Geography Quiz Arcade

Congo 🇨🇬

Congo is a country in Africa with a population of 5,970,424. Its capital is Brazzaville. The official currency is XAF, and the main languages are French.

Quick facts

  • Capital: Brazzaville
  • Continent: Africa
  • Population: 5,970,424
  • Area: 342,000 km²
  • Density: 17.5 people per km²
  • Currency: XAF
  • Languages: French
  • ISO code: CG

Where Congo sits

Congo 🇨🇬 is one of 54 countries in Africa, with its capital at Brazzaville. It covers 342,000 square kilometres — 64th in the world — and is home to about 5,970,424 people, 113th globally.

The countries it shares a continent with include Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.

How Congo compares

Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Congo sits closest to Singapore and Denmark. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Finland and Vietnam.

At 17.5 people per square kilometre it is about 3.4 times below the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by area than by population, so it is more spacious than its population alone suggests.

French is an official language in 30 countries here, among them Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso and Burundi, and 25 others. The XAF is shared with 5 other countries, including Cameroon, Central African Republic and Chad, and 2 others.

To see Congo next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.

How to remember Congo

There are two Congos. This one is the Republic of the Congo, and its capital is Brazzaville. Across the Congo River sits Kinshasa, capital of the much larger Democratic Republic of the Congo. B before K, smaller before bigger.

The flag of Congo: green, yellow and red

🇨🇬 The flag is divided diagonally by a yellow band, with a green triangle in the top-left and a red triangle in the bottom-right. Green stands for farming and forests and yellow for the people's friendship and nobility. The meaning of red was never officially set, but it is usually linked with the struggle for independence.

Region and neighbours

Congo is a country in Central Africa that lies across the equator, west of the Congo River, with a short Atlantic coastline. It shares land borders with 5 countries: Gabon, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola. Its border with Angola is with Angola's exclave of Cabinda.

Three facts about Congo

  1. Brazzaville and Kinshasa face each other across the Congo River, making them the closest pair of national capitals after Rome and Vatican City.
  2. Brazzaville is named after the explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza.
  3. The equator crosses the country, and much of the north is rainforest that is home to western lowland gorillas.

Sources: Wikipedia: Republic of the Congo, Wikipedia: Flag of the Republic of the Congo, Wikipedia: Brazzaville, CIA World Factbook.

Quiz yourself on Congo

Quizzes that include Congo

Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Congo those are:

Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.

Read more about Congo

Nearby countries

Frequently asked questions

What are the colours of the Congo flag?

The flag of Congo is divided diagonally by a yellow band, with a green triangle in the top-left and a red triangle in the bottom-right. Green stands for farming and forests and yellow for the people's friendship and nobility. The meaning of red was never officially set, but it is usually linked with the struggle for independence.

Which countries border Congo?

Congo shares land borders with Gabon, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola. Its border with Angola is with Angola's exclave of Cabinda.

How can I remember the capital of Congo?

There are two Congos. This one is the Republic of the Congo, and its capital is Brazzaville. Across the Congo River sits Kinshasa, capital of the much larger Democratic Republic of the Congo. B before K, smaller before bigger.