Congo (Republic), officially French République du Congo [repy Republic dyk ɔ go], German Republic of Congo, country in central Africa, with (2019) 5.4 million residents; The capital is Brazzaville.
INDUSTRY AND MINERAL RESOURCES
According to healthinclude, the mining industry supplies approx. 90% of exports and the secondary sector in 2006 contributed over 66% to the formation of GDP. In addition to operating in the chemical and petrochemical sector, the industry continues to be represented above all by companies operating in the food sector (oil mills, sugar refineries, milling complexes) and in the wood processing sector; there are also tobacco factories, breweries, cement factories, cotton factories. § The first oil fields were discovered in the 1950s (La Pointe-Indienne) and extraction grew exponentially in the 1970s and 1980s with the construction of the first refinery and the subsequent discovery of new offshore fields. The supply of natural gas has also increased considerably. Congo also extracts modest quantities of copper, zinc, tin, lead. The hydroelectric heritage is also very rich, although the production of energy is still rather scarce (almost completely of water origin).
TRADE, COMMUNICATIONS AND TOURISM
Foreign trade essentially takes place with France, as far as imports are concerned, with various countries (including the United States, Italy, Spain, France, etc.) for exports. Imports mainly concern foodstuffs, machinery, means of transport, chemicals and textiles while exports are mainly represented by oil (between 80 and 90% of the total value), timber and certain agricultural products (coffee, cocoa, sugar); the trade balance has recorded a good surplus for years thanks to the consistent export of oil and petroleum products. § Compared to other Central African countries, the Republic of Congo has a fairly developed system of communication routes, which is important not only for the country itself but also for some states that reach the sea by crossing its territory, such as Chad and the Central African Republic. The French, given their main interests in the region, invested heavily in the construction of roads and railways. The main railway line, built in 1934, is the Congo-Océan line from Brazzaville to Pointe-Noire (from which a trunk branches off to Mlinda, built to reach the Gabon mining area). The road network is discreet: in 2004 there were 17,289 km of roads, of which only 864 km were asphalted. However, most of the traffic continues to use inland waterways, especially the Congo and Oubangui rivers. Finally, Brazzaville, in addition to being an active river port, is home to an important international airport, while Pointe-Noire is one of the main maritime ports of equatorial Africa. § The Republic of Congo also expects a good supply of currency from tourism in the future, thanks to its pristine landscape beauties.
Nkayi
Nkayi, formerly Jacob [ ʒ a k ɔ b], a town in the southwest of the Republic of Congo, (2007) 71 600 residents.
Catholic bishopric; Sugar mills, wheat, peanut mills; on the railway line Pointe-Noire-Brazzaville in the middle of extensive sugar cane plantations; Airport.
Dolisie
Dolisie, from 1975 to 2000 Loubomo [lu-], third largest city in the Republic of the Congo, administrative seat of the Niari region, (2007) 83,800 residents.
Commercial center; to Dolisie mining; Transport hub 110 km northeast of Pointe-Noire on the railway line to Brazzaville and on the trunk road to Gabon and Cameroon; Airport.
Pointe-Noire
Pointe-Noire [pwε t nwa ː r], port and industrial city in the Republic of Congo, on the Atlantic Ocean (2007) 715 300 residents.
Administrative seat of the Kouilou region; catholic bishopric. Pointe-Noire is a major industrial center with a fish canning factory, shipyard, palm oil refinery, wood processing plants, manufacture of household appliances, metal goods, weapons as well as drilling platforms and equipment; Oil port and refinery in Djeno.
Pointe-Noire, connected by rail (515 km) to Brazzaville (with a branch to Mbinda on the border with Gabon ), is the country’s only overseas port; Manganese ore exports from Gabon and a large part of the exports from the Central African Republicand Chad are also handled through him; international Airport. Significant oil production off the coast.
Pointe-Noire was the capital of the French overseas territory of the Congo from 1950–58.
Brazzaville
Brazzaville [ braza vil ], capital of the Republic of Congo, with 1.4 million residents.
The city is the starting point for inland shipping on the Congo.
Sangha Tri National Park (World Heritage)
In the Sangha Tri National Park, which extends over parts of the Congo, the Central African Republic and Cameroon, forest elephants and lowland gorillas live in intact primary rainforests.
Sangha Tri National Park: Facts
| Official title: | Sangha Tri National Park |
| Natural monument: | Site in the north-western Congo Basin with three adjacent national parks (Lobéké National Park in Cameroon, Dzanga-Ndoki National Park in the Central African Republic, Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of the Congo) on an area of 7,500 km² in the triangle; meanwhile largely untouched by human hands with extensive ecosystems of a lowland rainforest with wetlands, marshland, temporarily flooded regions; Home to rare and endangered animal species such as forest elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees, various antelope species (Sitatunga, Bongo), predators; River Sangha, flowing through the site, with Nile crocodile, giant tiger fish and much more |
| Continent: | Africa |
| Country: | Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo |
| Location: | Northwest Congo on the border with Cameroon and the Central African Republic |
| Appointment: | 2012 |
| Meaning: | Outstanding example of an untouched tropical area of great extent with high biodiversity; Ensuring the continuous development of important ecological and evolutionary processes on a large scale; Unique shelter for endangered animal and tree species with countless rare plant species |
