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Where is the Republic of Congo?
About the Republic of Congo
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media

The Republic of Congo is a large country in west Africa.

The Republic of Congo borders the Atlantic Ocean.

The land is a central plateau, basins north and south and a coastal plain.

The geographical coordinates for the centre of the Republic of Congo, also known as lines of latitude and longitude, are:-
Latitude - 1 00S
Longitude - 15 00E

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Check the weather in Brazzaville now.

This is the time in Brazzaville now

The flag of the Republic of Congo is divided diagonally from the lower flag pole side by a yellow band. The upper triangle formed is green and the lower one is red. Green represents agriculture and forests, yellow the friendship and nobility of the people and red is said to be associated with the struggle for independence.

The capital of the Republic of Congo is Brazzaville.

The Republic of Congo is a presidential republic with a president as head of state and head of the government.

In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.

The currency in the Republic of Congo is the Central African franc.

French is the official language.

Hear the National Anthem


These are the anthem words

The words ×

These are the words to the National Anthem of the Republic of Congo called The Congolese. It was adopted in 1959, replaced in 1969 and restored 1991. This is a translation of the words.

If anthem fails to play click here

On this day the sun rises and our Congo stands resplendent.
A long night is ended, a great happiness has come.
Let us all, with wild joyfulness, sing the song of freedom.

Chorus:
Arise, Congolese, proud every man,
Proclaim the unity of our nation.
Let us forget what divides us
And become more united than ever.
Let us live our motto: unity, work, progress.
Let us live our motto: unity, work, progress.

From the forest to the bush, from the bush to the ocean,
One people, one soul, one heart, ardent and proud.
Let us all fight, every one of us, for our black country.

Chorus

And if we have to die, what does it really matter? Our children
Everywhere will be able to say how triumph comes through battle,
And in the smallest village sing beneath our three colours.

We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in the Republic of Congo to provide us with a detailed history of their own country. Check how here.


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The total land area of the Republic of Congo is 341,500 sq kms which is the 27th largest in Africa.

The Republic of Congo has lakes, rivers and canals which total 500 sq kms.

The Republic of Congo has boundaries with 5 countries

• Gabon 2,567 kms
• Democratic Republic of Congo 1,229 kms
• Cameroon 494 kms
• Central African Republic 487 kms
• Angola 231 kms

The Republic of Congo has a coastline of 169 kms which is the 35th longest in Africa.

The highest point in the Republic of Congo is Mount Berongou at 903 metres.

The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.

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The total population of the Republic of Congo is 5.06 million people, making it the 38th largest country in Africa by population.

Of this number 2.52 million are females and 2.54 million are males.

A person from the Republic of Congo is called Congolese.

To be a citizen of the Republic of Congo, one of your parents must be a citizen of the Republic of Congo. It is not sufficient to be born in the Republic of Congo. You have to live in the Republic of Congo for 10 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.

The largest five cities in the Republic of Congo, by population are:-

• Brazzaville 1,284,609 people
• Pointe-Noire 659,084
• Dolisie 103,894
• Kayes 58,737
• Owando 23,952

For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre. Each little Owlbut is 1 person and the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.



66.9% of the people live in cities or towns.

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The birth rate in the Republic of Congo is 33.7 births per 1,000 of population

The death rate in the Republic of Congo is 9.2 deaths per 1,000 people.

Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.

There are 48.5 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 58.3 deaths of boys.

The median age for females is 19.8 and for males is 19.4. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number of people above the median age as below it.

The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 19.8.

The elderly dependency ratio is 6.2. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).

The potential support ratio is 16.1. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.

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The Republic of Congo spends 5.2% of its total income on health care.

There are 0.12 doctors per 1,000 people.

We have no figures for the number of hospital beds per 1,000 people.

9.6% of the population are estimated as obese.

95.8% of the urban population and 40.0% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or protected rainwater collection facility.

20.0% of the urban population and 5.6% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer, a pit latrine (that is a permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.

The Republic of Congo releases 6.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 18th highest in Africa.

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The Republic of Congo spends 4.6% of its total income on education.

Children usually start school at age 6 in the Republic of Congo. Primary education is for six years until age 12 and secondary education must continue till 16 but can go on to 18/19. This may be followed by further education at a university or college.

We are awaiting information on school terms in the Republic of Congo.

72.9% of females and 86.4% of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.

We have no figures for the number of people aged between 16 and 24 who are not in work.

The total number of people available for work in the Republic of Congo is 2.06 million.

They work in the following sectors.

• Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
• Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
• Services is everything else

36.0% of the workforce are unemployed.

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There are 8 paved airports in the Republic of Congo, which is the 26th highest number in Africa.


There are 759 kilometres of railways in the Republic of Congo, the 25th longest in Africa.


There are 17,289 kilometres of roads in the Republic of Congo, which means the Republic of Congo is in 29th place for the most kilometres of roads in Africa.

We have no figures for the number of major national newspapers in the Republic of Congo.

There are 5.06 million mobile phone users.

Less than 1% of the people have a fixed landline.



362,000 people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).

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