Congo, Republic of the

The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville or the Congo, is a country in Central Africa.
The republic is a former French colony. Upon independence in 1960, the former French region of Middle Congo became the Republic of the Congo. Congo became a multi-party democracy in 1992.

The earliest inhabitants of the region were Pygmy people(member of any human group whose adult males grow to less than 150 cm -4 feet 11 inches- in average height or less than 155 cm), 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 kingdoms -notably those of the Kongo, the Loango, and the Teke- built 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.

Located in the central-west Africa, with a small portion of coast in the Atlantic Ocean and crossed by the Equator, the Congo is hot and humid climate. About 55% of the territory is covered by tropical forests.

The Congo is located in the central-west sub-Saharan Africa, and is crossed by the equator. To the south and east, is limited by the Congo River and its tributaries one of the Ubangi River, and the left sides of both rivers belong to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The other is the country's borders with Gabon to the west, Cameroon and Central African Republic to the north and (Angola) the southwest. The Congo also has a short Atlantic coast.
Its capital, Brazzaville, is situated on the banks of the Congo River in the south of the country, even in front of Kinshasa, the capital of DR Congo.

The country is a southwestern coastal plain, which is mainly drained by the river Kouilou-Niari. The interior consists of a central plateau between two basins, north and south.

Animals: some are very known, others very strange =)
- Gorilla, Tigerfish, Buffalo, Okapi