The Central African Republic is a landlocked nation within the interior of the African continent. It is bordered by Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo. Much of the country consists of flat, or rolling plateau savanna, about 1,640 feet (500 m) above sea level. In the northeast are the Fertit Hills, and there are scattered hills in the southwestern part of the country. To the northwest is the Karre Mountains, a granite plateau with an altitude of 3,750 feet (1,143 m).
Ground transport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has always been difficult. The terrain and climate of the Congo Basin present serious barriers to road and rail construction, and the distances are enormous across this vast country. Furthermore, chronic economic mismanagement and internal conflict has led to serious under-investment over many years.
The Republic of the Congo is located in the western part of central Africa. Situated on the Equator, it is bordered by the Angolan exclave of Cabinda to the south (231 km), the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north and east (1,229 km), the Central African Republic (487 km) and Cameroon (494 km) to the north and Gabon to the west (2,567 km). Congo has a 169 km long Atlantic coast with several important ports. The Republic of the Congo covers an area of 342,000 km², of which 341,500 km² is land while 500 km² is water. Congo claims 200 nautical miles (370 km) of territorial sea.
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.
Bangui is the capital and largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a French outpost in 1889 and named after its location on the northern bank of the Ubangi River ; the Ubangi itself was named from the Bobangi word for the "rapids" located beside the settlement, which marked the end of navigable water north from Brazzaville. The majority of the population of the Central African Republic lives in the western parts of the country, in Bangui and the surrounding area.
Lake Mai-Ndombe is a large freshwater lake in Mai-Ndombe province in western Democratic Republic of the Congo. The lake is within the Tumba-Ngiri-Maindombe area, the largest Wetland of International Importance recognized by the Ramsar Convention in the world.
Kisangani is the capital of Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the fifth most populous urban area in the country, with an estimated population of 1,312,000 in 2021, and the largest of the cities that lie in the tropical woodlands of the Congo.
Likouala is a department of the Republic of the Congo in the northern part of the country. It borders the departments of Cuvette and Sangha, and internationally, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic. The region has an area of 66,044 km² and an estimated population of almost 360,000. The chief town is Impfondo. Principal cities and towns include Epena and Dongou.
Zongo is a city in Sud-Ubangi Province in the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, lying on the south bank of the Ubangi River, across from Bangui in the Central African Republic. It is linked by ferry to Bangui but has declined in importance as a transport hub since much traffic moved east in the late 1980s.
Mbandaka is a city on the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo located near the confluence of the Congo and Ruki rivers. It is the capital of Équateur Province.
The Western Congolian swamp forests are an ecoregion of the Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjoining Central African Republic. Together with the adjacent Eastern Congolian swamp forests, it forms one of the largest continuous areas of freshwater swamp forest in the world. It is a flooded forest with a high canopy, dense undergrowth and has a muddy floor. It has not been disturbed very much by outside influences and so remains largely pristine as getting through this forest is called "almost impossible".
Tourism in Rwanda is the largest source of foreign exchange earnings in Rwanda and was projected to grow at a rate of 25% every year from 2013-2018. The sector is the biggest contributor to the national export strategy. Total revenues generated from the sector in 2014 alone were USD 305 million. The sector has also attracted direct foreign investments with major international hotel brands setting up shop in the country including Marriot Hotels & Resorts, Radisson Blu, Park Inn by Radisson, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Protea Hotels by Marriott, Golden Tulip Hotels, and Zinc. With its new world-class convention center, Rwanda is set to become a regional and international conference hub owing to ever-improving conference facilities, an excellent and expanding transportation network, and straightforward immigration procedures such as the ability for online visa applications, visa-free for all Africans, and a one-tourist visa policy for the EAC.
Alain Moka is a Congolese politician. He was Minister of Health and Population in the government of Congo-Brazzaville from 2002 to 2005 and has been a Deputy in the National Assembly since 2005.
The Dongo conflict was a minor conflict centered in the town of Dongo, on the left bank of the Ubangi River in Sud-Ubangi District, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Violence initially broke out in late October 2009 after a local dispute over fishing rights. This destabilised the region and led to a spiral of violence, and an exodus of civilians attempting to flee from the fighting. By December 2009, this conflict was one of the biggest conflicts of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) and the United Nations; more than 168,000 people had fled their homes, many of them crossing into the neighbouring Republic of the Congo. An intervention by the Congolese army and MONUC brought the conflict to an end by 13 December 2009.
Bétou is a town on the right bank of the Ubangi River in the Likouala Department, Republic of the Congo. Bétou is a "sous-prefecture" and has its own mayor. It is the border town with the Central African Republic (CAR), approximately 90 km (56 mi) from the border by road or 45 km (28 mi) by river. The town is linked to Bangui, the capital of CAR, by a relatively good road but suffers from very poor road access to the south of the Republic of Congo, with the vast majority of travelers arriving by river. The town has a disused air-strip.
Tumba-Ngiri-Maindombe is the largest Wetland of International Importance in the world as recognized by the Ramsar Convention. The site covers an area of 65,696 square kilometres (25,365 sq mi) in the region around Lake Tumba in the western Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This is more than twice the size of Belgium or Maryland.
Bomitaba (Mbomitaba) is a Bantu language of the Republic of Congo, with a couple hundred speakers in the Central African Republic.
The Guineo-Congolian region is a biogeographical region in Africa straddling the Equator and stretching from the Atlantic Ocean through the Congo Basin to the Congo / Nile divide in Rwanda and Burundi. Formerly, this region was largely covered in rain forest, on both well-drained sites and in swamp forests, but little undisturbed primary forest now remains, having been replaced in many areas by savanna and secondary-growth forest.
The 2019–2020 Congo River floods resulted from torrential rains from October 2019 to January 2020 that caused the overflow of the Congo and Ubangi rivers, floods and landslides throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Republic of Congo (RoC) and led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.
The Likouala-aux-Herbes is a river in the Republic of the Congo. It is a tributary of the Sangha River, which in turn is a tributary of the Congo River. It gives its name to the Likouala Department.
Republic of the Congo