Republic of Congo

School children in the classroom. *Photo from Wikipedia August 15 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of the Republic of the Congo from France in 1960. The region was dominated by Bantu-speaking tribes, who built trade links leading into the Congo River basin. Congo-Brazzaville was formerly part of the French colony of Equatorial Africa. Following the revision of the French constitution that established the Fifth Republic in 1958, the AEF (French Equatorial Africa) dissolved into its constituent parts, each of which became an autonomous colony within the French Community. During these reforms, Middle Congo (French Congo) became known as the