Republic of the Congo Military

The Republic of the Congo is a country located in Central Africa and is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola. It has a population of around 5.3 million people and the official language is French. The majority of the population are Roman Catholic, with some other religious denominations such as Protestantism also present.

The military of Republic of the Congo consists of three branches; Army, Navy, and Air Force. The total active personnel in the military are around 18,000 people. The Army has around 15,000 personnel with a focus on ground operations and border protection. It also has a Navy with 2,500 personnel for naval operations as well as 20 combat vessels for maritime defense missions within Republic of Congo waters. The Air Force has 500 personnel with 20 combat aircrafts for air support operations and air defense missions within Republic of Congo borders. Republic Of Congo is also part of NATO’s collective defense system. See naturegnosis to learn more about the country of Republic of the Congo.

Defense

The defense of Republic of the Congo encompasses (2006) 10,000 men enlisted and is organized into four battalions, three patrol boats and a few fighter aircraft. Semi-military security forces, including a presidential guard, amount to 2,000 men. The equipment is older and of Soviet origin with low reliability. Defense costs were 1.7% of GDP in 1985-96 and (2006) amount to 1.0% of GDP. Congo participates in UN peacekeeping operations in the Central African Republic and with observers in Sudan. To see related acronyms about this country, please check ABBREVIATIONFINDER where you can see that ROC stands for Republic of the Congo.

Republic Of The Congo Army

The Republic of Congo has volunteered military service. The total strength of the Republic of Congo is 10,000 active personnel (2018, IISS). In addition, 2,000 semi-military come in a gendarmerie.

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Army

The army has a strength of 8,000 active personnel. Materials include 40 tanks of the T-54, T-55 and type 59, 13 light tanks (three PT-76 and 10 type 62), 25 clearing wagons, and about 133 armored personnel vehicles. In addition, the army has heavy artillery and air defense artillery.

Air Force

The Air Force has a force of 1,200 active personnel, two fighter aircraft of the Mirage F-1 type and four transport aircraft.

The Navy

The Navy has a force of about 800 active personnel, and eight patrol vessels.

International operations

In 2018, the Republic of Congo participated in the UN operation in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) with 10 personnel and two observers.

Country data

Area: 342,000 km2 (world ranking: 63)

Residents: 5,261,000

Population density: 15 per km2 (as of 2017, world ranking: 118)

Capital: Brazzaville

Official languages: French

Gross domestic product: US $ 8.7 billion; Real growth: -4.6%

Gross national product (GNP, per resident and year): 1360 US$

Currency: CFA franc

Embassy

Wallstr. 69, 10179 Berlin
Telephone 030 49400778,
Fax 030 48479897
E-Mail: botschaftkongobzv@hotmail.de

Government
Head of State: Denis Sassou-Nguesso, Head of Government: Clément Mouamba, Exterior: Jean-Claude Gakosso

National Day: 15.8.

Administrative structure
12 departments

State and form of government
Constitution of 2002
Presidential Republic
Parliament: National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) with 151 members, election every 5 years; Senate (Sénat) with 72 members (indirectly elected for 6 years, 10 reserved for women), partial election every 3 years
Direct election of the head of state every 7 years (one-time re-election)
Suffrage from 18 years of age

Population: Congolese, last census 2007: 3,697.490 residents, mainly
Bantu groups: 52% Bakongo and Vili-Kongo, 24% Bateke and Bavili, 12% Mbochi; so-called pygmies, Ubangi groups and other

Cities (with population): (As of 2007) Brazzaville 1,373,382 pop., Pointe-Noire 715,334, Loubomo 83,798, Nkayi 71,620, Ouesso 28,179, Madingou 25,713, Owando 24,736, Sibiti 22,951, Loutété 19,212

Religions: 55% Protestants (thereof 33% Evangelicals), 32% Catholics, 2% Muslims; approx. 50% followers of indigenous religions (status: 2006)

Languages: French; Lingala, Monokutuba, Kikongo, Téké, Sanga, Ubangi languages, among others,

Employed by the: agricultural sector. 37%, industry 26%, business 37% (2017)

Unemployment (in% of all labor force): 2017: 11.0%

Inflation rate (in%): 2017: 0.5%

Foreign trade: Import: 2.8 billion US $ (2017); Export: US $ 5.1 billion (2017)

Population

The oldest ethnic element is represented by the Pygmies (1.5%), who are now found only in the northern forest areas and have partly lost their character as nomadic gatherers to devote themselves to agriculture and other sedentary activities. Most of the population belongs to Bantu groups, the main ones being the Bakongo (51.5%) and the Bateke (17.3%); Sudanese minorities occupy the extreme northern regions. The population has been affected for a long time by the difficult phyto-climatic conditions and by the serious impoverishment caused by the slave trade, but in recent decades it has grown considerably, with a rate of almost 3% between the 1990s and the early 2000s. The population density is low and decreases sharply as we proceed towards the inner forest region, where the rural settlements, practically abandoned during the 1980s and 1990s, they have not recovered either population or production capacity; the greatest densities are in the coastal strip, in the immediate hinterland and along the lower course of the Congo. The imbalances in the territorial distribution of the population are further accentuated by a heavy trend towards urbanization: the urban population is 60% of the total, one of the highest shares in Africa south of the Sahara, largely concentrated in the capital (almost 1/3 of the Congolese population) and in Pointe-Noire. The other urban centers, on the other hand, are small in size and only carry out modest administrative and commercial functions. Life expectancy at birth is around 52 years, the infant mortality rate is 81% (2008 data) and only a minimal percentage of the urban population (about 15%) has a fair access to health services.

In addition to the official language, most of the population commonly uses Bantu languages. About 41% of the residents of Republic of Congo profess the Catholic religion, slightly less (32%) follow animist cults, the rest is made up of Muslims and Christians of Reformed Churches.