Work / monument · infrastructure

Congo–Ocean Railway

Also known as Chemin de fer Congo-Océan

The Congo–Ocean Railway runs for about 500 kilometres from Brazzaville to the port of Pointe-Noire in the Republic of the Congo. It was built by French Equatorial Africa between 1921 and 1934 with forced labour recruited across the federation, including Ubangi-Shari and Chad. Disease, hunger and brutal conditions killed many thousands of workers, and the scandal was exposed by writers such as André Gide and Albert Londres.

Congo–Ocean Railway
Image: Jkan997 · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 3 state histories

Middle CongoUbangi-ShariFrench Equatorial Africa

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Congo–Ocean Railway. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/congo-ocean-railway
MLA
“Congo–Ocean Railway.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/congo-ocean-railway. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Congo–Ocean Railway.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/congo-ocean-railway.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Congo–Ocean Railway’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/congo-ocean-railway (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻