As I mentioned in a previous post, sometimes I find myself scrolling through Google Maps and come across some interesting point on the globe – I scrolled across these two cities and looked into it a bit more…this is what I found!
Where we are in the world
The capital cities of the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are Brazzaville and Kinshasa, respectively, and are separated by the Congo River. This river acts as a major commerce hub for both countries as it is a key shipping channel that connects the internal regions of both countries with the Atlantic Ocean.
Three key facts about this map
These are two of the closest capital cities in the world
Other than Vatican City/Rome, Italy (in which Vatican City entirely within the city limits of Rome), Kinshasa and Brazzaville are the two geographically-closest capitals in the world. The two cities are separated by only about 1 mile across the Congo River (from river shore to river shore).
Kinshasa is the world’s largest French-speaking city
Nope – not Paris anymore! The Democratic Republic of the Congo has seen such explosive growth over the past several decades that the French-speaking city of Kinshasa has a metropolitan area population of over 17 million, surpassing Paris, France and making it the largest French-speaking city in the world.
Brazzaville is significantly smaller than its neighbor capital with a population of just over 2 million.
There is no road connection between Kinshasa and Brazzaville
There is currently no road or rail connection between two of the closest capitals in the world, though several have been proposed. One of these links is close to the center of both cities (as seen on the map above). The second proposed link is 40-50 miles upstream from both cities in a location called Maloukou Tréchot. Cost proposals range widely from EUR 300-700 million.
Desire for bridge links seems to have fizzled in recent days, with citizens of Kinshasa preferring to use funds towards other domestic projects. In the meantime, the citizens of both cities will have to rely on the cross-river ferry link (10 minutes + several hours of Passport control on both ends), or a 5 minute flight from Kinshasa Airport to Brazzaville Airport.
Additional links and sources
- More key facts on two of the closest capital cities in the world (link, published in 2017)
- Information on the largest French-speaking cities in the world (link)
- Background documentation (and more maps) on one of the planned bridge routes (link, published in 2016)
Do you think this bridge link between these cities will happen in the next 10 years?
See other places around the world Globe Charting has featured!
One thought on “Kinshasa & Brazzaville: Close capital cities that are still so far away”
Comments are closed.