Official name	Brazzaville
Pushpin map	Republic of the Congo
Map caption	Map of the Republic of Congo showing Brazzaville.
Coordinates display	inline,title
Coordinates region	CG
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name	Republic of the Congo
Subdivision type1	Capital district
Subdivision name1	Brazzaville
Leader title	Mayor
Leader name	Hugues Ngouelondélé (nonpartisan)
Population as of	2001
Population total	1,018,541
Population urban	1.5 million
Area total km2	100
Population density km2	10185.4
Elevation ft	}}

Brazzaville is the capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo and is located on the Congo River. As of the 2001 census, it has a population of 1,018,541 in the city proper, and about 1.5 million in total when including the suburbs located in the Pool Region. The populous city of Kinshasa (more than 10 million inhabitants in 2009), capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lies just across the Congo River from Brazzaville. Together with Kinshasa, the combined conurbation of Kinshasa-Brazzaville has thus nearly 12 million inhabitants (although significant political and infrastructure challenges prevent the two cities from functioning with any meaningful connection). Over a third of the population of the Republic of Congo lives in the capital, and it is home to 40% of non-agricultural employment. It is also a financial and administrative capital.

Geography

In order to distinguish between the two African countries with "Congo" in their names, the Republic of the Congo is sometimes called Congo-Brazzaville, as opposed to Congo-Kinshasa (the Democratic Republic of the Congo, known from 1971 to 1997 as Zaire, the capital of which is Kinshasa). Kinshasa lies on the southern bank of the Congo, across from Brazzaville. 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.

While Kinshasa lies to the south, Brazzaville lies to the north of the Congo River. The city is inland from the Atlantic Ocean and south of the equator. The city is a commune that is separated from the other regions of the republic; it is surrounded by the Pool Region. Around the city is a large savanna. The town is relatively flat, and situated at an altitude of .

History

The city was founded on 10 September 1880 on the site of a Bateke village named Nkuna by a Franco-Italian explorer, Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, after whom the city was named. The local leader, Makoko of the Téké, signed a treaty of protection with de Brazza which subjugated his lands to the French Empire. The city was built four years later in order to become a competitor with Léopoldville (now Kinshasa) which was built by the Belgians on the other side of the river. The site was occupied from October 1880 until May 1882 by a small squad of troops led by Senegalese Sergeant Malamine Camara, who prevented the land from falling into Belgian hands.

French control over the area was made official by the Berlin Conference of 1884. The city became the capital first of the French Congo, and then of French Equatorial Africa, a federation of states which encompassed Gabon, the Central African Republic and Chad. In 1924, the Congo-Océan railway was brought into service which linked Brazzaville with the port of Pointe-Noire.

During World War II Brazzaville, and the rest of French Equatorial Africa, remained beyond the control of Vichy France. In 1944, Brazzaville hosted a meeting of the Free French forces and representatives of France's African colonies. The resulting Brazzaville Declaration was intended to redefine the relationship between France and its African colonies after the war.

Until the 1960s, the city was divided into European (the center of the city) and African sections (Poto-Poto, Bacongo, and Makélékélé). In 1980 it became a "commune" separated from the Pool Region and divided into seven "arrondissements": Makélékélé (1), Bacongo (2), Poto-Poto (3), Moungali (4), Ouenzé (5), Talangaï (6) and Mfilou (7).

The city has frequently been a staging ground for wars, including conflicts between rebel and government forces and between forces of the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Angola. It was also the scene of bloody civil wars throughout the 1990s which resulted in thousands of civilian deaths and which forced hundreds of thousands of refugees to flee the city.

Economy

Industries present in Brazzaville include machine shops, textiles, tanning, and manufacturing. As a key port on the Congo River, the city takes deliveries of raw materials, such as rubber, wood and agricultural products. From here they are generally sent onward to Pointe-Noire for export.

Buildings and institutions

Notable buildings in the city include St Anne's Basilica, built in 1949 by Roger Erell, and known for its green tiled roof; Erell also designed a house in the city for Charles de Gaulle. Other buildings include the Nabemba Tower and the Congressional Palace. Other features include the Marien Ngouabi Mausoleum, Brazzaville Zoo and the Poto-Poto School of Painting. The United States Embassy for the Republic of the Congo is also located in Brazzaville.

The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa is based in Brazzaville on a vast campus at the Cité du Djoué.

Climate

Brazzaville, much like neighboring Kinshasa, features a tropical wet and dry climate. Its wet season, which runs from October–May, is longer than its dry season, which covers the remaining months. Brazzaville's driest months, July and August, see on average no significant precipitation. Since Brazzaville is south of the equator, its dry season begins at around its "winter" solstice, which is the month of June. The city experiences relatively constant temperatures throughout the course of the year.

Transport

The city is home to Maya-Maya Airport and a railway station on the Congo-Ocean Railway. It is also an important river port, with ferries sailing to Kinshasa and to Bangui via Impfondo. The Livingstone Falls lie on the outskirts of the city, where the Djoué River meets the Congo, rendering river transport to the coast impossible, qualifying the railway as a portage railway.

Taxis are available on every street and are easily recognized, being painted with a green body and white top, and the fare for a short trip is CF700. About twenty percent of the vehicles in Brazzaville are taxis. There are also collective taxis that drive certain routes and charge CF150.

Notable People

Gaitana, Ukrainian singer who lived for five years in Brazzaville

Serge Ibaka, professional basketball player born in Brazzaville.

Twin towns and sister cities

Dresden, Germany Olathe, Kansas, United States Weihai, China Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

References

Chavannes, Charles de. (1929) "Le Sergent Sénégalais Malamine." ''Annales de l'Académie des Sciences Coloniales'', vol. 3:159-187.

Petringa, Maria. (2006) Brazza, A Life for Africa (2006) ISBN 978-1-4259-1198-0

Tiepolo, M. (1996) "City Profile: Brazzaville" in ''Cities'' v. 13, pp. 117–124

Brisset-Guibert, Hervé (2007) Brazzaville petit guide historique, in the site www.presidence.cg ("palais presidentiel")

External links

BRAKIN, the fusion city of Brazzaville and Kinshasa, urban analysis seminar with vectorised maps of the agglomeration by TU Darmstadt, 2009

Maria Petringa's 1997 biographical article on Savorgnan de Brazza, describing events leading to the founding of Brazzaville

Category:Populated places in the Republic of the Congo Category:Capitals in Africa Category:Communities on the Congo River Category:Populated places established in 1880 Category:Departments of the Republic of the Congo Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo–Republic of the Congo border crossings

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name	Serge Ibaka
position	Power forward
height ft	6
height in	10
weight lb	235
team	Oklahoma City Thunder
number	9
nationality	Congolese/Spanish
birth date	September 18, 1989
birth place	Brazzaville, People's Republic of the Congo
draft round	1
draft pick	24
draft year	2008
draft team	Seattle SuperSonics
career start	2007
years1	2007–2008 | team1 CB L'Hospitalet (Spain)
years2	2008–2009 | team2 Ricoh Manresa (Spain)
years3	2009–present | team3 Oklahoma City Thunder
Years4	2011| team4Real Madrid (Spain)
highlights	NBA blocks leader ()
nba profile	serge_ibaka
medaltemplates	}}

}} Serge Jonas Ibaka Ngobila (born September 18, 1989), commonly referred to as Serge Ibaka, is a professional Congolese-Spanish basketball player, playing the power forward position for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA. Ibaka was drafted by the Thunder's former incarnation, the Seattle SuperSonics with the 24th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. He is referred to as Air Congo by his teammates. Serge is the third youngest among eighteen siblings. Although born in the Republic of the Congo, Ibaka represents Spain in international competition.

Early life

Ibaka was born in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. Both his mother and his father were basketball players. His father played at the Republic of Congo and with the Congolese national team, and his mother played for the Democratic Republic of Congo. He started playing basketball at a very young age with his first club, Avenir du Rail, using the sport as an escape amongst his mother's untimely death and his father's imprisonment during the Second Congo War.

Ibaka moved to Spain as a teenager and soon found himself playing with several junior basketball clubs, most notably CB L'Hospitalet, with which he won several tournaments.

Transition to the NBA

He was selected by the Seattle Supersonics with the 24th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. He became the first player from the Republic of Congo to be selected in the draft, although the Oklahoma City Thunder (the team that inherited the Sonics' place in the NBA) agreed to keep him in Europe. He then signed a three year contract with Ricoh Manresa from the ACB League in Spain, keeping the option to leave for the NBA after each season. In the ACB, he averaged 7.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1 block in 16 minutes per game.

In July 2009, the Oklahoma City Thunder paid the buyout, and signed him to a two year contract with two more optional seasons.

Ibaka, who spoke no English when he first arrived in the NBA, depended on the help of summer league teammate Moses Ehambe to translate for him. After a lengthy, dedicated year of learning English in addition to the NBA game, Ibaka now speaks a total of five languages: Lingala (native language), French, Catalan, English and some Spanish.

Although coming to the NBA as a raw talent, Ibaka has managed to become a starter in the Thunder rotation. Ibaka is often used for his energy in the paint, whether on defense or rebounding. In his first NBA season, Ibaka played 18.1 minutes per game in 73 games, averaging 6.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. His blocks average led all rookies in the 2009–2010 season, and he ranked number 20 overall. In the first round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers, he played in 6 games, averaging 25.5 minutes, 7.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2 blocks per game. His 7 blocks in game two in Los Angeles was a record (youngest player to have 7 blocks in playoff game).

On February 19, 2011, Serge Ibaka participated in the 2011 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. He began the contest with a dunk from the free-throw line. In the second round, Ibaka grabbed a stuffed animal from the rim with his mouth and dunked in one motion.

2011 NBA lockout

During 2011 NBA lockout he signed a two-month contract with Real Madrid in Spain with an option to return to the NBA at the end of the lockout.

2011–12

After the lockout, Ibaka returned to the NBA after playing in Spain. On February 19, 2012, he recorded his first career triple-double against the Denver Nuggets, scoring 14 points, grabbing 15 rebounds and getting a career-high 11 blocks. Ibaka became the first player in franchise history to record a triple-double with double-digit blocks. He played all 66 games in the shortened season as a starter, averaging the most blocks in the league, 3.6 per game. In voting for the Defensive Player of the Year, he finished second, before the Orlando's Dwight Howard, who had won the award each of the previous three seasons, but behind Tyson Chandler of the New York Knicks.

Spanish national team

Internationally, Ibaka plays for the Spain national basketball team as he was granted Spanish citizenship on July 15, 2011. His team won the gold medal in the Eurobasket 2011, beating France in the final by a score of 98–85.

NBA career statistics

	Led the league

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| Oklahoma City | 73 || 0 || 18.1 || .543 || .500 || .630 || 5.4 || .1 || .3 || 1.3 || 6.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11 | style="text-align:left;"| Oklahoma City | 82 || 44 || 27.0 || .543 || .000 || .750 || 7.6 || .3 || .4 || 2.4 || 9.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2011–12 | style="text-align:left;"| Oklahoma City | 66 || 66 || 27.2 || .535 || .333 || .661 || 7.5 || .4 || .5 || style="background:#cfecec;"| 3.6 || 9.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 221 || 110 || 24.1 || .540 || .333 || .695 || 6.9 || .3 || .4 || 2.4 || 8.5

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010 | style="text-align:left;"| Oklahoma City | 6 || 0 || 25.5 || .571 || .000 || .700 || 6.5 || .3 || .3 || 2.0 || 7.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2011 | style="text-align:left;"| Oklahoma City | 17 || 17 || 28.8 || .462 || .000 || .825 || 7.3 || .2 || .2 || 3.1 || 9.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 23 || 17 || 27.9 || .483 || .000 || .800 || 7.1 || .2 || .3 || 2.8 || 9.3

See also

List of National Basketball Association players with 10 or more blocks in a game

References

External links

Serge Ibaka wins the 2008 ACB Concurso de mates (Dunk contest)

NBADraft.net Profile

DraftExpress Profile

Category:1989 births Category:Living people Category:Liga ACB players Category:Bàsquet Manresa players Category:Centers (basketball) Category:Expatriate basketball people in the United States Category:Expatriates in Spain Category:People from Brazzaville Category:Seattle SuperSonics draft picks Category:Republic of the Congo basketball players Category:Spanish basketball players Category:Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople Category:Oklahoma City Thunder players Category:Republic of the Congo people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Category:Naturalised citizens of Spain Category:Spanish people of Republic of the Congo descent

ca:Serge Ibaka de:Serge Ibaka es:Serge Ibaka fa:سرج ایباکا fr:Serge Ibaka hr:Serge Ibaka it:Serge Ibaka lv:Seržs Ibaka ln:Serge Ibaka ja:セルジ・イバカ pl:Serge Ibaka ru:Ибака, Серж sr:Серж Ибака sh:Serge Ibaka sv:Serge Ibaka

name	Jessy Matador
background	solo_singer
birth name	Jessy Kimbangi
birth date	October 27, 1982
origin	Democratic Republic of the Congo
genre	Zouk, Dancehall, Reggae, Hip hop, Coupé-Décalé, Ndombolo, Kuduro
occupation	Singer, Dance
years active	2001–present
label	Wagram Records
associated acts	La Sélésao, Magic System
website	selesao.skyrock.com }}

Jessy Kimbangi better known by his stage name Jessy Matador (born 27 October 1982) is a singer from France.

Biography

Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 27 October 1982, Matador began his career as a dancer in 2001. He later joined the group "Les cœurs brisés" (The Broken Hearts) with whom he toured the United States, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Kingdom, Italy and Canada.

In 2005, he decided to create his own group called "La Sélésao" composed of members Dr.Love, Linho and Benkoff. The same members also formed the first edition of the group Magic System. In late 2007, they signed with Oyas Records before signing with Wagram Records in spring 2008.

They released their début single "Décalé Gwada" in June 2008, becoming one of the hits of that summer. On 24 November 2008 the group released the album ''Afrikan New Style'', a musical hybrid of African and Caribbean influences with more urban sounds. The style includes influences of zouk, dancehall, reggae, hip hop, Coupé-Décalé, ndombolo and kuduro.

In December 2008, they released their second single "Mini Kawoulé".

Eurovision Song Contest 2010

On 19 February 2010, it was announced by France Télévisions that Matador would represent France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, to be held on 29 May 2010 in Oslo, Norway with the song "Allez Ola Olé". Jessy Matador placed 12th in the final, which was one of France's better results in the 2000s.

Discography

Albums

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" border="1" ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album details ! scope="col" colspan="1"| Peak chart positions |- ! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:85%;"| FRA |- ! scope="row" | Afrikan New Style |

Released: 24 November 2008

Label: Wagram Music

| 93 |- ! scope="row" | Electro Soukouss |

Released: 14 June 2010

Label: Wagram Music

|align="center"| 42 |- |}

Singles

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" ! scope="col" rowspan="2"|Year ! scope="col" rowspan="2"|Title ! scope="col" colspan="10"|Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album |- ! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:85%;"| FRA

! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:85%;"| BEL (FLA)

! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:85%;"| BEL (WAL)

! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:85%;"| DEN

! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:85%;"| FIN

! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:85%;"| IRE

! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:85%;"| NOR

! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:85%;"| SWE

! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:85%;"| GER

! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:85%;"| UK |- |2008 ! scope="row"| "Décalé Gwada" | 14 || — || 23 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — |rowspan="2"| ''Afrikan New Style'' |- | 2009 ! scope="row"| "Mini Kawoulé" | 16 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — |- | 2010 ! scope="row"| "Allez Ola Olé" | 1 || 4 || 13 || 30 || 7 || 39 || 5 || 34 || 17 || 81 |rowspan="2"| ''Electro Soukouss'' |- | rowspan="2"| 2011 ! scope="row"| "Dansez" (feat. Daddy Killa) | 86 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — |- ! scope="row"| "Galera" (feat. King Kuduro & Bra Zil) | 68 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — |}

Other singles

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" ! scope="col" rowspan="2"|Year ! scope="col" rowspan="2"|Title ! scope="col" colspan="1"|Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album |- ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| FRA (Club) |- |2009 ! scope="row"| "Y'a qu'à demander" | 15 |align="center"| ''Afrikan New Style'' |- |2010 ! scope="row"| "Bomba" | – |align="center" rowspan="2"| ''Elektro Soukouss'' |- |2010 ! scope="row"| "Une affaire de chut" | – |- |}

;Notes

¹ Digital Download

References

Category:1982 births Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2010 Category:French Eurovision Song Contest entrants Category:French male singers Category:French people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo emigrants to France Category:Living people

az:Cessi Matador ca:Jessy Matador da:Jessy Matador de:Jessy Matador es:Jessy Matador fr:Jessy Matador hr:Jessy Matador lv:Žesī Matadors ln:Jessy Kimbangi hu:Jessy Matador nl:Jessy Matador ja:ジェッシー・マタドール pl:Jessy Matador pt:Jessy Matador ro:Jessy Matador ru:Матадор, Джесси sq:Jessy Matador sh:Jessy Matador fi:Jessy Matador sv:Jessy Matador tr:Jessy Matador uk:Джессі Матадор