August 15th: Republic of the Congo Independence Day

The Republic of the Congo gained independence from France on this date in 1960. Here are some things you may not know about this country:

1. To distinguish Republic of the Congo to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo the country is sometimes called Congo-Brazzaville, Brazzaville being the capital city. Brazzaville is separated from the Democratic Republic's capital of Kinshasa by the Congo river. This is the only place in the world where two national capital cities are situated on opposite banks of a river, within sight of each other.
2. Brazzaville was built on the site of a Bateke village named Nkuna by an Italo-French explorer, Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, after whom the city was named.
3. Mont Nabemba is the highest mountain in the Republic of the Congo. It has has an elevation of 1,020 metres (3,346 ft).
4. The highest building in the country was named after the mountain. This building, the Nabemba Tower, also known as Elf Tower, is 106 metres tall and has 30 floors. It also has a distinctive shape - its sides bend in the middle making a concave cylinder. The facade's vertical lines with glass and light concrete reinforces its narrow shape. The floor plan consists of three concentric circles: Lifts and technical facilities in the middle, then circular corridors, and finally an outer ring of offices.
5. Natural resources include petroleum, timber, potash, Lead, Zinc, Uranium, Copper, phosphates, Gold, magnesium, natural gas and hydropower. 1.55% of the land is arable, while only 0.20% has permanent crops.
6. In 2014, a peat bog was discovered in the Republic of the Congo which was said to be as big as England.
7. The national Flag consists of a Yellow diagonal band diagonally from the lower hoist-side corner, with a Green upper triangle and red lower triangle. It is the only Pan-Africanist flag to have a diagonal pattern in its design. The green represents the agriculture and forests of the Congo, and the yellow represents the "friendship and nobility" of the Congolese people. However, the symbolism behind the red was left unexplained.
8. The first people to live in the area were pygmies. The first Europeans to arrive were the Portuguese in 1482. It became a French protectorate in the nineteenth century and became independent from France in 1960.
9. The coast was a centre of the slave trade. France abolished the slave trade in 1826 but slavery remained in the French colonies until 1848.
10. During the Second World War, Brazzaville was the centre of the French resistance in Africa.