Civil wars and militia conflicts have plagued the Republic of Congo, which is sometimes referred to as Congo Brazzaville.
After three coup-ridden but relatively peaceful decades of independence, the former French colony experienced the first of two destructive bouts of fighting when disputed parliamentary elections in 1993 led to bloody, ethnically-based fighting between pro-government forces and the opposition.
A ceasefire and the inclusion of some opposition members in the government helped to restore peace.
But in 1997 ethnic and political tensions exploded into a full-scale civil war, fuelled in part by the prize of the country's offshore oil wealth, which motivated many of the warlords.
The army split along ethnic lines, with most northern officers joining President Denis Sassou-Nguesso's side, and most southerners backing the rebels. These were supporters of the former president, Pascal Lissouba, and his prime minister, Bernard Kolelas, who had been deposed by President Sassou-Nguesso in 1997.
By the end of 1999 the rebels had lost all their key positions to the government forces, who were backed by Angolan troops. The rebels then agreed to a ceasefire.
Remnants of the civil war militias, known as Ninjas, are still active in the southern Pool region. Most of them have yet to disarm and many have turned to banditry.
The Republic of Congo is one of sub-Saharan Africa's main oil producers, though 70 percent of the population lives in poverty. Oil is the mainstay of the economy and in recent years the country has tried to increase financial transparency in the sector.
In 2004 the country was expelled from the Kimberley Process that is supposed to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the world supply market. This followed investigations which found that the Republic of Congo could not account for the origin of large quantities of rough diamonds that it was officially exporting.
IMF debt relief to the country was delayed in 2006 following allegations of corruption.
President: Denis Sassou-Nguesso
Denis Sassou-Nguesso began a seven-year term in March 2002 after winning presidential elections in which two of his main rivals - former President Pascal Lissouba and former Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas - were excluded by a residency law.
A third contender - Andre Milongo - pulled out alleging irregularities.
The vote followed a referendum on a new constitution which gave the president wide-ranging powers.
Denis Sassou-Nguesso first seized power in a coup in 1979, only to lose it in the country's first multi-party elections in 1992 which were won by Pascal Lissouba.
He returned to power in 1997 after a brief but bloody civil war in which he was backed by Angolan troops.
A French-trained paratroop colonel, Mr Sassou-Nguesso is seen as a pragmatist. During his first presidency in 1979-92 he loosened the country's links with the Soviet bloc and gave French, US and other Western oil companies roles in oil exploration and production.
He abandoned the one-party system in 1992, making the ruling Congolese Workers Party (PCT) fight for its political life after more than 20 years as the sole party.
Denis Sassou-Nguesso was born in a village in northern Congo in 1943. He has seven children. In 2006 he became chairman of the 53-nation African Union.
News broadcasts on state-run radio and television stations generally reflect the government line.
Stations from nearby Kinshasa, in DR Congo, can be received in the capital and rebroadcasts of the BBC, Radio France Internationale, and the Voice of America are available.
A 2001 press law abolished jail sentences for libel and insult, but retained the punishment for incitement to violence and racism.
The newspapers which appear in Brazzaville are all privately-owned. Some of them carry criticism of the government.
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