The Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) is a surprising central African gem with seemingly endless pristine tropical forest and fingers of moist savannah covering its interior. Covering an area of almost 342 000 square kilometres, it holds a population of a mere 4 million people, of which 70% live in the south-west in the urban centres of Brazzaville (the capital) and Pointe-Noire (the major port); the rest of the country is sparsely populated and largely pristine.
The economy is a mixture of subsistence agriculture, an industrial sector based largely on oil and support services, and government spending. Oil has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the economy, providing a major share of government revenues and exports.
The northern rainforests in the heart of the Congo Basin comprise the world’s second-largest expanse of tropical rainforest. Rivers such as the Sangha, Mambili and the mighty Congo drain this basin and provide a means of exploration through dense forests and access to remote national parks such as Odzala-Kokoua, Nouabale-Ndoki and Conkouati-Douli. It is in these areas that sendemic wildlife flourishes and traditional cultures persist.
Brazaville
The capital of Republic of Congo is the city of Brazzaville, with a population of almost two million people (2009). Built by and named after the Franco-Italian explorer, Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, it lies along the western banks of the enormous Congo River – 3 km wide at this point – and is a key port, ferrying goods and raw materials.
Kinshasa, capital of Congo’s neighbour, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, can be seen across the river. Some evidence of the French colonial period is still evident in the city’s architecture and design with many large, wide boulevards.
The newly-built Maya Maya Airport is an efficient entry point into the country and is just 15 minutes’ drive from the city centre. Numerous airlines, notably Air France via Paris, Inter Air via Johannesburg and Kenya Airways via Nairobi, land here, making the destination easily accessible from Europe and also combinable with Southern or East African safaris.
French, Lingala and Kituba are the most common languages spoken, with French being the official language. English is spoken in some hotels and tourist areas.