Chic African Culture Africa Factbook

Did you know?

1. No African country names begin with the letters F, H, I, J, O, P, Q, V, W, X, or Y.

2. Africa is surrounded by water but by definition Africa is not an island because Africa is a continent.

3. The Republic of the Congo is one of the most urbanized countries in Africa.

Africa and Russia are old friends

Russia's military presence in Africa is long and historic. The Russian Congo military deal was signed in May 2019 to allow Russia to fix aging African war machines and guns.

Russia donated weapons and sent trainers to the African country the Republic of the Congo Brazzaville to assist the government’s fight against militia groups. In the African country the Republic of the Congo Brazzaville, a military cooperation agreement was signed with Russia in May 2019 providing military specialists to service Russian-made military hardware and equipment. The government state organization the Congolese Armed Forces is out armed using aging Russian Soviet-era weapons. 

Russia's military presence in Africa is a long historic one.


The Russian Congo military deal was signed in May 2019 after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and former Marxist Congolese president Denis Sassou Nguesso. Sassou Nguesso employs Private militias, which are are armed military groups that are composed of private citizens and not recognized by federal or state governments. 

Many of the Russian military trainers are labeled as unarmed advisers but are speculated to be soldiers and private contractors working for the Russian government. 

Russia donated weapons and sent trainers to the African country the Republic of the Congo Brazzaville to assist the government’s fight against militia groups. The Congolese Armed Forces has limited capabilities due to obsolescent and poorly maintained equipment and low levels of training.

The Soviet Union voted in the Security Council, July 14, 1960 authorized Secretary General Hammarskjold to organize a United Nations military force to maintain order in the newly formed Republic of the Congo. The Soviet Union furnished aircraft and military aid directly to the Congolese government.

Russia's military presence in Africa is a long historic one. The Republic of the Congo was a Marxist-Leninist country until 1990. The collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 and the end of the Cold War changed the dynamics of Russians in Congo Africa. From 1964 to 1990 the country was a one-party state ruled according to Marxist-Leninist principles.

In 1997, a two-year civil war that ended in 1999 saw former Marxist President Denis Sassou Nguesso come back into power.  For 13 years, from 1979 to 1992, Denis Sassou-Nguesso was president of the Republic of Congo and ran it as a single-party Marxist state with the backing of the Soviet Union and Cuba.

During the 1993-94 civil war, Sassou-Nguesso's Cobra militia and Guy Brice Parfait's Ninjas were allied against Pascal Lissouba's Cocoyes in a conflict in which some 2,000 people were killed and tens of thousands displaced before an agreement was signed in December 1994 to end hostilities. 

Sassou-Nguesso was re-elected in 2009 and 2016 and after nearly four decades in power, Denis Sassou-Nguesso was re elected after his rival dies of covid-19 in 2021. He is Africa’s third-longest-serving president, behind the presidents of Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.

Congo's political parties have developed private armed militias, the militia groups were created to serve as the private armies of the political leaders of popular Congolese Labour Party and other Political parties and leaders. 
The Russian Congo military deal was signed in May 2019

Private militias are armed military groups that are composed of private citizens and not recognized by federal or state governments. Since the government is unstable private armed militias are used by protecting life and private property of the delegates.

The African Union and 47 African Heads of State participated in the Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum in the Southern Russian city of Sochi on October 23 and 24, 2019 under the theme Russia and Africa: Forging Economic Ties, Creating Joint Projects. 

During the meeting two Memoranda of Understanding were signed regarding African-Russian cooperation to include learning and promotion of the Russian Languages and mass media and use of information and communication technologies.


Four did you know facts about the Republic of the Congo.
 
1. Around 42% of the population of the Republic of the Congo is under the age of 14, the median age is 19. 

2. The Republic of the Congo is about twice the size of Florida.

3. About 68% of the 5.4 million Congolese people live in the south and southwest of the country in the capital city of Brazzaville, 2nd largest city of Pointe-Noire and the 3rd largest city of Dolisie. 

4. Republic of the Congo former names are French Congo, Middle Congo, People's Republic of the Congo, and Congo Brazzaville.

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Africa is surrounded by water but is not an island, here are a few African Island facts.

Madagascar is the 4th large island in the world and is located in the Indian Ocean supporting a unique biology, about 90% of its plants and animals are found nowhere else on earth.

Composed of 155 islands, Seychelles is Africa's smallest country. By far the largest island is Mahe, home to about 90% of the population and the site of its capital city of Victoria.

Cabo Verde has a strategic location 310 miles or 500 km from the west coast of Africa near major north-south sea routes; important communications station; important sea and air refueling site.

Africa is surrounded by water but by definition Africa is not an island because Africa is a continent. Continents can not be considered islands because of their size and also by historic definition since many people who study geography define islands and continents as two different things.

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African cultures express, encourage, and communicate energy

African cultures express, encourage, and communicate energy

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Being African in America I have grown up learning about different ethnic cultures. My father and mother are historians of African culture and history and their influence expanded my activities to several best-selling cookbooks, magazine columns, self-branded products, and a popular African culture and food blog.

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Be better than average and support African history and culture. Since 2008 Chic African Culture and The African Gourmet highlight Africa through her food and culture. Contact us culture1africangourmet@gmail.com

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