Congo Geography
Congo Geography, The population is distributed among a wide range of ethnic groups; except approximately 15,000 pygmies in the country’s most northerly region are all Bantu people. There are significant cultural differences between the northern and southern peoples; it is a contradiction that can be found in the country’s political history.
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The birth rate is high, which together with a decreasing frequency of death leads to a population growth of approximately 3% per year; this does not include the refugee flows that occasionally cross the Congo River from the troubled neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. The northern parts of the country are very sparsely populated; a large part of the population lives in a narrow belt from Brazzaville to the port city of Pointe-Noire. Here, there is strong urban growth and a significant emigration from rural areas. For culture and traditions of Republic of the Congo, please check allunitconverters.
Agriculture
Less than 2% of the land is cultivated. In addition pastures and fields with periodic cultivation (slash), but agricultural plays a minor role in the DRC than in most other developing countries and the country importing 3/4 of the food supply. Cassava is by far the most important crop.
Forestry
Up to two-thirds of the country is forest, and timber was long the country’s most important export product. In particular, forests in the southern part of the Congo are exploited, while the northern part has very significant areas of pristine rainforest, and there are still good opportunities to expand timber harvesting. After 2000, exports of hardwoods have grown substantially.
Oil
Oil is the dominant product for the economy. The extraction began in 1960 as offshore production off Pointe-Noire, handled by foreign companies. Crude oil represents just under 90% of total exports.
Infrastructure
The Congo River with the Oubangui tributary continues to play a key role in transport in the inner parts of the country. The river is not navigable on the stretch from Brazzaville to the Atlantic, and it was crucial to solve the transportation problem of the many goods transported by the river early in the colonial period. The construction of the railroad from Brazzaville to Pointe-Noire was a tremendous task which took 14 years to complete. The work was very difficult in the unhealthy climate and harsh terrain and was carried out with extensive use of forced-release workers. The labor force was picked up in the villages; therefore, famine broke out several times, and for the whole of French Equatorial Africa It is estimated that the population around 1900 was up to ten times larger than when the construction was completed in 1938. Now the railway is heavily worn and requires large investments in equipment and railway body.
The road network is only expanded in the southern part of the country with Brazzaville as the hub. North of Owando, the roads are harmless during the rainy season.
Nature
The vast majority of the country lies in the catchment area of the Congo River and the tributary of Oubangui. The climate is everywhere humid tropical and large areas are pristine rainforest. The majority is on a low plateau (200-800 m asl) intersected by swampy river valleys. The wide coastal plain with the town of Pointe-Noire is separated from the rest of the Congo by a smaller, but very passable, mountain range. The wildlife is especially rich in the north with, among other things, a significant stock of elephants. Some smaller areas are classified as national parks. Congo does not have significant tourism, which is due to the extremely humid tropical climate, the unstable political conditions and the difficult transport conditions.