The culture of the
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...
is rich, diverse and made up of a mix of about 4.5 million people in 2015 and just as many languages and customs.
Half of
Congolese people follow traditional beliefs, and there are 15 principle
Bantu
Bantu may refer to:
*Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages
*Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language
* Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle
*Black Association for National ...
groups and more than 70 subgroups. The other half are 35%
Roman Catholic, 15% other Christian and 2%
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
. The region was dominated by Bantu-speaking tribes, who built trade links leading into the Congo River basin. Congo-Brazzaville was formerly part of the French colony of Equatorial Africa.
Language and writings
The official language of the Republic of Congo is French. French is spoken by 56% of the Congolese population (78% of the population over 10 years), the second highest percentage of Africa in 2010, behind that of Gabon2. About 88% of Brazzavillans over 15 years of age say they have an easy expression in French.
The Republic of Congo has a number of well-known writers in Africa and the French-speaking world:
Alain Mabanckou
Alain Mabanckou (born 24 February 1966) is a novelist, journalist, poet, and academic, a French citizen born in the Republic of the Congo, he is currently a Professor of Literature at UCLA. He is best known for his novels and non-fiction writing d ...
,
Jean-Baptiste Tati Loutard
Jean-Baptiste Tati Loutard (15 December 1938 – 4 July 2009) was a Congolese politician and poet. Having previously served as Minister of Higher Education and Minister of Arts and Culture, he was Minister of Hydrocarbons in the government of Co ...
,
Jeannette Balou Tchichelle Jeannette Balou Tchichelle (1947–2005) was a Congolese and French writer. She was born in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. In 1969 she moved to France, where she lived with her three sons. In 1989, vanity press La Pensée Universelle published ...
,
Henri Lopes,
Lassy Mbouity
Lassy Mbouity,(born 15 October 1988) in Brazzaville, is a Congolese writer, historian and journalist. Managing director of Congo-Brazzaville Information newspaper, he has published books on African history.
Biography
Lassy Mbouity was born ...
and
Tchicaya U Tam'si
Tchicaya U Tam'si (born Gérald-Félix Tchicaya 25 August 1931 - 22 April 1988) was a Congolese author; his pen name means "small paper that speaks for its country" in Kikongo.
Life
Born in Mpili, near Brazzaville, French Equatorial Africa (n ...
.
Several artistic genres such as Congolese cinema struggle to make their breakthrough. After a promising start in the 1970s, the turbulent political environment and the closing of cinemas made production difficult. The country produces no feature films a year and filmmakers broadcast their production directly in video. In the end, in Congo-Brazzaville, culture remained until then the poor relation of the investments of successive governments.
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