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83-682: The river originates in bogs and wetlands in central Long Island near the Brookhaven National Laboratory and flows eastward to the Peconic Bay. It is the longest river on Long Island and is almost entirely within the Central Long Island Pine Barrens publicly protected area, which was set up in 1993 to protect its relative wilderness standing. It is fresh water until about the center of Riverhead where it becomes an estuary . The river

166-650: A constitutional referendum in October resulted in a changed constitution that allowed him to run during the 2016 presidential election . He won the election believed by some to be fraudulent. After violent protests in the capital, Sassou attacked the Pool region where the Ninja rebels of the civil war used to be based, in what was believed to be a distraction. This led to a revival of the Ninja rebels who launched attacks against

249-456: A fen (or, on acidic substrates, valley bog), to a carr , as silt or peat accumulates within the lake. Eventually, peat builds up to a level where the land surface is too flat for ground or surface water to reach the center of the wetland. This part, therefore, becomes wholly rain-fed (ombrotrophic), and the resulting acidic conditions allow the development of bog (even if the substrate is non-acidic). The bog continues to form peat, and over time

332-778: A 3-year SDR 69.5m (US$ 100m) enhanced structural adjustment facility (ESAF) and was on the verge of announcing a renewed annual agreement when civil war broke out in Congo in 1997. Congo's democratic progress was derailed in 1997 when Lissouba and Sassou started to fight for power in the civil war . As presidential elections scheduled for July 1997 approached, tensions between the Lissouba and Sassou camps mounted. On 5 June, President Lissouba's government forces surrounded Sassou's compound in Brazzaville, and Sassou ordered members of his private militia (known as "Cobras") to resist. Thus began

415-563: A 4-month conflict that destroyed or damaged some of Brazzaville and caused tens of thousands of civilian deaths. In October, the Angolan government began an invasion of Congo to install Sassou in power and the Lissouba government fell. After that, Sassou declared himself president. In the elections in 2002 , Sassou won with almost 90% of the vote cast. His 2 main rivals, Lissouba and Bernard Kolelas, were prevented from competing. A remaining rival, André Milongo advised his supporters to boycott

498-497: A broad definition: Because all bogs have peat, they are a type of peatland. As a peat-producing ecosystem, they are also classified as mires , along with fens. Bogs differ from fens, in that fens receive water and nutrients from mineral-rich surface or groundwater, while bogs receive water and nutrients from precipitation. Because fens are supplied with mineral-rich water, they tend to range from slightly acidic to slightly basic, while bogs are always acidic because precipitation lacks

581-812: A butterfly called the bog copper ( Lycaena epixanthe ). In Ireland, the viviparous lizard , the only known reptile in the country, dwells in bogland. The United Kingdom in its Biodiversity Action Plan establishes bog habitats as a priority for conservation. Russia has a large reserve system in the West Siberian Lowland . The highest protected status occurs in Zapovedniks ( IUCN category IV); Gydansky and Yugansky are two prominent examples. Bogs are fragile ecosystems, and have been deteriorating quickly, as archaeologists and scientists have been recently finding. Bone material found in bogs has had accelerated deterioration from first analyses in

664-513: A government characterized by budget problems and "overstaffing". Petroleum extraction has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the economy. In 2008, the oil sector accounted for 65% of the GDP , 85% of government revenue, and 92% of exports. The country has untapped mineral wealth. In the 1980s, rising oil revenues enabled the government to finance larger-scale development projects. GDP grew an average of 5% annually. The government has mortgaged

747-773: A halt in June 1997 when civil war erupted. When Sassou Nguesso returned to power in October 1997, he publicly expressed interest in moving forward on economic reforms and privatization and in renewing cooperation with international financial institutions. Economic progress was "badly hurt" by slumping oil prices and the resumption of armed conflict in December 1998, which "worsened" the republic's budget deficit. The administration presides over an "uneasy internal peace" and faces "difficult" economic problems of stimulating recovery and reducing poverty, with record-high oil prices since 2003. Natural gas and diamonds are other exports, while Congo

830-772: A local legislature after the adoption of the 1946 constitution that established the Fourth Republic . Following the revision of the French constitution that established the Fifth Republic in 1958, AEF dissolved into its constituent parts, each of which became an autonomous colony within the French Community . During these reforms, Middle Congo became known as the Republic of the Congo in 1958 and published its first constitution in 1959. Antagonism between

913-580: A new investment code intended to attract foreign capital. The country also adopted a new investment code intended to attract foreign capital. Despite these success, Congo’s investment climate has challenges, offering few meaningful incentives for new investors. Economic reform efforts continued with the support of international organizations, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund . The reform program came to

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996-534: A number of governmental and conservation agencies. They can provide habitat for mammals, such as caribou , moose , and beavers , as well as for species of nesting shorebirds, such as Siberian cranes and yellowlegs . Bogs contain species of vulnerable reptilians such as the bog turtle . Bogs even have distinctive insects; English bogs give a home to a yellow fly called the hairy canary fly ( Phaonia jaroschewskii ), and bogs in North America are habitat for

1079-591: A portion of its petroleum earnings, contributing to a "shortage of revenues". On 12 January 1994, the devaluation of Franc Zone currencies by 50% resulted in an inflation of 46% in 1994, and inflation has subsided since. Between 1994-96, the economy underwent a difficult transition. The Congo took a number of measures to liberalize its economy, including reforming the tax, investment, labor, timber, and hydrocarbon codes. In 2002-03, Congo privatized parastatals, primarily banks, telecommunications, and transportation monopolies, to help improve and unreliable infrastructure. By

1162-594: A range of smaller parties. Sassou's regime has seen corruption revelations, with attempts to censor them. One French investigation found over 110 bank accounts and dozens of "lavish properties" in France. Sassou denounced embezzlement investigations as "racist" and "colonial". Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso, son of Denis Sassou Nguesso, has been named in association with the Panama Papers . On 27 March 2015, Sassou Nguesso announced that his government would hold

1245-433: A referendum on changing the country's 2002 constitution to allow him to run for a third consecutive term in office. On 25 October, the government held a referendum on allowing Sassou Nguesso to run in the next election. The government claimed that the proposal was approved by 92% of voters, with 72% of eligible voters participating. The opposition who boycotted the referendum said that the government's statistics were false and

1328-627: A relationship some refer to as slavery. The Congolese Human Rights Observatory says that the Pygmies are treated as property in the same way as pets. On 30 December 2010, the Congolese parliament adopted a law to promote and protect the rights of indigenous peoples. This law is "the first" of its kind in Africa. The economy is a mixture of village agriculture and handicrafts, an industrial sector based mainly on petroleum , support services, and

1411-456: A river in New York is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials – often mosses , typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands . Other names for bogs include mire , mosses, quagmire, and muskeg ; alkaline mires are called fens . A bayhead

1494-527: A roothold. The result is a narrow, permanently wet habitat. After drying, peat is used as a fuel , and it has been used that way for centuries. More than 20% of home heat in Ireland comes from peat, and it is also used for fuel in Finland, Scotland, Germany, and Russia. Russia is the leading exporter of peat for fuel, at more than 90 million metric tons per year. Ireland's Bord na Móna ("peat board")

1577-402: A shallow dome of bog peat develops into a raised bog. The dome is typically a few meters high in the center and is often surrounded by strips of fen or other wetland vegetation at the edges or along streamsides where groundwater can percolate into the wetland. The various types of raised bog may be divided into: In cool climates with consistently high rainfall (on more than c. 235 days a year),

1660-544: Is another type of bog found in the forest of the Gulf Coast states in the United States. They are often covered in heath or heather shrubs rooted in the sphagnum moss and peat. The gradual accumulation of decayed plant material in a bog functions as a carbon sink . Bogs occur where the water at the ground surface is acidic and low in nutrients. A bog usually is found at a freshwater soft spongy ground that

1743-822: Is from June to August, while in the majority of the country, the wet season has 2 rainfall maxima: 1 in March–May and another in September–November. In 2006–07, researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society studied gorillas in "heavily forested" regions centered on the Ouesso District of the Sangha Region . They suggest a population on the order of 125,000 western lowland gorillas whose isolation from humans has been mostly preserved by "inhospitable" swamps. The government of

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1826-400: Is made up of decayed plant matter which is known as peat. They are generally found in cooler northern climates and are formed in poorly draining lake basins. In contrast to fens , they derive most of their water from precipitation rather than mineral-rich ground or surface water. Water flowing out of bogs has a characteristic brown colour, which comes from dissolved peat tannins . In general,

1909-525: Is slow-moving, making it ideal for canoeing and kayaking. It forms the border between Brookhaven and Riverhead towns as well as the border between Riverhead and Southampton . 40°54′53.67″N 72°41′00.34″W  /  40.9149083°N 72.6834278°W  / 40.9149083; -72.6834278 This article about a location in Suffolk County, New York is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to

1992-523: The Congo River . Massamba-Débat's regime invited some hundred Cuban army troops into the country to train his party's militia units. These troops helped his government survive a coup d'état in 1966 led by paratroopers loyal to future President Marien Ngouabi . Massamba-Débat's regime ended with a bloodless coup in September 1968 . Marien Ngouabi, who had participated in the coup, assumed

2075-618: The Congo River . It included various kingdoms such as Mpemba Kasi and Vunda . To its west across the Congo River was a confederation of three small states; Vungu (its leader), Kakongo , and Ngoyo . Some Bantu kingdoms—including those of the Kongo , the Loango , and the Teke —built trade links leading into the Congo Basin . The Portuguese explorer , Diogo Cão reached the mouth of

2158-452: The Gulf of Guinea , providing the country with a degree of prosperity, with political and economic instability in some areas, and unequal distribution of oil revenue nationwide. Its economy is dependent on the oil sector and economic growth has slowed since the post-2015 drop in oil prices . Christianity is the most widely professed faith in the country. According to the 2024 rendition of

2241-675: The Haraldskær Woman and Tollund Man in Denmark, and Lindow man found at Lindow Common in England. The Tollund Man was so well preserved that when the body was discovered in 1950, the discoverers thought it was a recent murder victim and researchers were even able to tell the last meal that the Tollund Man ate before he died: porridge and fish. This process happens because of the low oxygen levels of bogs in combination with

2324-635: The Latin Brattius or Braccius , both meaning literally " arm ". Bantu-speaking peoples who founded tribes during the Bantu expansions , mostly displaced and absorbed the earlier inhabitants of the region, the Pygmy people, about 1500   BC. The Bakongo , a Bantu ethnic group that occupied parts of what later became Angola, Gabon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formed

2407-868: The Mbochis (who favored Jacques Opangault ) and the Laris and Kongos (who favored Fulbert Youlou , the first black mayor elected in French Equatorial Africa) resulted in a series of riots in Brazzaville in February 1959, which the French Army subdued. Elections took place in April 1959. By the time the Congo became independent in August 1960, Opangault, the former opponent of Youlou, agreed to serve under him. Youlou, an avid anti-communist, became

2490-592: The Nazi occupation of France during World War II , Brazzaville functioned as the symbolic capital of Free France between 1940 and 1943. The Brazzaville Conference of 1944 heralded a period of reform in French colonial policy. Congo "benefited" from the postwar expansion of colonial administrative and infrastructure spending as a result of its central geographic location within AEF and the federal capital at Brazzaville. It had

2573-1318: The Northern Hemisphere . The world's largest wetland is the peat bogs of the Western Siberian Lowlands in Russia , which cover more than a million square kilometres. Large peat bogs also occur in North America, particularly the Hudson Bay Lowland and the Mackenzie River Basin. They are less common in the Southern Hemisphere, with the largest being the Magellanic moorland , comprising some 44,000 square kilometres (17,000 sq mi) in southern South America. Sphagnum bogs were widespread in northern Europe but have often been cleared and drained for agriculture. A paper led by Graeme T. Swindles in 2019 showed that peatlands across Europe have undergone rapid drying in recent centuries owing to human impacts including drainage, peat cutting and burning. A 2014 expedition leaving from Itanga village, Republic of

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2656-598: The World Happiness Report , the Republic of the Congo is ranked 89th among 140 nations. It is named after the Congo River whose name is derived from Kongo , a Bantu kingdom which occupied its mouth around the time the Portuguese first arrived in 1483 or 1484. The kingdom's name derived from its people, the Bakongo , an endonym said to mean "hunters" ( Kongo : mukongo , nkongo ). During

2739-464: The barley used in making Scotch whisky . Once the peat has been extracted it can be difficult to restore the wetland , since peat accumulation is a slow process. More than 90% of the bogs in England have been damaged or destroyed. In 2011 plans for the elimination of peat in gardening products were announced by the UK government. The peat in bogs is an important place for the storage of carbon. If

2822-716: The 1-party state. Following the presidential elections, fighting restarted in the Pool region between government forces and rebels led by Pastor Ntumi ; a peace treaty to end the conflict was signed in April 2003. Sassou won the following presidential election in July 2009 . According to the Congolese Observatory of Human Rights, a non-governmental organization, the election was marked by "very low" turnout and "fraud and irregularities". In March 2015, Sassou announced that he wanted to run for yet another term in office and

2905-416: The 1940s. This has been found to be from fluctuations in ground water and increase in acidity in lower areas of bogs that is affecting the rich organic material. Many of these areas have been permeated to the lowest levels with oxygen, which dries and cracks layers. There have been some temporary solutions to try and fix these issues, such as adding soil to the tops of threatened areas, yet they do not work in

2988-662: The Congo Congo , officially the Republic of the Congo or Congo Republic , also known as Congo-Brazzaville , is a country located on the western coast of Central Africa to the west of the Congo River . It is bordered to the west by Gabon , to the northwest by Cameroon , to the northeast by the Central African Republic , to the southeast by the Democratic Republic of the Congo , to

3071-471: The Congo , discovered a peat bog "as big as England " which stretches into neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo . Like all wetlands, it is difficult to rigidly define bogs for a number of reasons, including variations between bogs, the in-between nature of wetlands as an intermediate between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and varying definitions between wetland classification systems. However, there are characteristics common to all bogs that provide

3154-516: The Congo in 1484. Commercial relationships grew between the inland Bantu kingdoms and European merchants who traded in commodities, manufactured goods, and people captured and enslaved in the hinterlands . After centuries as a central hub for transatlantic trade, direct European colonization of the Congo River delta began in the 19th century, subsequently eroding the power of the Bantu societies in

3237-535: The Middle Congo, Gabon , Chad , and Oubangui-Chari (which later became the Central African Republic ). The French designated Brazzaville as the federal capital. Economic development during the first 50 years of colonial rule in Congo centered on natural resource extraction. Construction of the Congo–Ocean Railway following World War I has been estimated to have cost at least 14,000 lives. During

3320-651: The Party (CMP) was then named to head an interim government, with Joachim Yhombi-Opango serving as president. Two years later, Yhombi-Opango was forced from power, and Denis Sassou Nguesso became the new president. Sassou Nguesso aligned the country with the Eastern Bloc and signed a 20-year friendship pact with the Soviet Union. Over the years, Sassou had to rely more on political repression and less on patronage to maintain his dictatorship. The collapse of

3403-644: The Republic is a semi-presidential system with an elected president who appoints the Council of Ministers, or Cabinet . The council, including the Prime Minister, is selected from the elected representatives in Parliament. Since the 1990s, the country has had a multi-party political system which is dominated by President Denis Sassou Nguesso . Sassou Nguesso is backed by his own Congolese Labour Party ( French : Parti Congolais du Travail ) as well as

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3486-554: The Republic of the Congo grew by 6% in 2014 and is expected to have grown by 7.5% in 2015. In 2018, the Republic of the Congo joined the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries . Congo–Ocean Railway was built by forced laborers during the 1930s. Some colonial architectural heritage is preserved. Restoration of architectural works is underway in Brazzaville, for example, at the Basilica of Sainte-Anne du Congo, which

3569-411: The Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in the ending of Soviet aid to prop up the regime, and it abdicated power. Pascal Lissouba who became Congo's first elected president (1992–1997) during the period of multi-party democracy attempted to implement economic reforms with IMF backing to liberalize the economy. In the years 1993 and 1994 the first Congo Civil War in Congo occurred. In June 1996, IMF approved

3652-521: The army in April 2016, leading 80,000 people to flee their homes. A ceasefire deal was signed in December 2017. In 2023, the Forest Massif of Odzala-Kokoua , for its savanna ecosystems and post-glacial recolonisation of forests, was listed as a natural UNESCO World Heritage Site . Natural landscapes range from the savanna plains in the North Niari flooded forests, to the Congo River, to

3735-492: The basis for ethnic affinities and rivalries among those countries. By the 13th century, there were three main confederations of states in the western Congo Basin. In the east were the Seven Kingdoms of Kongo dia Nlaza , considered to be the oldest and most powerful, which likely included Nsundi , Mbata , Mpangu , and possibly Kundi and Okanga . South of these was Mpemba which stretched from modern-day Angola to

3818-518: The combination of low nutrient levels and waterlogging. Sphagnum is generally abundant, along with ericaceous shrubs. The shrubs are often evergreen, which may assist in conservation of nutrients. In drier locations, evergreen trees can occur, in which case the bog blends into the surrounding expanses of boreal evergreen forest. Sedges are one of the more common herbaceous species. Carnivorous plants such as sundews ( Drosera ) and pitcher plants (for example Sarracenia purpurea ) have adapted to

3901-464: The country and installed a civilian provisional government headed by Alphonse Massamba-Débat . Under the 1963 constitution, Massamba-Débat was elected president for a five-year term. During Massamba-Débat's term in office , the regime adopted " scientific socialism " as the country's constitutional ideology. In 1964, Congo sent an official team with a single athlete at the Olympic Games for

3984-521: The country is located on the Equator, the climate is more consistent year-round, with the average day temperature a humid 24 °C (75 °F) and nights generally between 16 °C (61 °F) and 21 °C (70 °F). The average yearly rainfall ranges from 1,100 millimetres (43 in) in the Niari Valley in the south to over 2,000 millimetres (79 in) in central parts. The dry season

4067-429: The country. The Kongo are the largest ethnic group and form roughly half of the population. The most significant subgroups of the Kongo are Laari , in Brazzaville and Pool regions, and the Vili , around Pointe-Noire and along the Atlantic coast. The second largest group is the Teke , who live to the north of Brazzaville, with 16.9% of the population. Mbochi live in the north, east and in Brazzaville and form 13.1% of

4150-400: The deepest part of the valley, and a stream may run through the surface of the bog. Valley bogs may develop in relatively dry and warm climates, but because they rely on ground or surface water, they only occur on acidic substrates. These develop from a lake or flat marshy area, over either non-acidic or acidic substrates. Over centuries there is a progression from open lake, to a marsh, to

4233-558: The dissolved minerals (e.g. calcium , magnesium , carbonate ) that act to buffer the natural acidity of atmospheric carbon dioxide . Geography and geology both impact the hydrology: as groundwater mineral content reflects the bedrock geology, there can be great deal of variability in some common ions (e.g. manganese , iron ) while proximity to coastal areas is associated with higher sulfate and sodium concentrations. There are many highly specialized animals, fungi, and plants associated with bog habitat. Most are capable of tolerating

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4316-460: The edges of acidic lakes. The bog vegetation, mostly sphagnum moss anchored by sedges (such as Carex lasiocarpa ), forms a floating mat approximately half a meter thick on the surface of water or above very wet peat. White spruce ( Picea glauca ) may grow in this bog regime. Walking on the surface causes it to move – larger movements may cause visible ripples on the surface, or they may even make trees sway. The bog mat may eventually spread across

4399-406: The elections and then withdrew from the race. A constitution , agreed upon by referendum in January 2002 , granted the president new powers, extended his term to 7 years and introduced a new bicameral assembly. International observers took issue with the organization of the presidential election and the constitutional referendum, both of which were reminiscent in their organization of Congo's era of

4482-488: The end of 1996 Congo had made progress in various areas targeted for reform. It made great strides toward macroeconomic stabilization through improving public finances and restructuring external debt. This change was accompanied by improvements in the structure of expenditures, with a reduction in personnel expenditures. Before June 1997, Congo and the United States ratified a bilateral investment treaty designed to facilitate and protect foreign investment. The country also adopted

4565-410: The first President of the Republic of the Congo. Since the political tension was so high in Pointe-Noire , Youlou moved the capital to Brazzaville. The Republic of the Congo became fully independent from France on 15 August 1960. Youlou ruled as the country's first president until labor elements and rival political parties instigated a 3-day uprising that ousted him. The Congolese military took over

4648-534: The first time in its history. In 1965, Congo established relations with the Soviet Union , the People's Republic of China , North Korea , and North Vietnam . Under his presidency, the Congo began to industrialize . Some large production units with large workforces were built: the textile factory of Kinsoundi, the palm groves of Etoumbi, the match factory of Bétou , the shipyards of Yoro, etc. Health centers were created as well as school groups (colleges and elementary school). The country's school enrollment rate became

4731-553: The global average. Because bogs and other peatlands are carbon sinks, they are releasing large amounts of greenhouse gases as they warm up. These changes have resulted in a severe decline of biodiversity and species populations of peatlands throughout Northern Europe. Bog habitats may develop in various situations, depending on the climate and topography. Bogs may be classified on their topography, proximity to water, method of recharge, and nutrient accumulation. These develop in gently sloping valleys or hollows. A layer of peat fills

4814-436: The government for support and subsistence. Before the 1997 war, about 9,000 Europeans and other non-Africans lived in Congo, most of whom were French ; a fraction of this number remains. Around 300 American immigrants reside in the Congo. According to a 2011–12 survey, the total fertility rate was 5.1 children born per woman, with 4.5 in urban areas and 6.5 in rural areas. Ethnologue recognizes 62 spoken languages in

4897-421: The ground surface may remain waterlogged for much of the time, providing conditions for the development of bog vegetation . In these circumstances, bog develops as a layer "blanketing" much of the land, including hilltops and slopes. Although a blanket bog is more common on acidic substrates, under some conditions it may also develop on neutral or even alkaline ones, if abundant acidic rainwater predominates over

4980-469: The groundwater. A blanket bog can occur in drier or warmer climates, because under those conditions hilltops and sloping ground dry out too often for peat to form – in intermediate climates a blanket bog may be limited to areas which are shaded from direct sunshine. In periglacial climates a patterned form of blanket bog may occur, known as a string bog . In Europe, these mostly very thin peat layers without significant surface structures are distributed over

5063-733: The headwaters of large rivers. Even the enormous Yangtze River arises in the Ruoergai peatland near its headwaters in Tibet . Blueberries , cranberries , cloudberries , huckleberries , and lingonberries are harvested from the wild in bogs. Bog oak , wood that has been partially preserved by bogs, has been used in the manufacture of furniture . Sphagnum bogs are also used for outdoor recreation, with activities including ecotourism and hunting. For example, many popular canoe routes in northern Canada include areas of peatland. Some other activities, such as all-terrain vehicle use, are especially damaging to bogs. The anaerobic environment and presence of tannic acids within bogs can result in

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5146-553: The high acidity. These anaerobic conditions lead to some of the best-preserved mummies and offer much archeological insight into society as far as 8,000 years back. Céide Fields in County Mayo in Ireland, a 5,000-year-old neolithic farming landscape has been found preserved under a blanket bog , complete with field walls and hut sites. One ancient artifact found in various bogs is bog butter , large masses of fat, usually in wooden containers. These are thought to have been food stores of both butter and tallow . Republic of

5229-435: The highest in Black Africa. On the night of February 14 to 15, 1965, 3 public officials of the Republic of the Congo were kidnapped: Lazare Matsocota  [ fr ] (prosecutor of the Republic), Joseph Pouabou  [ fr ] (President of the Supreme Court), and Anselme Massouémé  [ fr ] (director of the Congolese Information Agency). The bodies of 2 of these men were later found, mutilated, by

5312-468: The hills and valleys of Ireland, Scotland, England, and Norway. In North America, blanket bogs occur predominantly in Canada east of Hudson Bay . These bogs are often still under the influence of mineral soil water (groundwater). Blanket bogs do not occur north of the 65th latitude in the northern hemisphere. A quaking bog , schwingmoor , or swingmoor is a form of floating bog occurring in wetter parts of valley bogs and raised bogs and sometimes around

5395-412: The late 19th century France colonised the region and incorporated it into French Equatorial Africa . The Republic of the Congo was established on 28 November 1958 and gained independence from France in 1960. It was a Marxist–Leninist state from 1969 to 1992, under the name People's Republic of the Congo (PRC). The country has had multi-party elections since 1992, but a democratically elected government

5478-497: The long-term. Extreme weather like dry summers are likely the cause, as they lower precipitation and the groundwater table. It is speculated that these issues will only increase with a rise in global temperature and climate change. Since bogs take thousands of years to form and create the rich peat that is used as a resource, once they are gone they are extremely hard to recover. Arctic and sub-Arctic circles where many bogs are warming at 0.6 °C per decade, an amount twice as large as

5561-526: The low fertility and cool climate result in relatively slow plant growth, but decay is even slower due to low oxygen levels in saturated bog soils. Hence, peat accumulates. Large areas of the landscape can be covered many meters deep in peat. Bogs have distinctive assemblages of animal, fungal, and plant species, and are of high importance for biodiversity , particularly in landscapes that are otherwise settled and farmed. Bogs are widely distributed in cold, temperate climes , mostly in boreal ecosystems in

5644-408: The low-nutrient conditions by using invertebrates as a nutrient source. Orchids have adapted to these conditions through the use of mycorrhizal fungi to extract nutrients. Some shrubs such as Myrica gale (bog myrtle) have root nodules in which nitrogen fixation occurs, thereby providing another supplemental source of nitrogen. Bogs are recognized as a significant/specific habitat type by

5727-678: The north, and Cabinda ( Angola ) to the southwest. It has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean. The southwest is a coastal plain for which the primary drainage is the Kouilou-Niari River ; the interior of the country consists of a central plateau between 2 basins to the south and north. Forests are under increasing exploitation pressure. Congo had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.89/10, ranking it 12th globally out of 172 countries. Congo lies within 4 terrestrial ecoregions: Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests , Northwestern Congolian lowland forests , Western Congolian swamp forests , and Western Congolian forest–savanna mosaic . Since

5810-475: The peat decays, carbon dioxide would be released to the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. Undisturbed, bogs function as a carbon sink . As one example, the peatlands of the former Soviet Union were calculated to be removing 52 Tg of carbon per year from the atmosphere. Therefore, the rewetting of drained peatlands may be one of the most cost-effective ways to mitigate climate change. Peat bogs are also important in storing fresh water, particularly in

5893-479: The period when France colonised it, it was known as the French Congo or Middle Congo . The Republic of the Congo , or simply Congo , is a distinct country from the Democratic Republic of the Congo , also known as DR Congo . Brazzaville 's name derives from the colony's founder, Pierre Savorgnan de Brazzà , an Italian nobleman whose title referred to the town of Brazzacco, in the Italian comune of Moruzzo in Friuli Venezia Giulia , whose name derived from

5976-502: The population. Pygmies make up 2% of Congo's population. Religion in the Republic of the Congo by the Association of Religion Data Archives (2015) According to CIA World Factbook, the people of the Republic of the Congo are largely a mix of Catholics (33.1%), Awakening Lutherans (22.3%), and other Protestants (19.9%) as of 2007. Followers of Islam make up 1.6%; this is primarily due to an influx of foreign workers into

6059-676: The presidency on 31 December 1968. One year later, Ngouabi proclaimed the Congo Africa's first "people's republic", the People's Republic of the Congo , and announced the decision of the National Revolutionary Movement to change its name to the Congolese Labour Party (PCT). He survived an attempted coup in 1972 and was assassinated on 18 March   1977. An 11-member Military Committee of

6142-503: The region. The area north of the Congo River came under French sovereignty in 1880 as a result of Pierre de Brazza 's treaty with King Makoko of the Bateke . After the death of Makoko, his widow Queen Ngalifourou upheld the terms of the treaty and became an ally to the colonizers. This Congo Colony became known first as French Congo , then as Middle Congo in 1903. In 1908, France organized French Equatorial Africa (AEF), comprising

6225-613: The remarkable preservation of organic material. Finds of such material have been made in Slovenia , Denmark , Germany , Ireland , Russia , and the United Kingdom. Some bogs have preserved bog-wood, such as ancient oak logs useful in dendrochronology . They have yielded extremely well-preserved bog bodies , with hair, organs, and skin intact, buried there thousands of years ago after apparent Germanic and Celtic human sacrifice . Excellent examples of such human specimens include

6308-535: The rugged mountains and forests of Mayombe , and 170 km of beaches along the Atlantic coast. Congo is located in the central-western part of sub-Saharan Africa , along the Equator , lying between latitudes 4°N and 5°S , and longitudes 11° and 19°E . To the south and east of it is the Democratic Republic of the Congo . It is bounded by Gabon to the west, Cameroon and the Central African Republic to

6391-527: The south by the Angolan exclave of Cabinda , and to the southwest by the Atlantic Ocean. The region was dominated by Bantu -speaking tribes at least 3,000 years ago, who built trade links leading into the Congo River basin. From the 13th century the present day territory was dominated by a confederation led by Vungu which included Kakongo and Ngoyo . Loango emerged in the 16th century. In

6474-421: The vote was a fake one. The election raised questions and was accompanied by civil unrest and police shootings of protesters; at least 18 people were killed by security forces during opposition rallies leading up to the referendum held in October. It is divided into 12 départements (departments). Departments are divided into communes and districts. These are: Some Pygmies belong from birth to Bantus in

6557-401: The water surface to cover bays or even entire small lakes. Bogs at the edges of lakes may become detached and form floating islands . A cataract bog is a rare ecological community formed where a permanent stream flows over a granite outcropping. The sheeting of water keeps the edges of the rock wet without eroding the soil, but in this precarious location, no tree or large shrub can maintain

6640-538: Was completed in 2011. Its population is concentrated in the southwestern portion, leaving the areas of tropical jungle in the north virtually uninhabited. 70% of its total population lives in urban areas, namely in Brazzaville , Pointe-Noire , or one of the cities or villages lining the 534-kilometre (332 mi), railway which connects the two cities. In rural areas, industrial and commercial activity has declined in some years, leaving rural economies dependent on

6723-710: Was excluded from the Kimberley Process in 2004 amid allegations that most of its diamond exports were, in fact, being smuggled out of the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo ; it was re-admitted to the group in 2007. The Republic of the Congo has untapped base metal, gold, iron, and phosphate deposits. It is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA). The Congolese government signed an agreement in 2009 to lease 200,000 hectares of land to South African farmers to reduce its dependence on imports. The GDP of

6806-452: Was one of the first companies to mechanically harvest peat, which is being phased out. The other major use of dried peat is as a soil amendment (sold as moss peat or sphagnum peat ) to increase the soil's capacity to retain moisture and enrich the soil. It is also used as a mulch . Some distilleries , notably in the Islay whisky-producing region, use the smoke from peat fires to dry

6889-753: Was ousted in the 1997 Republic of the Congo Civil War . President Denis Sassou Nguesso , who first came to power in 1979, ruled until 1992 and then again since after his reinstatement. The Republic of the Congo is a member of the African Union , the United Nations , La Francophonie , the Economic Community of Central African States , and the Non-Aligned Movement . It has become the 4th-largest oil producer in

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