Land and Resources

Along the Atlantic coast is a low, treeless plain, which rises inland to the Mayumbe Mountains, an almost completely forested region with an average elevation of about 550 m (about 1800 ft). In the south central region is the fertile valley of the Niari River. To the north lies the central highlands region, the Batéké Plateau. The plateau is cut by numerous tributaries of the Congo and Ubangi rivers. The Congo Basin occupies the northeastern part of the country. Dense tropical rain forests cover approximately half of the country and constitute a major natural resource. The principal commercial species are okoumé (a mahogany) and limba (a hardwood). Savanna vegetation is found in the northeast and the higher plateau areas. Wildlife is diverse and abundant, including antelope, giraffes, cheetahs, crocodiles, and numerous birds and snakes.

The climate is tropical, with mostly high heat and humidity. While the Mayumbe Mountains experience a long dry season, parts of the Congo Basin receive more than 2500 mm (more than 100 in) of rainfall annually. Average temperatures in Brazzaville are 26° C (78° F) in January and 23° C (73° F) in July, with an annual rainfall of about 1500 mm (about 60 in). Temperatures along the coast are slightly cooler.

Petroleum, found offshore, is the Congo's principal mineral resource. Other resources include potash, gold, iron ore, lead, and copper.

Population

The population of the Congo comprises four major ethnic groups divided into about 75 smaller groups. The Bakongo, the major ethnic group, accounting for about 50 percent of the total population, occupy the section southwest of Brazzaville. The Mboshi live in the area where the savanna and forest meet in the northern region; the Sanga also inhabit the northern forest zone; and the Teke live in the central region. About 12,000 Pygmies also live in the country.

Population Characteristics

The population of the Congo (1995 estimate) is about 2,590,000, giving the country an overall population density of about 8 persons per sq km (about 20 per sq mi). About half the population follows traditional religious beliefs. Most of the remainder are Christian, primarily members of the Roman Catholic church, which had nearly 1 million adherents in the Congo in the early 1990s. Fewer than 1 percent are Muslim. Although French is the official language of the Congo, most people speak an African language.

Education

Schooling is free and compulsory in the Congo for children of ages 6 to 16. In the early 1990s about 502,900 pupils annually attended primary schools, and more than 183,000 attended secondary schools, including technical and teacher-training schools. The country's only university, Université Marien-Ngouabi (1961), is in Brazzaville. It has a yearly enrollment of about 12,000 students. The estimated literacy rate in the early 1990s was 57 percent, one of the highest in Africa.

Economy

The Congolese economy is based primarily on subsistence agriculture and the exploitation of natural resources. Commercial activities are also important, primarily because the country provides key port and transport facilities for the Central African Republic, Chad, and Gabon. In the early 1990s the estimated annual national budget included $765 million in revenues and $952 million in expenditures.

Agriculture

Cassava, pineapples, plantains, bananas, peanuts, maize, and avocados are the principal subsistence crops raised in the Congo. The main cash crops are sugarcane, palm kernels, cacao, and coffee. The most successful commercial agricultural operations are in the fertile Niari Valley.

Forestry and Mining

Forest products account for a substantial share of the Congo's exports. Petroleum is produced from offshore oil fields, and crude oil typically accounts for about three-quarters of the country's yearly exports. The annual output of crude petroleum was about 56 million barrels and is expected to increase as a new offshore field is developed. In addition, natural gas, lead, copper, and gold are mined.

Manufacturing

Industry is oriented mainly toward producing consumer goods. The largest industries process agricultural products (including tobacco) and forest products. Other manufactures include textiles, cement, footwear, and soap. A petroleum refinery began operation at Pointe-Noire in 1976.

Currency and Banking

The unit of currency is the CFA franc, issued by the Bank of the States of Central Africa in Brazzaville (284.6 CFA francs equal U.S.$1; 1993). An exchange rate of 50 CFA francs equal to 1 French franc was in force from 1948 to 1994, when the CFA franc was devalued by 50 percent. The leading commercial banks are the Banque Internationale du Congo and the Union Congolaise de Banques.

Foreign Trade

In the early 1990s yearly imports cost some $704 million and exports earned some $1.1 billion. The Congo engages in considerable trade with the nearby countries of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and Gabon, with which it is joined in the Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa. The country also has extensive commercial ties with France and the United States.

Transportation and Communications

Although broken by rapids, the Congo River and its tributaries provide a major and highly developed transportation network. The Congo-Ocean Railroad (510 km/317 mi) links Brazzaville to Pointe-Noire; a 286-km (178-mi) spur links the line to Moanda, Gabon. Only about 5 percent of the less than 12,000 km (less than 7500 mi) of roads are paved. The road network is densest in the south. International airports serve Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire.

Three daily newspapers are published in the Congo. The government radio station broadcasts from Brazzaville, and a national television network began transmission in 1963. In the early 1990s an estimated 260,000 radios and 14,000 television sets were in use.

Government

Under the 1979 constitution, as amended, the head of state and chief government official was the president, who chaired the central committee of the sole legal political party, the Congolese Labor party (1969). A new constitution adopted in 1991 provides for a multiparty system with a directly elected president and a 125-seat National Assembly and 60-seat Senate.

History

Some of the Bantu peoples in the Congo have been here since before AD 1000. When Diogo Cam, the first European explorer of the area, reached the Congo River in 1482, he found two large empires. The kingdom of Loango extended north and east from the river, and that of the Bakongo controlled the land near the mouth of the Congo River southward to the Cuanza River. Eventually, Portuguese imperialism and the slave trade destroyed the Bakongo's empire and severely damaged that of the Loango. Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza of France explored the area in 1879 and 1880. He signed treaties with local rulers, placing the territory under French protection. The region became known as the Middle Congo, which in 1910 became one of the colonies federated into French Equatorial Africa. Brazzaville, the chief city of the Middle Congo, became the seat of government for the federation. After many attempts following World War II (1939-1945) to bind its African territories into a meaningful association, France began to grant them independence. The Middle Congo became an independent functioning republic in 1960 called Republic of the Congo.

Politics after independence were unstable; each disturbance made the government more radical. The first premier, Abbé Fulbert Youlou, outlawed all opposition but was overthrown in 1963. He was replaced by Alphonse Massamba-Débat and the National Revolutionary Movement; he secured good relations with Communist states throughout the world, especially the People's Republic of China. In 1968 a coup organized by the army and more militant leftists overthrew Massamba-Débat and installed Marien Ngouabi as head of state. During the nine years of Ngouabi's rule the Congo became even more of a Marxist country. In 1970, under a revolutionary constitution, the name of the nation was changed to People's Republic of the Congo. Ngouabi was assassinated in 1977, and his place was assumed by General Joachim Yhombi-Opango. Despite its good relations with the Communist world, the Congo's closest ties and much of its trade remained with France.