Congo

Graeme Villeret

8 years ago

Official name	Republic of the Congo
Name in local language	République du Congo (fr) ; Repubilika ya Kongo (kg) ; Republiki ya Kongó (ln)
Continent	Africa
Subcontinent	Sub-Saharan Africa
Population (ranking: 122^e)	5,279,517 inhabitants (2018)
Population growth	3.68 % / year
Area	341,821 km²
Density	15.45 inhabitants / km²
GDP (ranking: 149^e)	11.264 billions $USD (2018)
GDP/capita (ranking)	2,148 $USD (2018)
GDP growth	1.00 % / year (2018)
Life expectancy (ranking)	64.30 years (2018)
Birth rate	35.10 ‰ (2016)
Fertility rate	4.68 children / woman (2015)
Death rate (ranking)	9.70 ‰ (2016)
Infant mortality rate (ranking)	56.40 ‰ (2016)
Literacy rate	80.91 % (2015)
Official languages	French (Kikongo and Lingala are recognised regional languages)
Currency	Central African CFA franc (XAF)
HDI (ranking: 176^e)	0.608 / 1 (2018)
EPI (ranking)	42.39 (2018)
Government	Unitary semi-presidential republic (dictatorship de facto)
Head of State	President Denis Sassou-Nguesso
National Day	15 August (independence from France in 1960)
ISO Codes	CG, COG
Demonym	Congolese
Tourists (ranking)	211,000 people (2016)

Corrupt central authorities who practices nepotism on a large scale

Congo (called Congo-Brazzaville to differentiate it from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, its big neighbor) is a country of Central Africa located on the equator, sparsely populated despite an honorable size. The country reaches an estimated 5.3 million inhabitants in 2018. And its annual population growth remains very high, at +3.68% per year on average between 2010 and 2017. Its neighbors are Gabon, Cameroon , the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo – from which it is separated by the Congo River and Oubangui – and Angola, in the region of Cabinda.

Brazzaville, capitale of Congo. Photo: Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Houses in the swamps, Congo. Photo: Yann Arthus-Bertrand

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Urban areas (2017)

Urban areas	Population
Brazzaville Maps: Brazzaville – satellite Brazzaville – routière	1,838,348 inhabitants
Pointe-Noire Maps: Pointe-Noire – satellite Pointe-Noire – routière	1,158,331 inhabitants
Dolisie	171,773 inhabitants
Nkayi	73,478 inhabitants
Ouesso	37,102 inhabitants

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Administrative divisions

Departments	Population	Area
Bouenza	357,168 inhabitants	12,265 km²
Brazzaville	1,373,382 inhabitants	264 km²
Cuvette	172,876 inhabitants	48,250 km²
Cuvette-Ouest	72,999 inhabitants	26,600 km²
Kouilou	92,542 inhabitants	13,650 km²
Lékoumou	96,393 inhabitants	20,950 km²
Likouala	154,115 inhabitants	66,044 km²
Niari	289,198 inhabitants	25,942 km²
Plateaux	217,864 inhabitants	38,400 km²
Pointe-Noire	715,334 inhabitants	44 km²
Pool	529,649 inhabitants	33,955 km²
Sangha	93,921 inhabitants	55,795 km²