Divided diagonally from the lower hoist side by a yellow band; the upper triangle (hoist side) is green and the lower triangle is red; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia.
12 departments (départements, singular - département) of which two are also communes*: Bouenza, Brazzaville*, Cuvette, Cuvette-Ouest, Kouilou, Lékoumou, Likouala, Niari, Plateaux, Pointe-Noire*, Pool, and Sangha.
Population:
3,800,610 (July 2007 est.) Estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS, this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected.
Languages:
French (official), Lingala and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages), many local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo has the most users)
Geographic coordinates:
1° 00' S, 15° 00' E
Area total:
342,000 sq. km
Land area:
341,500 sq. km
Water area:
500 sq. km
Total land boundaries:
5,504 km
Borders with neighbor countries:
Angola 201 km, Cameroon 523 km, Central African Republic 467 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 2,410 km, Gabon 1,903 km
Coastline:
169 km
Elevation extremes:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m - Mount Berongou 903 m
Internet country code:
.cg
Currency:
Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF) responsible authority is the Bank of the Central African States
Name - conventional long form:
Republic of the Congo
Name - conventional short form:
Congo (Brazzaville)
Name - local long form:
Republique du Congo
Name - local short form:
none
Former name:
Middle Congo, Congo/Brazzaville, Congo
Independence:
15 August 1960 (from France)
Constitution:
constitution approved by referendum in January 2002