Pokola
Town and commune in the Republic of the Congo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pokola is a town and a commune[1] located in the northern Republic of Congo in the Sangha Department. In 2023, the town had a population of 28,570.[2]
Pokola | |
|---|---|
Town and commune | |
 Pokola in 2023 | |
  Pokola Location in the Republic of the Congo | |
| Coordinates: 1°24′42″N 16°19′22″E | |
| Country |  Republic of the Congo |
| Department | Sangha Department |
| District | Kabo District |
| Commune | Pokola |
| Area | |
• Total | 3.6 sq mi (9.3 km2) |
| Population (2023) | |
• Total | 28,570 |
| • Density | 8,000/sq mi (3,100/km2) |
Economy
Pokola relies on extractive industries, such as logging and hunting, for its economy.[3]
Bushmeat
The Pokola area has not been anthropized, making agriculture difficult.[3]
Because of the little access to farmland, Pokola residents rely on illegal bushmeat for food,[4][5] with over 5% of meals eaten in Pokola being bushmeat in 2002, a rise from 1% in 2001.[6] Pokola is hunted for ivory to then trade in Ouésso and Cameroon.[7] Bushmeat is often brought and sold directly in the city.[8]
Local police rarely interfere with the bushmeat trade, and the United States Agency for International Development had performed investigations to slow trade.[5][9]
Logging
The town is the headquarters of one of the largest logging companies in the country, the Congolaise Industrielle des Bois (CIB), a subsidiary of a Singapore group. The company owns 1.8 million hectares of forest,[10] and funds most of the construction in the town.[11]
In 2010, the Parliament of the Republic of the Congo passed a law to protect the country's Baka people and their lands. This made it more difficult to harvest wood.[12]
Transportation
Pokola lies along the Sangha river, and is connected to Ouésso by ferry,[13] until 2023, when the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission built the Sangha Bridge and the Ouésso-Pokola Road, which connected the Pokola with Ouésso. The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by president Denis Sassou Nguesso.[14]