刚果(Congo)
正式名称刚果共和国（Republic of the Congo）
旧称中刚果（Middle Congo）
非洲中西部共和国。面积约342,000平方公里。人口约2,894,000（2001）。首都︰布拉萨。近半数人口属刚果各部族。特克人数量不多，乌班吉人数量也不多。语言：法语（官方语）和班图诸语言。宗教︰基督教、传统宗教。货币︰非洲金融共同体法郎（CFAF）。大西洋沿岸有一块狭窄海岸平原，长160公里。从低矮的山脉和高原起，有一块大平原，地势向东面的刚果河倾斜。地跨赤道。热带雨林覆盖刚果总面积近2/3。野生动物种类繁多。刚果经济属开发中的中央计画经济。矿产品占出口的90%以上。主要是原油和天然气。属过渡时期政权，采一院制。国家元首暨政府首脑是总统。
在前殖民时期，此区已存在了几个繁盛的王国，包括始建於西元第一千纪的刚果王国。15世纪时，随着葡萄牙人的到来开始进行了奴隶贸易，这种贸易成为各地方王国的主要财源，并主宰了此区经济直到19世纪奴隶贸易被禁止。19世纪中叶法国人也抵达此区，并与两个王国订定条约，使王国置於法国的保护下，後来成为法属刚果殖民地的一部分。1910年改名法属赤道非洲，刚果地区以中刚果为名。1946年中刚果变成法国海外领地，1958年通过投票成为法兰西共同体的一个自治共和国，1960年获得完全独立。独立後政局动荡不安，第一任总统在1963年被逐。後来由刚果工党（马克思主义党派）夺得权势，1968年恩果阿比少校发动另一场军事政变，创立刚果人民共和国，但他在1977年被暗杀。接下来由一连串的军事统治者来治理国家，刚开始时为好战的社会主义分子，但後来倾向於社会民主。1997年各地民兵之间的战斗严重瓦解了国家经济，2000年开始进行和谈。
English version：
Congo
Republic, western central Africa. Area: 132,047 sq mi (342,000 sq km). Population (1997): 2,583,000. Capital: Brazzaville. Nearly half of the population belongs to one of the Kongo tribes. The Teki are less numerous, as are the Ubangi people. Language: French (official), various Bantu languages. Religions: Christianity, traditional religions. Currency: CFA franc. A narrow coastal plain edges the Congo's 100-mi (160-km) stretch of Atlantic coastline, rising into low mountains and plateaus that slope eastward in a vast plain to the Congo River. The country straddles the equator; rain forests cover nearly two-thirds of the country, and wildlife is abundant. The Congo has a centrally planned, developing economy. Mining products, crude petroleum and natural gas, account for more than 90% of the country's exports. A 1997 transitional constitution vested executive power in the president and legislative power in a national transitional council. In precolonial days the area was home to several thriving kingdoms, including the Kongo, which had its beginnings in the 1st millennium AD. The slave trade began in the 15th century with the arrival of the Portuguese; it supported the local kingdoms and dominated the area until its suppression in the 19th. century. The French arrived in the mid-19th century and established treaties with two of the kingdoms, placing them under French protection prior to becoming part of the colony of French Congo. In 1910 it was renamed French Equatorial Africa and the area of the Congo became known as Middle (Moyen) Congo. In 1946 Middle Congo became a French overseas territory and in 1958 voted to become an autonomous republic within the French Community. Full independence came two years later. The area has suffered from political instability since independence. Congo's first president was ousted in 1963. A Marxist party, the Congolese Labor Party, gained strength, and in 1968 another coup, led by Major Marien Ngouabi, created the People's Republic of the Congo. Ngouabi was assassinated in 1977. A series of military rulers followed, at first militantly socialist but later oriented toward social democracy. Fighting between local militias in 1997 badly disrupted the economy; a peace process was under way in 2000.