The Republic of Congo is located in central West Africa and shares borders with countries including Cameroon and the Central African Republic in the north, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the east and south along with the Atlantic Ocean and Angola in the south West, and Gabon in the west. The Republic of Congo gained independence from French rule in the 1960s.

The Republic of Congo has its capital and largest city in Brazzaville, which is located on the northern banks of the legendary Congo River, directly opposite the DRC’s capital city of Kinshasa, which has the larger and busier river port. To not be confused between the two Congolese countries, they are often distinguished by the names Congo-Brazzaville and Congo-Kinshasa. Brazzaville was founded by a French explorer named Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza in 1880 and was under French rule between 1882 and 1960 when the Republic of Congo gained independence. Brazzaville is its country’s chief commercial and economic hub, manufacturing products such as textiles, building materials, processed foods, and printed fabrics.

The city has formed a thriving and dynamic trade partnership with the coastal town of Pointe-Noire, which is on the Atlantic Coast’s sea board along the impressive Congo-Ubangi waterway; Brazzaville’s economic growth accelerated rapidly due to a train transport link built between it and Pointe-Noire in 1946. Brazzaville has however fallen on hard times since the factional uprisings against the country’s president in 1992, when rebel forces destroyed much of the city and forced it to start rebuilding; the city certainly has the potential to thrive and develop once more.