Brazzaville Map

About City : 
Brazzaville is the capital city of the Republic of the Congo. It is the largest city in the country with a population of over 2 million. Brazzaville is named after Italo-French explorer, Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza who founded this city on 10 September 1880. It is home to over 40% of non-agricultural employment and houses almost one-third of the country’s population. It is not only the administrative but also the financial capital of the country.It was the capital of French Congo and French Equatorial Africa until the Second World War. From 1997 to 1999, the country was riddled with a Civil War. Peace was restored in 2003. The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa is located here. The prevalent languages spoken here are French, Kituba and Lingala.

Geography : 
Brazzaville is 506 km east from the Atlantic Ocean, located at the North of the Congo River. Approximately 474 kilometers south of the equator, it is separated from the other regions of the republic by the Pool Region, which is a large savanna, surrounding the region. The city of Kinshasa lies to its south.

How to Reach (Transport) : 
Brazzaville is served by the Maya-Maya Airport which is connected to cities like Paris, Johannesburg, Casablanca, etc. A cheaper way of traveling would be to take a flight to Kinshasa and then cross the River Congo by a ferry to reach the port of Brazzaville. The city offers a daily ferry service to Kinshasha and vice-versa.

It is also home to a railway station on the Congo-Ocean Railway, although it isn’t advisable to travel by train. There are buses between Brazzaville and its surrounding towns, though these are not really regular and can be delayed due to poor road quality outside the city.

Inside the city, local green taxis are readily available. Keep a keen eye on the meter or be prepared to be overcharged for a small distance.

When to Visit : 
Brazzaville has a tropical wet and dry climate with a constant temperature. From the month of October begins the wet season which lasts until May. During these months, the roads of the city turn into muddy swamps. The best time to visit is during the dry season which covers the remaining months.

Fairs and Festival : 
Congo is full of musicians, painters, writers and sculptors of international renown. Some of the noteworthy festivals of Brazzaville are as follows.

• FESPAM Pan African Music Festival (Festival Panafricain de Musique) Institution, organized by the Congolese Ministry of Culture and Arts, is held every two years. It is celebrated for a week, partying. Many artists, producers, music lovers, researchers, museum curators, musicologists, ethnologists, historians, journalists, tourists, etc. from all over Africa, Europe and Asia alike meet in the eminent cultural fest.
• Fires of Brazza (Feux de Brazza), a meeting place for the promotion of the cultural arts is in the heart of the African continent. Events include a seminar, a forum and live spectacles. It is open to all traditional groups throughout the world.

Points of Interest (Places to Visit) : 
Brazzaville is famous for its rich history, full of art. There are a lot of places one must see in Brazzaville.

• National Parc Ndoki-Nouabalé, home to more than 1,000 species of flora and fauna is one of the country’s best parks. A guide is an absolute necessity on tours because the virgin rain forests aren’t easy to navigate.
• Pointe-Noire Beach, possesses Africa’s only deepwater harbor. Sports like wind surfing, hang gliding and sea surfing are very popular here.
• Lesio-Louna Gorilla Reserve is home to about 80 percent of the world’s wild gorillas and chimpanzee population.
• Brazzaville’s Waterfalls offer lovely panoramas of the surrounding forest. Falls like the Loufoulakari Falls and the nearby Bela Falls are exquisite and effortlessly cut noisily through a tangle of untouched rain forest.
• Palace de Peuple, built in 1901 is a colonial palace currently housing the President of the country.
• The Basilique Sainte-Anne and Central is one of the most beautiful places of worship in the world with a beautifully decorated Mosque and a gorgeous Catholic Church.

Other notable tourist activities include Northern Congo Trekking, Poto Poto, Congo Rapids, Musee National du Congo (National Museum of Congo), Charles de Gaulle House, Cathédrale Sacré-Coeur, etc.

Accommodation : 
Brazzaville offers a variety of accommodations, ranging from cheap apartment hotels to elegant boutique hotel. Olympic Palace Hotel is arguably the best hotel in the city and has incorporated the western style with elegance. Other luxury hotels include Hotel Mikhael, Hotel Marina and Villa Monama. Mid range hotels include Hotel Oriental and Hotel Hippocampe and budget hotels include Villa Lys Hotel, Laico Hotel Maya Maya and Leon Hotel.