REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO Official name: République du Congo (Republic of the Congo) Location: Central Africa International organisations: The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, The African Union, The Non-Aligned Movement, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, The United Nations, The World Trade Organisation Borders: Angola, Cameroun, Central African Republic, Congo (Democratic Republic), Gabon Coastline: Atlantic Ocean Land area: 342,000 Km2 Population: 2,900,000 Ethnicity: Almost the whole population is of African stock. The largest ethnic groups are the Kongo (48%), Sangha (20%), M'Bochi (12%), and Teke (17%).

Languages: French is the official language and the language of government, business and communications. The most widely spoken African languages are Munukutuba (60%), Teke, Lingala, Mbosi and Punu.
Religion: Catholic Christian 50%, indigenous beliefs 48%, Sunni Moslem 2%.
Form of government: Presidential democratic republic. Congo is divided into nine regions and the capital city district.
Capital: Brazzaville
Constitution: The Constitution of the Republic of the Congo came into effect in January 2002.
Head of state: The President, elected by direct universal suffrage for a seven-year term.
Head of government: The President, who appoints all ministers.
Legislature: The Congo has a bicameral legislature, the Parliament (Parlement). The National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) has 153 members, elected for five-year terms from single-member constituencies. The Senate (Sénat) has 66 members, elected for six-year terms by district, local and regional councils.
Electoral authority: The National Commission for the Organisation of Election (CONEL) administered the 2002 national elections.
Freedom House 2005 rating: Political Rights 5, Civil Liberties 4

Political history

France acquired possession of the right bank of the Congo River in 1885, and in 1910 Brazzaville became the capital of French Equatorial Africa. The territory was largely neglected until after the Second World War. In 1958 it became a self-governing member of the French Community, and independence followed in August 1960.

Congo's first President, Fulbert Youlou, established a one-party state, but he was overthrown in 1963. Elections were held and Alphonse Massamba-Debat became President under a new constitution. In 1968 he was deposed by a group of Marxist army officers under the leadership of Marien Ngouabi, who made Congo a People's Republic run by his Congolese Workers Party and aligned with the Communist world. Ngouabi was assassinated in 1977 and after an interim period was succeeded by Denis Sassou-Nguesso.

In 1991, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Sassou-Nguesso abandoned communism and agreed to free elections. In August 1992 he was defeated at presidential elections by Professor Pascal Lissouba. In the leadup to the 1997 presidential elections, however, party conflict erupted into civil war and Sassou-Nguesso seized power with the aid of Angolan troops.

Presidential and legislative elections were finally held in 2002, at which Sassou-Nguesso was re-elected largely unopposed after his strongest opponent, former National Assembly President Andre Milongo, withdrew from the race. The result was contested by election observers who accused the government of election-rigging. See the Report of the European Union observers (in French) on this election.

After the election, civil war again broke out, resulting in many deaths. Amnesty International's most recent Report on the Congo Republic catalogues many human rights violations by Sassou-Nguesso's regime. Events in the Congo Republic can be followed at AllAfrica.com.