S EA R C H LIG H T How did the Congo get its name Women gather firewood in the Democratic Republic of the Congo which is also called Congo Kinshasa More than two-thirds of the people live in small towns and villages Gallo Images Corbis D I D YO U K N O W is one of the The Congo River great rivers of the world Only the Amazon River in South America larger area than the drains a Congo River does 8
CONGO T w o Countries OneNam e As long as 25,000 years ago people began to live in the forests of the Congo River basin in west-central Africa They gathered food from the forests and dug up roots to eat Today the Congo basin contains two countries separated by the Congo River Both of the countries are called Congo To tell them apart they are sometimes referred to by the names of their capital cities One of the countries is called Congo Brazzaville and the other is Congo Kinshasa Congo Brazzaville is officially known as the Republic of the Congo Congo Kinshasa is Congo Brazzaville Congo Kinshasa officially called the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Congo region got its name from the Kongo or Bakongo one of the main groups of people who live there These people have been in the area for centuries from the time when the Congo was ruled by various kingdoms The Portuguese arrived in the kingdom called Kongo in 1483 At first the newcomers were friendly to the people of the kingdom But by the 1530s the Portuguese were sending the Kongolese away as slaves By the late 1800s other European countries had become interested in the Congo region They valued the Congo River as a route for trade between the west coast of Africa and the interior part of the continent The French and the Belgians took over different parts of the Congo The local people didn’t win their independence until 1960 Though free each of the two Congos faced many problems Both countries experienced periods of fierce internal fighting and struggles for power LEARN MORE READ THESE ARTICLES GHANA GUINEA KAMPALA UGANDA Brazzaville Kinshasa have lived there for centuries Answer It was named for the Kongo or Bakongo people who 9
S EA R C H LIG H T Why do you think people from so many other countries wanted to take over Ghana Hint Think of Ghana’s former name These miners work at the Ashanti gold mine in Obuasi Ghana Ghana has long been one of the world’s leading producers of gold Mining provides work for many of Ghana’s people Penny Tweedie Corbis 10
G old Coast f Africa o GHANA The country of Ghana has so much gold that it was once called the Gold Coast of Africa It still has the largest gold reserves in the world Ghana is in western Africa Accra is its capital and largest city Ghana has coastal plains in the south savanna in the north and hills and rainforests in between The oddly shaped baobab tree grows in the savanna and coastal plains There you will also find giant anthills some of which are 14 feet high In the rainforests are tall trees such as the mahogany And there are many kinds of animals lions leopards elephants buffalo monkeys and snakes to name a few Many of Ghana’s people work in fishing logging or gold mining Farming is very important as well Much of the farmland is used for growing cacao These trees produce cocoa beans which are used to make chocolate Cacao timber and gold are sold to other countries Long ago the Almoravids from northern Africa conquered Ghana and forced its people to become slaves Since then many other groups have gone to Ghana The Portuguese arrived in the 1400s They traded in gold ivory and slaves Later came the British the French the Dutch the Swedes and the Danes In 1901 the British made the Gold Coast a colony In 1957 the colony won its independence and became the new country of Ghana Today Ghana is one of Africa’s leading democracies Accra LEARN MORE READ THESE ARTICLES ACCRA GHANA LIBERIA NIGERIA D I D YO U K N O W G h a n a s w e a v e r s a r e f a m o u s f o r t h e i r colorful kente cloth which is made in narrow strips in beautiful patterns The patterns have such names as i o n c a t c h e r thousand shields the l and gold dust The strips are sewn together to make clothing Ghana over the years so that they could take its gold reserves of gold Many different people have wanted to control Answer Ghana was called the Gold Coast because of its vast 11
