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Brazzaville

Capital of Republic of the CongoBrazzaville spreads along the north bank of the Congo River, just below Pool Malebo. It is more than 500 km inland from the Atlantic Ocean, on flat land about 320 m above sea level.

Why it's the capital

France founded the town in 1880, during the Scramble for Africa, on the site of an existing Bateke settlement. It became the capital of the French Congo in 1904 and of French Equatorial Africa in 1910, and it stayed the capital when the Republic of the Congo became independent.

Fun facts

  1. The city is named after Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, an Italian-born explorer who became a French citizen and is credited with founding it.
  2. During the Second World War, Brazzaville was the capital of Free France, outside the control of the Vichy government.
  3. Rapids called the Livingstone Falls stop ships coming up the river from the Atlantic, so a railway opened in 1934 links the city with the port of Pointe-Noire.

Finding it on the globe

Follow the Congo River inland from the Atlantic to where it widens into Pool Malebo. Brazzaville is on the north bank, the upper side on a map.

Easy to mix up

Brazzaville and Kinshasa face each other across the Congo River. Brazzaville, on the north bank, is the capital of the Republic of the Congo; Kinshasa, on the south bank, is the capital of DR Congo.

Sources: Wikipedia: Brazzaville, Wikipedia: Kinshasa