Brazzaville, << BRAZ uh vihl or BRAHZ uh `veel` >> (pop. 596,200), is the capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo (Brazzaville). The city lies along the Congo River, across Malebo Pool from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Brazzaville is an industrial and transportation center. Local factories manufacture building and food products, cigarettes, furniture, matches, shoes, and textiles. Several tanneries also operate in the city. The Congo-Ocean railroad, about 320 miles (515 kilometers) long, links Brazzaville to Pointe-Noire, on the Atlantic coast. Most exports and imports of the inland countries of the Central African Republic and Chad move through Brazzaville to and from the coast.
Brazzaville was founded in 1880 by the French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza. It was the capital of the former French Equatorial Africa from 1910 to 1958. During World War II (1939-1945), it was headquarters for the Free French forces in Africa. Thousands of Brazzaville’s people were killed and many of the city’s buildings were damaged or destroyed during a civil war in 1997.
