Pascal Lissouba was a Congolese politician who was the first democratically elected President of the Republic of the Congo and served from 31 August 1992 until 25 October 1997. He was overthrown by the former and current President Denis Sassou Nguesso in the 1997 civil war.
Brazzaville is the capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a department and a commune. Constituting the financial and administrative centre of the country, it is located on the north side of the Congo River, opposite Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Belgian Congo was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.
Lingala (Ngala) is a Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser degree in Angola, the Central African Republic, Kenya and southern South Sudan. Lingala has 25–30 million native speakers and about 35 million second-language speakers, for an approximate total of 60–65 million speakers.
Denis Sassou Nguesso is a Congolese politician and former military officer who became president of the Republic of the Congo in 1997. He served a previous term as president from 1979 to 1992. During his first period as president, he headed the Congolese Party of Labour (PCT) for 12 years. He introduced multiparty politics in 1990, but was stripped of executive powers by the 1991 National Conference, remaining in office as a ceremonial head of state. He stood as a candidate in the 1992 presidential election but placed third.
The Kongo people are a Bantu ethnic group primarily defined as the speakers of Kikongo. Subgroups include the Beembe, Bwende, Vili, Sundi, Yombe, Dondo, Lari, and others.
Pointe-Noire is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, following the capital of Brazzaville, and an autonomous department and a commune since the 2002 Constitution. Before this date it was the capital of the Kouilou region. It is situated on a headland between Pointe-Noire Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Pointe-Noire is the main commercial centre of the country and has a population of 1,420,612 inhabitants in 2023.
Congolese or Kongolese may refer to:
Mbuyamu Ilankir "Freddy" Matungulu (born January 4, 1955 Belgian Congo is a Congolese economist. He was Minister of Finance of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2001 to 2003.
The culture of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is extremely varied, reflecting the great diversity and different customs which exist in the country. Congolese culture combines the influence of tradition to the region, but also combines influences from abroad which arrived during the era of colonization and continue to have a strong influence, without destroying the individuality of many tribal customs.
Mambou Aimée Gnali is a Congolese former politician. In 1963 she became one of the first group of women elected to the National Assembly. She subsequently served as Minister of Culture and the Arts from January 1999 to August 2002.
Congolese rumba, also known as African rumba, is a dance music genre originating from the Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo. With its rhythms, melodies, and lyrics, Congolese rumba has gained global recognition and remains an integral part of African music heritage. In December 2021, it was added to the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.
The Congo is a 342,000-square-kilometer country in Equatorial Africa. Its population is just over 7 million inhabitants, of which 47% is less than 15 years old. Life expectancy is 55.8 years old for men and 58.9 years for women, and 33% of the population lives in rural areas. 12.6% of the Congolese budget is spent on education; 40% on primary education, 31% on secondary level, and 27% on tertiary level. Only 1% goes to pre-primary education.
The Republic of the Congo was a sovereign state in Central Africa, created with the independence of the Belgian Congo in 1960. From 1960 to 1966, the country was also known as Congo-Léopoldville to distinguish it from its northwestern neighbor, which is also called the Republic of the Congo, alternatively known as "Congo-Brazzaville". In 1964, the state's official name was changed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but the two countries continued to be distinguished by their capitals; with the renaming of Léopoldville as Kinshasa in 1966, it became also known as Congo-Kinshasa. After Joseph Désiré Mobutu, commander-in-chief of the national army, seized control of the government in 1965, the Democratic Republic of the Congo became the Republic of Zaire in 1971. It would again become the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1997. The period between 1960 and 1964 is referred to as the First Congolese Republic.
The Republic of the Congo is a country located on the western coast of Central Africa to the west of the Congo River. It is bordered to the west by Gabon, to the northwest by Cameroon, to the northeast by the Central African Republic, to the southeast by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south by the Angolan exclave of Cabinda, and to the southwest by the Atlantic Ocean.
Antoine Ndinga Oba was a Congolese diplomat, political figure, and linguist. During the single-party rule of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT), he served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville as Minister of National Education from 1977 to 1984 and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1984 to 1991. Later, he was Congo-Brazzaville's Ambassador to UNESCO from 1998 until his death in 2005.
Congolese Americans are Americans descended from the peoples of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo, which consist of hundreds of ethnic groups.
The official language of the Republic of Congo is French. Other languages are mainly Bantu languages, and the two national languages in the country are Kituba and Lingala, followed by Kongo languages, Téké languages, and more than forty other languages, including languages spoken by Pygmies, which are not Bantu languages.
