Geography of the Republic of the Congo

Physical geography

The Republic of the Congo covers an area of approximately 342 000 km², of which about 341 500 km² is land and roughly 500 km² is water, ranking it among the world’s 70 largest countries by area. The country lies on the Equator and extends between latitudes 4° N and 5° S and longitudes 11° E and 19° E.

The terrain transitions from a coastal plain along the Atlantic Ocean in the west to interior plateaus and river valleys further inland. About 70 % of the nation is covered by tropical rainforest. Major topographical features include the Mayombe Mountains and the Niari Valley. The highest point in the country is Mount Nabemba in the Sangha region at approximately 1 020 m above sea level.

Environment

Climate

Congo is a tropical nation, which means it has a tropical climate. The wet season lasts from March to June and the dry season for the rest of the year. Temperature and humidity are high as in all tropical nations. The rivers of the country are flooded seasonally.

Ecology

The terrain is a variation of coastal plains, mountainous regions, plateaus and fertile valleys. About 70 percent of the country's area is covered by rain forest. The highest point, at 1,020 m, is Mont Nabeba in the Mayumbe mountains. The major rivers are the Congo River at the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Kouilou-Niari River.

A 2014 expedition leaving from Itanga village discovered a peat bog "as big as England" which stretches into neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo.

UNESCO has declared two world biosphere reserves in the country: Odzala in 1977 and Dimonika in 1988.

Natural resources

Natural resources include petroleum, timber, potash, lead, zinc, uranium, copper, phosphates, gold, magnesium, natural gas, and hydropower.

As of a 2012 estimate, 1.55% of the land is arable, while only 0.20% contains permanent crops. Approximately 20 km² is irrigated (2003 estimation).

Environmental issues

Environmental issues include the high level of air pollution from vehicle emissions, water pollution from the dumping of raw sewage, tap water not being potable, and deforestation.

Congo is party to the international agreements on Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands. It has signed but not ratified the Law of the Sea and so on.

Forests

Tree cover extent and loss

Global Forest Watch publishes annual estimates of tree cover loss and 2000 tree cover extent derived from time-series analysis of Landsat satellite imagery in the Global Forest Change dataset. In this framework, tree cover refers to vegetation taller than 5 m (including natural forests and tree plantations), and tree cover loss is defined as the complete removal of tree cover canopy for a given year, regardless of cause.

For the Republic of the Congo, country statistics report cumulative tree cover loss of 1,150,323 ha (11,503.23 km²) from 2001 to 2024 (about 4.4% of its 2000 tree cover area). For tree cover density greater than 30%, country statistics report a 2000 tree cover extent of 26,388,421 ha (263,884.21 km²). The charts and table below display this data. In simple terms, the annual loss number is the area where tree cover disappeared in that year, and the extent number shows what remains of the 2000 tree cover baseline after subtracting cumulative loss. Forest regrowth is not included in the dataset.

Annual tree cover loss in the Republic of the Congo, 2001–2024. View chart definition.Tree cover extent in 2000 minus cumulative tree cover loss in the Republic of the Congo, 2001–2024 (loss-only residual; does not account for gain). View chart definition.

REDD+ reference levels and monitoring

Under the UNFCCC REDD+ framework, the Republic of the Congo has submitted national forest reference emission levels (FRELs). On the UNFCCC REDD+ Web Platform, the country’s 2016 and 2024 submission packages are both listed as having assessed reference levels; a national REDD+ strategy is listed as reported, while safeguards information and a national forest monitoring system are listed as “not reported”.

The first assessed FREL, technically assessed in 2017, covered the REDD+ activities “reducing emissions from deforestation” and “reducing emissions from forest degradation” at national scale. It used a historical reference period of 2000–2012 and was assessed at 35,475,652 t CO2 eq per year for 2015–2020, including an upward adjustment for national circumstances linked to the country’s high-forest, low-deforestation profile and projected planned deforestation and degradation. The technical assessment reported that this first FREL included biomass and deadwood for deforestation, biomass for forest degradation, and CO2 only.

An updated national FREL was submitted in 2024 and assessed in 2025. It again covered deforestation and forest degradation at national scale, but used a more recent historical reference period of 2017–2021 and was assessed at 31,656,549 t CO2 eq per year after revision during the technical assessment. The technical assessment states that the revised benchmark used updated activity data and national forest-inventory emission factors, and expanded coverage to include biomass, deadwood, litter and, for deforestation, soil organic carbon, while also adding non-CO2 emissions (CH₄ and N₂O) from forest fires.

Extreme points

This is a list of the extreme points of the Republic of Congo, i.e. the points that are farther north, south, east, or west than any other location.

• Northernmost point — unnamed location on the border with Central African Republic immediately south-west of the CAR town of Madoukou, Likouala department
• Easternmost point — Motenge-Bom, Likouala department
• Southernmost point — unnamed headland near the point at which the Congo-Cabinda border enters the Atlantic Ocean, Kouilou department
• Westernmost point — the point at which the border with Gabon enters the Atlantic Ocean, Kouilou department