The Bakongo, the country's majority ethnic group
The Bakongo alone make up more than half of the Bantu family. Most of them live in the south of the country, from Brazzaville to Pointe-Noire on the Atlantic coast. Beyond Congo-Brazzaville, the Bakongo's area of settlement extends as far as Luanda in Angola and as far as the province of Badundu in Congo-Kinshasa. At the end of the 20th century, the Kongo population was estimated at around 10 million. Among them are the Laris (or Balari) originally living around Brazzaville, in the Pool region; the Vilis or Bavili on the Atlantic coast (Pointe-Noire in the Kouilou region); the Yombés (Bayombé) in the Mayombé massif in the Niari, as well as the Basoundi, Babembé, Bakemba, and of course the Bakongo. The majority speak Kikongo or its dialects. Despite their diversity, the notion of clan, in the broadest sense of the term, is important among the Bakongo, with all members originally descending from the same parents.
The Batéké, a people spread across the country
The Teke family makes up around 20% of the Congolese people. They comprise around ten different ethnic groups, including the Tios, Baboma, Tégués, Bangangoulou and Batéké-Lalis. Farmers and traders, they are descended from the Teke kings, rivals of the Kongo kingdom, known as makokos, with whom Savorgnan de Brazza signed the first protectorate treaty at Mbé in 1880, in which King Iloo ceded to France "his hereditary rights of supremacy". The Batéké are found on the Batéké Plateau north of Brazzaville, in the departments of Lékoumou, Cuvette Ouest (where they are called Mbéti and Tégué), Niari (where they are called Nzabi), Bouenza and the Pool region. They are also found in southeastern Gabon and western Democratic Republic of Congo.
Other Bantu ethnic groups
Located north of the Batéké plateau, the Mbochis are the third largest ethnic group in Congo, belonging to the Bantu family. They are divided into several ethnic groups: bonga, boubangui, kouyou, likouaka, likouba, mboko, makoua, mbochi, moye and ngaré. They live in the two departments of the Cuvette (Owando, Oyo, Etoumbi...) and along the great fish-filled rivers of the Sangha and Likouala. The Sanghas, Makouas and Oubanguians are the last three major ethnic groups, led by the Sanghas, who themselves comprise around ten different ethnic groups (Bomitabas, Bonguilis, Pomos, Bangalas...). They live in the north of the country in the equatorial forest. They are livestock breeders and fishermen, and timber harvesting has also become one of their main activities.
The Aka, Congo's indigenous people
Considered historically, and perhaps wrongly, as the first inhabitants of the Congo, before the Bantu migrations from North Africa a millennium BC, the Aka are a nomadic indigenous people from Central Africa, living mainly in the south of the Central African Republic and in the north of the Republic of Congo. They are estimated to number around 30,000 in Congo-Brazzaville, although no census has yet been carried out. Living from hunting, fishing and gathering, the Aka, once semi-nomadic, are now becoming sedentary. Some groups practice subsistence farming, while others are employed by the forestry industry or the Bantu. In addition to the effects of the market economy, the discrimination they face leads to their marginalization in terms of health, and affects their cultural heritage and traditional knowledge. In fact, since 2003, the oral traditions of the Aka ethnic group have been listed as part of Unesco's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
A foreign business population
As the Congolese are poor shopkeepers, most businesses are run by foreigners: Malians and Beninese run the small shops, then, in descending order of business size: French, Lebanese, Chinese. Nationals of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who are very numerous in Brazzaville, are called by various names: "Zairois", "kinois", "congolais d'en face", "congolais démocrates" or even "rdécéens". They are often accused of importing all the vices of Kinshasa, especially theft and prostitution. The Congolese government regularly expels refugees from the north, undocumented immigrants and troublemakers, which is a source of great tension between the two sides.
A polyglot country
In addition to French as an official language, the Republic of Congo has two other national vehicular languages, Kituba and Lingala, which are enshrined in the Constitution. Kituba, also known as Munukutuba, is a Bantu language spoken by 50.3% of the national population. It is spoken mainly in southern Congo, but also in north-western Congo-Kinshasa and Angola. Kituba originated as a pidgin in trade along the mouth of the Congo River, before European missionaries and settlers explored the African interior and spread this lingua franca to the detriment of the various Kikongo dialects. Lingala is derived from Bobangi, a dialect of the Ngala region between the Congo and Ubangi rivers. The number of speakers is estimated at 30 million, spread between Congo-Kinshasa and Brazzaville, Angola and as far as the Central African Republic. Lingala is currently widely spoken in both Congo regions, especially in northern Congo-Brazzaville, in the media, the army, official speeches and popular song, which remains its best means of transmission. Lari, a language constructed from Soundi and Teke, can be considered the country's third local language. It is spoken in the Pool department and in the southern districts of Brazzaville. In addition to these four languages, the Congolese speak many other regional languages, such as Kikongo, Teke and Mbochi, which are understood by minority groups, Bantu or indigenous peoples.
