Republic of the Congo Cities

< View Republic of the Congo Country Information

View Republic of the Congo Cities Alphabetically

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |

Republic of the Congo Cities by Population

17 cities shown of 17 total Republic of the Congo cities that are over 1,000 in population...

1. Brazzaville 1,284,609
2. Pointe-Noire 659,084
3. Dolisie 103,894
4. Kayes 58,737
5. Owando 23,952
6. Ouesso 23,915

7. Loandjili 23,204
8. Madingou 22,760
9. Gamboma 20,877
10. Impfondo 20,859
11. Sibiti 19,089
12. Mossendjo 18,231

13. Kinkala 13,882
14. Makoua 11,355
15. Djambala 9,650
16. Ewo 4,923
17. Sembe 3,113

Republic of the Congo History

The earliest inhabitants of the region were Pygmy people, who later were largely displaced and absorbed by Bantu tribes during the Bantu expansions. The Bakongo are a Bantu ethnicity that also occupied parts of present-day Angola, Gabon, and Democratic Republic of the Congo, forming the basis for ethnic affinities and rivalries among those countries. Several Bantu kingdomsnotably those of the Kongo, the Loango, and the Tekebuilt trade links leading into the Congo River basin.

The inhabitants of the Congo river delta first came into contact with Europeans in the late 15th century with Portuguese expeditions charting the African coastline. Commercial relationships were quickly established between the inland Bantu kingdoms and European merchants who traded various commodities, manufactured goods, and slaves captured from the hinterlands. For centuries, Congo river delta was a major commercial hub for transatlantic trade. However, when direct European colonization of the African continent began in the late 19th century, the power of the Bantu societies in the region eroded.

Following independence as the Congo Republic on August 15, 1960, Fulbert Youlou ruled as the country's first president until labour elements and rival political parties instigated a three-day uprising that ousted him. The Congolese military took charge of the country briefly and installed a civilian provisional government headed by Alphonse Massamba-Dbat.

Under the 1963 constitution, Massamba-Dbat was elected President for a five-year term but it was ended abruptly with an August 1968 coup d'tat. Capt. Marien Ngouabi, who had participated in the coup, assumed the presidency on December 31, 1968. One year later, President Ngouabi proclaimed Congo to be Africa's first people's republic"" and announced the decision of the National Revolutionary Movement to change its name to the Congolese Labour Party. On March 16, 1977, President Ngouabi was assassinated. An 11-member Military Committee of the Party was named to head an interim government with Col. Joachim Yhombi-Opango to serve as President of the Republic."

After decades of turbulent politics bolstered by Marxist-Leninist rhetoric, and with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Congo completed a transition to multi-party democracy with elections in August 1992. Denis Sassou Nguesso conceded defeat and Congo's new president, Prof. Pascal Lissouba, was inaugurated on August 31, 1992.

However, Congo's democratic progress was derailed in 1997. As presidential elections scheduled for July 1997 approached, tensions between the Lissouba and Sassou camps mounted. On June 5, President Lissouba's government forces surrounded Sassou's compound in Brazzaville and Sassou ordered members of his private militia to resist. Thus began a four-month conflict that destroyed or damaged much of Brazzaville and caused tens of thousands of civilian deaths. In early October, Angolan troops invaded Congo on the side of Sassou and, in mid-October, the Lissouba government fell. Soon thereafter, Sassou declared himself President. The Congo Civil War continued for another year and a half until a peace deal was struck between the various factions in December 1999. The National Expansionary Growth Regional Operation was signed with representatives of Democratic and Patriotic Forces to end the conflict and work on rebuilding the heavily damaged infrastructure."