Brazzaville

Brazzaville, capital city of the Republic of the Congo, located in the capital district, in the southeastern part of the country. Brazzaville is situated on the northern bank of the Congo River below Pool Malebo (formerly Stanley Pool) and opposite the larger river port of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, formerly Zaire). The city is the nation's chief administrative and economic center; major manufactures include printed materials, processed food, textiles, and construction supplies. Brazzaville is also a major river port. An active transit trade exists between Brazzaville, which is the downstream terminus for shipping on the great Congo-Ubangi waterway, and the nation's Atlantic Ocean port of Pointe-Noire. The international Maya Maya Airport and Marien-Ngouabi University (1961) are located here.

Brazzaville was founded in 1880 by French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza. It was under French rule from 1882 until 1960, when it became the capital of the newly independent Republic of the Congo. Its economic growth had been spurred by the completion of a rail link with Pointe-Noire in 1946. Population (2003 estimate) 1,080,000.