Brazzaville is the capital of the Republic of Congo (not to be confused with the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and lies on the west bank of Pool Malebo of the Congo River across from Kinshasa. It is the African country's largest city, with a population of approximately 1.13 million (2002), and is its administrative, communications, and economic centre.

The city was established in 1880 by French explorer Savorgnan de Brazza after France acquired jurisdiction over the region in the same year. Once the French Congo was formally proclaimed in 1891, France was able to join it to French Equatorial Africa in 1910, making Brazzaville the capital of the entire colony.

During World War II, Brazzaville became the centre of the Free French Forces on the continent, but its status as capital of French Equatorial Africa lasted only until 1958, when the Congo officially became a republic in the French Community. It was actually in Brazzaville that a conference on reforming French colonial rule was organized in 1944, during which African leaders put the French colonies on the path towards independence. The Republic of Congo achieved its complete political independence in 1960.

Brazzaville's main growth began in 1945 and it became an important port on the Congo River. Its chief industries are beverage processing, tanning, the manufacture of construction materials, machining, matches, and textiles. The city has a national university, a school of African art, and the regional headquarters of the World Health Organization.

A map of Brazzaville can be found at the following URL:

http://www.izf.net/izf/Documentation/Cartes/CentreVille/Brazzaville.htm