Article: Congo

This article is about the various names applied to a region of central Africa; for other uses, see Congo (disambiguation).

██ Republic of the Congo██ Democratic Republic of the Congo

Congo is a name shared by two neighbouring countries in Central Africa, largely drained by the Congo River, and usually distinguished by their full official names and occasionally by adding their capital cities; the name is also used in prior political entities. It also refers to the African subregion drained by the Congo River, located between the Gulf of Guinea and the African Great Lakes.

"The Congos" may be used to refer to both countries. The adjective "Congolese" (as in "Congolese music" or "Congolese culture") can refer to either or both countries.

Republic of the Congo

Main article: Republic of the Congo

The Republic of the Congo (ROC), also known as Congo-Brazzaville (and locally as "Braza"), is the smaller of the two countries and lies to the west.

It was long a French colony, most of the time called Middle Congo (or part of an entity Middle Congo-Gabon), informally also known as French Congo, and since 1886 part of French Equatorial Africa. On 3 January 1970 it became officially the People's Republic of Congo, since 15 March 1992 simply the Republic of the Congo. Between 1971 and 1997 (and also in some recent publications^[1]) it was also simply referred to as "Congo".

The area was dominated by Bantu tribes throughout most of its history. It was annexed as a colony of France in the 1880s as part of French Equatorial Africa, and Brazzaville was the symbolic capital of Free France during World War II.

The country gained its independence from France in 1960 as the Congo Republic. It has had decades of political struggle since, with fragile elected governments often subject to military coups.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Main article: Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), known as Zaïre from 1971 to 1997, is sometimes also referred to as "Congo-Kinshasa". It is the larger of the two countries and lies to the east. It was once the personal property of King Leopold II of Belgium, when it was known as the Congo Free State, and later a Belgian colony when it was renamed the Belgian Congo. When DRC was called Zaïre, the other Congo was known simply as "Congo".

Historical usage of Congo and alternate spelling "Kongo"

These include:

• Belgian Congo, former colony of Belgium in the present-day area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
• French Congo, former French colony in the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo (ROC), also known as Middle Congo, one of the four territories of French Equatorial Africa (with Gabon, Oubangui-Chari and Tchad).
• Kongo Kingdom, which comprised of a large area in Central Africa, and was formerly a Portuguese protectorate.
• Portuguese Congo, the presently Angolan exclave of Cabinda, between the ROC and DRC

Notes