Middle Africa
Jungle · River · Vibrant
Republic of the Congo is a country located in Middle Africa. Its capital city is Brazzaville, with other major cities including Pointe-Noire and Dolisie. With a population of approximately 5.8M, the main language spoken is French. The country covers an area of 342,000 km². The official currency is the Central African CFA franc (Fr). Traffic drives on the right side.
Brazzaville and Kinshasa (DRC) face each other across the Congo River, making them the world's closest pair of capital cities from separate countries — on a clear day you can see one from the other.
Brazzaville serves as the political, cultural and economic heart of Republic of the Congo, positioned in Middle Africa. As the seat of government and often the most populous city, it concentrates the country's main institutions, universities and cultural landmarks. Beyond the capital, major cities include Pointe-Noire, Dolisie — each a hub of regional culture, economy and history. Brazzaville faces Kinshasa across the Congo River in the world's closest two-capital configuration — a deliberate colonial artefact of the French and Belgian boundary convention of 1885 — two cities of wildly different scale (Kinshasa has 17 million people, Brazzaville 2 million) sharing a riverbank and a name but separated by one of the world's widest rivers and by profoundly different political histories.
With a population of approximately 5.8M, Republic of the Congo is a vibrant society with a rich mix of traditions and communities. The official language is French, which reflects the country's cultural heritage and connects it with a wide international community. Internationally, Republic of the Congo is reached via the dialling code +242. Congolese in the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) distinguish themselves from their DRC neighbours across the river through the identity of French Congo — a smaller country of 5.8 million that produces significant oil, timber, and potash but where resource distribution has not prevented high rates of poverty, and where the Congo music tradition (Congolese rumba) originated and then spread to become the continent's most influential popular music.
Republic of the Congo spans 342,000 km², in the Middle Africa subregion of Africa. Geographically centred around 1.0°S, 15.0°E, the country offers a diverse range of landscapes shaped by its location, climate and geology. Road traffic follows the right-hand rule, in line with surrounding Africa convention.
The official currency is the Central African CFA franc (Fr), used for everyday transactions and commerce throughout the country. Republic of the Congo's economy is shaped by its geography, natural resources and trade relationships. Business and daily life operate under UTC+01:00, aligning the country with its regional neighbours.
Football holds a special place in the heart of Republic of the Congo's national identity. Football is the Republic of Congo's primary sport, with the national team occasionally qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations — but the country's cultural contribution to music (Congo Jazz, Rumba Congolaise produced by artists like Franco and Tabu Ley Rochereau) functions in Central African culture as a competitive sport would elsewhere, with Congolese musical production being treated as the region's most prestigious creative achievement.
The highest point in Republic of the Congo is Mont Nabeba, rising to 1,020 metres above sea level. Congo's Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park is considered one of Africa's last truly pristine forest wildernesses — an area of 4,200 square kilometres of lowland tropical rainforest where western lowland gorillas, forest elephants, and bongo antelopes have had minimal human contact, with Mbeli Bai (a forest clearing) being the site of the longest continuous gorilla research project in Africa.