Congo Facts, Congo Flag -- National Geographic

Fast Facts

Population:: 3,999,000
Capital:: Brazzaville; 1,080,000
Area:: 342,000 square kilometers (132,047 square miles)
Language:: French, Lingala, Monokutuba
Religion:: Christian, animist, Muslim
Currency:: CFA franc
Life Expectancy:: 50
GDP per Capita:: U.S. $900
Literacy Percent:: 84

Astride the Equator in west central Africa, Congo has a small population that is concentrated in the country's southwest, with a virtually uninhabited jungle in the north. Most people live between Brazzaville, the capital, and Pointe-Noire, Congo's port city and focus for the oil industry. Since it achieved independence in 1960, political turmoil has hampered the country. After almost three decades of Marxist rule, Congo adopted a multiparty, democratic system in 1992. Conflict in the late 1990s derailed democracy, but a new constitution in 2002 brings the promise of stability.

ECONOMY

Industry: Petroleum extraction, cement, lumber, brewing, sugar, palm oil, soap
Agriculture: Cassava (tapioca), sugar, rice, corn; forest products
Exports: Petroleum, lumber, plywood, sugar, cacao

—Text From National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition

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