Brazzaville () is the capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a department and a commune. Constituting the financial and administrative centre of the country, it is located on the north side of the Congo River, opposite Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo).

The population of the capital is estimated to exceed 2.1 million residents, comprising more than a third of the national populace. Some 40% are employed in non-agricultural professions. During World War II, Brazzaville served as the de facto capital of Free France between 1940 and 1942.

In 2013, Brazzaville was designated a City of Music by UNESCO; since then it has also been a member of the Creative Cities Network.

Toponymy

The prefix "Brazza" comes from the surname of the Italian-French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, who worked on exploration expeditions for France and is credited with founding the town.

The place name Brazzaville unintentionally has the literal meaning of 'city of the armed wing'.

In the Kongo language it has the names or variants of , , , , , and , and in the Teke languages , , , and .

Geography

thumb|left|[[Kinshasa seen from Brazzaville. The two capitals are separated by the Congo River.]]

thumb|View of Brazzaville from space

Brazzaville covers a large area to the north of the Congo River, just below the Pool Malebo. Mbamu, a large island within the Pool, is part of the Republic of Congo's territory.

Brazzaville is inland from the Atlantic Ocean and approximately south of the equator. Around the city are large plains. The town is relatively flat, and situated at an altitude of . Downriver the Congo has numerous rapids, known as Livingston Falls, preventing navigation upriver to this point from its mouth at the Atlantic.

Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is located on the southern bank of the Congo, directly across from Brazzaville. To distinguish between the two African countries that have "Congo" in their names, the Republic of the Congo is sometimes called Congo-Brazzaville, as opposed to Congo-Kinshasa. Kinshasa is more than five times larger than Brazzaville in population. This is the only place in the world where two national capital cities developed on opposite banks of a river, within sight of each other.

In March 2018, the "Brazzaville Declaration" was signed to promote better management and conservation of the Cuvette Centrale, a region in Congo Basin and primarily in DRC. It is the world's largest tropical peatland, made up of swamp forests. Conservation of this area is important for the survival of megafauna, and also critical to the world's climate. Burning the peat would release too much carbon and raise the Earth's temperature. The declaration to save peatlands as the world's largest terrestrial organic carbon stock was signed by Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, and Indonesia, which also has peatlands.

History

thumb|left|Brazzaville Market in 1905

thumb|left|Brazzaville railway station in 1941

In precolonial times, the location of the modern-day city of Brazzaville was inhabited by two trading centres, Mfwa and Mpila, which were part of the Tio Kingdom (the Eastern Teke).

Brazzaville was founded by the French colonial empire upon an existing indigenous Bateke settlement called Ncuna, during the Scramble for Africa when European nations established spheres of influence on the continent. The Italian-born explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, It continued as capital when French Equatorial Africa was founded in 1910, as a federation of French colonial states: it included Gabon, the Central African Republic, and Chad until 1960.

In 1934, the Congo–Ocean Railway opened, linking Brazzaville with the Atlantic port of Pointe-Noire and bypassing the rapids on the Congo River. Construction of the railway resulted in the deaths of more than 17,000 Africans, and the people revolted against the French in 1928.

During World War II, Brazzaville and the rest of French Equatorial Africa remained beyond the control of Vichy France, which served the Nazi occupation. The city served as the capital of Free France from 1940 to 1943.

In April 2016 fighting occurred between police and local militia units, with at least 18 people killed.

Demographics

As of the 2023 census, the city had a population of 2.15 million.

The National Institute of Statistics for 2014 is 1.73 million. Kinshasa, DRC, had more than 10 million inhabitants in 2014.

Together with Kinshasa, the combined conurbation of Kinshasa-Brazzaville has about 12 million inhabitants. Significant political and infrastructure challenges prevent the two cities from functioning with any meaningful connection.

Since the mid-19th century, the two cities have been rivals in trade, sports and power.

Government

thumb|Brazzaville Bridge at night

Brazzaville, like Pointe-Noire, is a commune (municipality) contained within a department of the same name. It is governed by a municipal council and a departmental council. The mayor is the president of the municipal council.

The commune of Brazzaville is divided into nine arrondissements (boroughs), each with an official number:

  1. Makélékélé
  2. Bacongo
  3. Poto-Poto
  4. Moungali
  5. Ouenzé
  6. Talangaï
  7. Mfilou
  8. Madibou
  9. Djiri

The department of Brazzaville includes the area of the commune and, since 2011, the new district of Ile Mbamou.

Economy

thumb|right|220px|upright|Nabemba Tower

The location of Brazzaville near the pool of the Congo River enabled it to grow as an industrial, trading and port settlement. It was connected through trade by ships and boats traveling upriver to inland areas, which produced raw materials from the beginning of the colonial period. Companies headquartered in Brazzaville include the country's flag carrier Equatorial Congo Airlines and the mobile operator Warid Congo.

Culture

Roger Erell, a highly regarded architect, designed a house in the city for Charles de Gaulle when he was the leader of Free France here. Other buildings include the Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza Mausoleum, the Nabemba Tower, and the Congressional Palace (Brazzaville).

The Marien Ngouabi Mausoleum, Brazzaville Zoo, and the Poto-Poto School of Painting are also destinations for visitors and city residents.

Places of worship

thumb|right|The Sacred Heart Cathedral in 1926

Many Congolese converted to Catholicism during the French colonial period. Christian churches are most prevalent in the city, where the Roman Catholic Church has an archdiocese. Since then, churches have been established by new immigrants and by local adoption of evangelical Protestantism. Examples include the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-du-Congo in Brazzaville, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Brazzaville and Gabon (Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa), Evangelical Church of Congo (World Communion of Reformed Churches), and Assemblies of God.

Education

thumb|left|[[Marien Ngouabi University's Law School]]

The Marien Ngouabi University is a public university in Brazzaville, named after a former leader. The university was founded in December 1971 after independence. Today it has approximately 26,000 students.

Transport

thumb|right|200px|[[Maya-Maya Airport]]

left|thumb|A railroad in Brazzaville

The city is home to Maya-Maya Airport, which lies in the centre of the city and which has regular flights to Pointe-Noire as well as international destinations in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. A flight operates twice weekly between Brazzaville and Kinshasa, but the flight time is only five minutes.

thumb|Road transport in Brazzaville

The city is an important river port, with ferries sailing to Kinshasa and to Bangui via Impfondo.

Taxis are available on every street and are easily recognized, being painted with a green body and white top, and the fare for a short trip is CF700. About twenty percent of the vehicles in Brazzaville are taxis. There are also collective taxis that drive certain routes and charge CF150.

A road-rail bridge is proposed to connect Brazzaville with Kinshasa. The rail gauge on both sides is the same at 1067mm.

Notable people

:See :Category:People from Brazzaville

thumb|140px|[[Ali Bongo Ondimba, 2016]]

thumb|140px|[[Antoinette Sassou Nguesso, 2011]]

Politics and religion

  • Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza (1852–1905), eponymous founder
  • Prosper Philippe Augouard (1852–1921), French Catholic priest, missionary and explorer, settled Brazzaville in 1887
  • Ambroise Noumazalaye (1933–2007), Prime Minister of Congo-Brazzaville, 1966 to 1968
  • Antoinette Sassou Nguesso (born 1945), First Lady of the Republic of the Congo since 1997
  • Charles Richard Mondjo (born 1954), Chief of Staff of the Congo Armed Forces, 2002 to 2012
  • Dominique Ntsiété (1940-2012), senator
  • Ali Bongo Ondimba (born 1959), Gabonese politician, 3rd President of Gabon since 2009
  • Alain Akouala Atipault (born 1959), politician and government Minister
  • Frédéric Bintsamou (born 1964), also known as Pasteur Ntumi, a Protestant clergyman and leader of the "semi-religious" rebel group The Ninjas
  • Alice Badiangana (born 1939), trade unionist and politician

Art

  • Aurlus Mabélé (1953–2020) a Congolese singer and composer.
  • Bill Kouélany (born 1965) a Congolese artist, writer and set designer.
  • Sardoine Mia (born 1998), artist
  • Jean Serge Essous (1935-2009) a Congolese saxophonist & clarinetist
  • Patience Dabany (born 1941) singer, musician and First Lady of Gabon, 1967 to 1987
  • Gaitana (born 1979), Ukrainian singer who lived in Brazzaville for five years
  • Cyril Kongo (born 1969), a French painter and graffiti artist, lived in Brazzaville in the 80s
  • Franklin Boukaka (1940–1972), a Congolese baritone singer, guitarist, and songwriter who is recognized as a pioneer of Congolese popular music

Media and science

  • Emmanuel Dongala (born 1941) a Congolese chemist and novelist
  • Alain Mabanckou (born 1966) novelist, journalist, poet and academic
  • Dominique Tchimbakala (born 1977) journalist and TV presenter, news anchor for TV5Monde
  • Scholastique Dianzinga, professor and specialist in women's history
  • Didier Roustan (born 1957), French sports journalist

Sport

  • André Merlin (1911–1960) a French tennis player.
  • François M'Pelé (born 1947) a former footballer with 521 club caps and 9 for Congo
  • Rolf-Christel Guié-Mien (born 1977) former footballer with 338 club caps and 26 for Congo
  • Oscar Ewolo (born 1978) former footballer with 374 club caps and 38 for Congo, evangelical pastor
  • Lorène Bazolo (born 1983) track and field athlete, Congolese flag bearer at the 2012 Summer Olympics
  • Ladislas Douniama (born 1986) former footballer with over 250 club caps and 28 for Congo
  • Pamela Mouele-Mboussi (born 1988) long and triple jumper, national flag carrier at the 2008 Summer Olympics
  • Serge Ibaka (born 1989), professional basketball player
  • Férébory Doré (born 1989) footballer with over 200 club caps and 37 for Congo
  • Brice Samba (born in 1971), Congolese international soccer player
  • Darcel Yandzi (born 1973), French international judoka
  • Guy Mbenza (born 2000), professional footballer for Liaoning Tieren

Twin towns and sister cities

  • Dresden, Germany
  • Weihai, China
  • Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

See also

  • List of cities in the Republic of the Congo
  • Brazzaville Conference

References

Bibliography

  • Ziavoula, Robert Edmond, ed. (2006). Brazzaville, une ville à reconstruire. Paris: Karthala. .

Notes

  • Chavannes, Charles de. (1929) "Le Sergent Sénégalais Malamine." Annales de l'Académie des Sciences Coloniales, vol. 3:159–187.
  • Petringa, Maria. (2006) Brazza, A Life for Africa (2006)
  • Tiepolo, M. (1996) "City Profile: Brazzaville" in Cities v. 13, pp. 117–124
  • Brisset-Guibert, Hervé (2007) Brazzaville petit guide historique, in the site www.presidence.cg ("palais presidentiel")
  • Cultural reference: In the final scene of the 1942 film, Casablanca, it is to Brazzaville that Captain Renault (Claude Rains) suggests he and Rick (Humphrey Bogart) might escape to together for "vacation" and, as Rick counters, "the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
  • Fusion Cities, consolidation of movement, urban analysis seminar with vectorised maps of the agglomeration. TU Darmstadt, 2009
  • Maria Petringa's biographical article on Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, describing events leading to the founding of Brazzaville, 1997