Brazzaville

The prefix "Brazza" comes from the surname of the Italian-French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, who worked on exploration expeditions for France and is credited with founding the town. The place name Brazzaville unintentionally has the literal meaning of 'city of the armed wing'. The surname Brazza refers to the village of Brazzacco, in the commune of Moruzzo, Italy, whose name derives from the Latin bracchium, meaning 'armed wing'. In the Kongo language it has the names or variants of Ntamocode: kon promoted to code: kg , Ntambocode: kon promoted to code: kg , Kintamocode: kon promoted to code: kg , Kintambocode: kon promoted to code: kg , Tandalacode: kon promoted to code: kg , and Mavulacode: kon promoted to code: kg , and in the Teke languages M'fa, Mfaa, Mfa, and Mfoa.

In precolonial times, the location of the modern-day city of Brazzaville was inhabited by two trading centres, Mfwa and Mpila, which were part of the Tio Kingdom (the Eastern Teke). Brazzaville was founded by the French colonial empire upon an existing indigenous Bateke settlement called Ncuna, during the Scramble for Africa when European nations established spheres of influence on the continent. The Italian-born explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, who was granted French citizenship in 1874, officially founded the settlement on 10 September 1880; it commemorates his name. The Tio king, Iloo I, signed a treaty of protection with Brazza, which subjugated his lands to the French Empire. From October 1880 until May 1882, a small squad of troops led by Senegalese Sergeant Malamine Camara occupied the site, in order to prevent the land from falling into Belgian hands. …

Brazzaville covers a large area to the north of the Congo River, just below the Pool Malebo. Mbamu, a large island within the Pool, is part of the Republic of Congo's territory. Brazzaville is 506 km (314 mi) inland from the Atlantic Ocean and approximately 474 km (295 mi) south of the equator. Around the city are large plains. The town is relatively flat, and situated at an altitude of 317 m (1,040 ft). Downriver the Congo has numerous rapids, known as Livingston Falls, preventing navigation upriver to this point from its mouth at the Atlantic. Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is located on the southern bank of the Congo, directly across from Brazzaville. To distinguish between the two African countries that have "Congo" in their names, the Republic of the Congo is sometimes called Congo-Brazzaville, as opposed to Congo-Kinshasa. …