French Congo
1939-1960 		History of Central Africa





Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), since 1960



The new state, officially the REPUBLIC OF CONGO, was called CONGO BRAZZAVILLE to distinguish it from the former Belgian Congo (Congo Leopoldville).
Congo Brazzaville remained a member of the COMMUNAUTE FRANCAISE, the French equivalent to the British Commonwealth. The country's official language is French, the currency based on the Franc. The economy depends heavily on it's mineral resources, mainly on oil.
One-Party Rule and a socialist economic policy were introduced in 1964. In international policy, the People's Republic of Congo pursued a double strategy, keeping close ties with both the USSR (Treaty of Friendship 1981) and with France.
Affiliation to a party respectively ideology was of less importance than affiliation to one of the Republic's 15 major ethnic groups.

In 1992 a new constitution implemented MULTIPARTY ELECTIONS. However, outgoing president DENIS SASSOU-NGUESSO did not accept defeat at the ballot-box; fighting broke out in 1993; in 1997 (with power changing hands in Zaire after a short civil war) fighting escalated in the republic and ex-president Sassou-Nguesso, victorious, reclaimed the presidency.





EXTERNAL
FILES 		Republic of Congo, History of, from Infoplease
Denis Sassou-Nguesso, from Infoplease
Links on Congo Brazzaville, from Africa Guide at Stanford; from African Studies at UPenn
Congo Brazzaville : The Party System in 1950-1956 and 1957-1962, in : Kenneth Janda, Political Parties : A Cross-National Survey
DOCUMENTS Flags of the Republic and People's Republic of Congo, from FOTW
Map of the Republic of Congo, from CIA World Factbook
Banknotes, from Ron Wise's World Paper Money
Documents on the History of Congo Brazzaville, from World History Archives
Constitution of 1992, from ICL
REFERENCE Article : Congo, Republic of, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1961 p.187, 1962 pp.175-176, 1963 pp.288-289, 1964 pp.276-277, 1965 pp.264-265, 1966 pp.210-211, 1967 p.234, 1968 p.234, 1969 p.225, 1970 p.229, 1971 p.216, 1972 p.200 [G]
Article : Congo, People's Republic of the, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1973 p.193 [G]
Article : Congo, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1975 pp.188-189, 1976 p.206, 1977 p.209, 1978 pp.259-260, 1979 p.265, 1980 p.260, 1981 p.257, 1982 pp.254-255, 1983 pp.251-252, 1984 pp.247-248, 1985 pp.463, 661, 1986 pp.458, 657, 1987 pp.426, 626, 1988 pp.387, 578, 1989 pp.387, 578, 1990 pp.404, 593, 1991 pp.383, 578, 1992 pp.354-355, 578, 1993 pp.359, 588, 1994 pp.357, 588, 1995 pp.396, 588, 1996 pp.394, 588, 1997 pp.410, 586, 2002 pp.410-411, 584 [G]
Article : Congo, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1970-1971 pp.933-934, 1975-1976 pp.839-840, 1976-1977 pp.850-851, 1978-1979 pp.360-361, 1979-1980 pp.360-361, 1980-1981 pp.362-363, 1981-1982 pp.367-368, 1983-1984 pp.371-373, 1984-1985 pp.370-372, 1985-1986 pp.372-374, 1986-1987 pp.376-378, 1987-1988 pp.377-380, 1988-1989 pp.379-382, 1990-1991 pp.381-384, 1991-1992 pp.381-384, 1992-1993 pp.444-447, 1993-1994 pp.450-453, 1994-1995 pp.440-443, 1995-1996 pp.434-437, 1996-1997 pp.372-376, 1997-1998 pp.382-385 [G]
Article : Congo, Republic of, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1998-1999 pp.423-427, 2000 pp.489-493, 2001 pp.475-479, 2002 pp.495-499, 2003 pp.493-497, 2004 pp.494-498, 2005 pp.492-496, 2006 pp.486-490 [G]
Article : Congo, in : The World in Figures 1st ed. 1976 pp.63-64, 2nd ed. 1978 pp.63-64, 4th ed. 1984 pp.63-64 [G]
Entry : Travel Warning - R. Congo, pp.456-457, in : Countries of the World and their Leaders Yearbook, 2000, Supplement [G]
Entry : Republic of Congo, Cabinet, pp.28-29; Background Notes : R. Congo, pp.443-447, in : Countries of the World and their Leaders Yearbook, 2003 [G]
Article : Congo, Republic of, in : Americana Annual 1961 p.178, 1962 pp.179-180, 1963 pp.174-175, 1964 pp.174-175 [G]
Article : Congo Brazzaville, in : Americana Annual 1965 p.188 [G]
Article : Congo, Republic of, in : Americana Annual 1967 p.207, 1968 p.196, 1969 p.208, 1970 p.213 [G]
Article : Congo, People's Republic of, in : Americana Annual 1971 p.222, 1972 p.210 [G]
Article : People's Republic of the Congo, in : Americana Annual 1973 p.204 [G]
Entry : Congo, Republic of, pp.378-381 in : IMF, International Financial Statistics Yearbook 2001 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on September 28th 2007

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