
The Statistical Yearbook of the Congo 2004 (source [2]) says that under Law No. 10-2003 (2003-02-06), the Congo Republic consists of six communes and twelve departments. The table which follows makes it clear that the six communes are subdivisions of some of the departments. In two cases, Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, the communes are co-extensive with their departments. The difference between this and the prior situation is that Pointe-Noire commune and department were split from Kouilou department. The French Wikipedia article (source [3]) was updated on 2007-10-02, changing the number of subdivisions from 10 regions to 12 departments, and reclassifying Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire from urban communes to departments. The more specific article "Subdivisions de la République du Congo" hasn't been updated yet. With Pointe-Noire no longer in Kouilo department, the capital of the latter may be Hinda or Loango, depending on whom you believe. Source [2] says Hinda; most other Internet sources say Loango, but they're probably copying from the same one source.
The government of the Congo Republic has invalidated the results of the 1996 census, because some files and surveys were destroyed by civil war in 1997-99. The 2007-04-28 census revealed a total population of 3,695,579. I haven't found a breakdown into departments yet.
Cuvette-Ouest department was created by Law 002/95 of 1995-02-18. It is divided into Etoumbi, Ewo, Kéllé, Mbama, Mbomo, and Okoyo districts. It is said to have a population of over 60,000 as of 2004, and an area of about 26,000 km.². A different source says that the area of Cuvette is 41,800 km.², and of Cuvette-Ouest, 27,200 km.²; this disagrees with the figure formerly given for the combined region, 74,850 km.².
Cuvette-Ouest was listed in both versions of international standard ISO 3166-2, starting with the draft standard which was distributed in late 1996. FIPS Publication Change Notice No. 10, affecting FIPS PUB 10-4, was issued on 2006-03-23. It assigns a new FIPS code to Cuvette-Ouest and changes the code for Cuvette, from which it was split.

| Short name | REPUBLIC OF CONGO |
| ISO code | CG |
| FIPS code | CF |
| Languages | French (fr), Lingala (ln), Monokutuba |
| Time zone | +1 |
| Capital | Brazzaville |
Congo was one of the territories of French Equatorial Africa until 1960, under the name Moyen Congo. (For further details, see Central African Republic.) It gained independence on 1960-08-15 and took the name République du Congo (Republic of Congo). There was already a République du Congo across the river from it. Most people distinguished the two countries by calling them Congo-Léopoldville and Congo-Brazzaville, according to their capitals. In 1970-01, this country's name was changed to People's Republic of Congo, but the change was later reversed.


from the Congo river, which came from the ethnic name Kikongo

Republic of Congo is divided into twelve départements (formerly called régions), of which two are also communes: Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire.
| Department | HASC | ISO | FIPS | Pop-1996 | Pop-1984 | Area(km.²) | Area(mi.²) | Capital |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bouenza | CG.BO | 11 | CF01 | 236,566 | 194,977 | 12,266 | 4,736 | Madingou |
| Brazzaville | CG.BR | BZV | CF12 | 856,410 | 595,102 | 100 | 39 | Brazzaville |
| Cuvette | CG.CU | 8 | CF13 | 112,946 | 133,144 | 74,850 | 28,900 | Owando |
| Cuvette-Ouest | CG.CO | 15 | CF14 | 49,422 | Ewo | |||
| Kouilou | CG.KL | 5 | CF04 | 532,179 | 373,608 | 13,644 | 5,268 | Hinda |
| Lékoumou | CG.LE | 2 | CF05 | 75,734 | 68,301 | 20,950 | 8,089 | Sibiti |
| Likouala | CG.LI | 7 | CF06 | 66,252 | 48,993 | 66,044 | 25,500 | Impfondo |
| Niari | CG.NI | 9 | CF07 | 199,988 | 159,084 | 25,940 | 10,015 | Dolisie |
| Plateaux | CG.PL | 14 | CF08 | 139,371 | 108,802 | 38,400 | 14,826 | Djambala |
| Pointe-Noire | CG.PN | | | 50 | 19 | Pointe-Noire | ||
| Pool | CG.PO | 12 | CF11 | 265,180 | 180,051 | 33,955 | 13,110 | Kinkala |
| Sangha | CG.SA | 13 | CF10 | 57,223 | 46,367 | 55,800 | 21,545 | Ouesso |
| 12 divisions | 2,591,271 | 1,912,429 | 341,999 | 132,047 | ||||
| ||||||||
See the Districts of the Republic of Congo page.
The departments are subdivided into districts, which are further subdivided into communes.


According to source [4], the divisions of the Congo Republic immediately after independence were twelve prefectures and one autonomous sub-prefecture, as shown in this table.
| Prefecture | Population | Capital |
| Alima | 53,218 | Boundji |
| Bouanza-Louessé | 52,065 | Sibiti |
| Djoué | 168,336 | Brazzaville |
| Kouilou | 97,061 | Pointe-Noire |
| Léfini | 59,165 | Djanbala |
| Likouala | 27,578 | Impfondo |
| Likouala-Mossaka | 48,457 | Fort-Rousset |
| Mossaka | 20,080 | |
| Niari | 40,025 | Dolisie |
| Niari-Bouenza | 88,598 | Madingou |
| Nyanga-Louessé | 59,326 | Mossendjo |
| Pool | 117,957 | Kinkala |
| Sangha | 32,818 | Ouesso |
| 13 divisions | 864,679 | |
| ||
CF09).CF03).CG.KO; former capital Pointe-Noire).
of 2002, Title XVI, Article 174 (in French; retrieved 2009-06-06).
,
dated 2006-11 (pp. 17-20, in French, retrieved 2009-06-06).
(retrieved 2009-06-06).| Back to main statoids page | Last updated: 2009-06-13 |
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