Republic of the Congo
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The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (its name from 1971 to 1997; the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central Africa to the west of the Congo River. It is bordered to the west by Gabon, to the northwest by Cameroon, to the northeast by the Central African Republic, to the southeast by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south by the Angolan exclave of Cabinda, and to the southwest by the Atlantic Ocean. The region was dominated by Bantu-speaking tribes at least 3,000 years ago, who built trade links leading into the Congo River basin. From the 13th century, the present-day territory was dominated by a confederation led by Vungu which included Kakongo and Ngoyo. The Tio Kingdom emerged in the 14th century, and Loango in the 16th century. In the late 19th century France colonised the region and incorporated it into French Equatorial Africa. The Republic of the Congo was established on 28 November 1958 and gained independence from France in 1960. It was a Marxist–Leninist state from 1969 to 1992, under the name People's Republic of the Congo (PRC). The country has had multi-party elections since 1992, but a democratically elected government was ousted in the 1997 Republic of the Congo Civil War. Denis Sassou Nguesso has been president since 1979, except for the period from 1992 to 1997. The Republic of the Congo is a member of the African Union, the United Nations, La Francophonie, the Economic Community of Central African States, and the Non-Aligned Movement. It is the fourth-largest oil producer in the Gulf of Guinea, providing the country a degree of prosperity, with political and economic instability in some areas and unequal distribution of oil revenue nationwide. Its economy is dependent on the oil sector and economic growth has slowed since the post-2015 drop in oil prices. Christianity is the most widely professed faith in the country. According to the 2024 rendition of the World Happiness Report, the Republic of the Congo is ranked 89th among 140 nations.