Two countries in Western/Central Africa are known by the name Congo. By far the smallest of the two is the Republic of Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville. The Republic of Congo covers an area 342,000 sq. km. (132,047 sq. mi.) and has a population of around 4 million, out of which approximately 1.5 million live in the capital, Brazzaville. Pygmies make up between 5 to 10 percent of the population. Most of the country is covered by tropical jungle which is virtually uninhabited.

Brazzaville is located on the Congo River just across from Kinshasa with over 7 million inhabitants. Kinshasa is the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the bigger of the two Congo's.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is also knowns as Congo-Kinshasa, and formerly known as Belgian Congo, Congo or Zaire. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has a total area of 2,345,410 sq. km. and a population of about 63 million. Most of the inland is rain forest, drained by the Congo River and its tributaries.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is most definitely not a tourist destination and not safe for independent travel or sightseeing. Most foreign governments warn against any unofficial travel to the country. Also the Republic of Congo is of little interest for tourists. As a result of past conflicts, there is extensive damage to the infrastructure in the capital, Brazzaville and in the southern part of the country. Occasionally political unrest in neighboring Kinshasa can affect Brazzaville on the other side of the Congo River.

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South Africa	Egypt	Northern Africa	Eastern Africa	Western Africa	Southern Africa
Package Holidays	Package Holidays	Morocco	Kenya	Gambia	Botswana
South Africa Hotels	Hotels and Resorts	Algeria	Tanzania	Guinea	Namibia
South Africa Safaris	Nile Cruises	Tunisia	Uganda	Sierra Leone	Mozambique
South Africa Flights	Holiday Resorts	Libya	Somalia	Ivory Coast	Madagascar
Johannesburg	Flights to Egypt	Sudan	Rwanda	Ghana	Mauritius
Cape Town	Cairo	Eritrea	Burundi	Nigeria	Seychelles
Durban	Alexandria	Ethiopia	Links	Cameroon	Zimbabwe
Kruger National Park	Luxor	Djibouti		Gabon	Angola
Garden Route	Valley of the Kings	Western Sahara		Congo	Zambia
Drakensberg Range	Nile Delta	Mauritania			Malawi