Republic of Congo

Women

The Republic of Congo ranks 144 out of 162 countries in the Gender Inequality Index, where a high rank equals high equality. Women should always be considered as a particularly vulnerable group though.

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Children

The Republic of Congo has a Workplace Index score of 6.4, a Marketplace Index score of 5.1 and a Community and Environment Index score of 7.1 in the Children’s Rights and Business Atlas, where countries receive scores between 0 and 10. A score closer to 0 reflects a need for basic children’s rights due diligence, while a higher score reflects a need for enhanced or heightened due diligence. Children should always be considered as a particularly vulnerable group though. 

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Persons with Disabilities

Due to differences in data collection and definitions it is difficult to compare countries on disability prevalence rates. Persons with disabilities should always be considered as a particularly vulnerable group though.

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Minorities and Indigenous Peoples

According to the World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples, ethnic groups in the Republic of Congo include Bantu groups such as Bakongo (41 %), Batéké (17 %), M’Boshi (13 %) and Sangha (6 %). Traditionally cassava farmers and fishing people, Bakongo are noted (sometimes with animosity) for their preeminence in cash-cropping and trade. The Bakongo heartland in the Congo is the south, where they are divided into competing subgroups, Laari and Vili. Along the Congo River at Brazzaville/Pool, Laari are the most numerous Bakongo sub-group and the one historically most advantaged by schooling and commoditization. In the Congo’s second city Pointe Noire, on the coast, where the Congo’s oil revenues are derived, Vili people are numerous. The Sangha group are Bantu and speak the Sangha language. Batéké, another Bantu ethnic cluster, reside in forested country to the north of Brazzaville, extending into southern Gabon. They are well represented in the Cuvette region in the middle-north. Colonial interests dispossessed most Batéké of land and marginalized them as labourers in the forest industries and towns. Members of the Boulangui ethnic cluster are found mainly in the north and in Brazzaville. M’Boshi form its largest group. Among its sub-groups are Likoula and Kouyou people. M’Boshi-Kouyou have been well represented in the armed forces. The country’s indigenous population includes Ba’Aka, Mbendjele, Mikaya, Gyeli, Luma, Twa and Babongo communities. In the absence of reliable census data, indigenous peoples are estimated to make up between 1.2 % and 10 % of the national population. They are traditionally nomadic or semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer peoples, distinct from the majority Bantu ethnic groups that have held political and economic power since independence from France in 1960.

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Migrant Workers​

According to the ILO Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers, migrant workers as a proportion of all workers is 3 % in the subregion Sub-Saharan Africa.

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Persons in Armed Conflict

The Republic of Congo ranks 26 out of 179 countries in the Fragile States Index, where a high rank equals high fragility. For monthly crisis updates, check out CrisisWatch.