The Republic of Congo is divided into twelve departments. Each department is subdivided into districts and communes, except Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, which are subdivided into arrondissements. There are 86 districts, 4 communes, and 11 arrondissements at present.

As often happens, I have several sources for the districts of Congo, and they disagree with each other. Originally, I used the districts on the SALB site (download spreadsheet). I have now updated it using the Annuaire statistique du Congo 2004 . The difference between the two sources is that the second one adds four autonomous communes, and four arrondissements of Pointe-Noire. I think the communes were there all along. The reason for adding the arrondissements is that Pointe-Noire has now become a separate department, so its subdivisions are now secondary subdivisions of the country. I've also changed the middle two letters in the HASC codes to reflect that change.

This map  shows what was apparently an earlier set of districts, with indications of new districts added.

Other names of subdivisions:

These are names that I've seen on various websites. Some of them may be outright mistakes.

1. Allembé: Alembé (variant)
2. Bouaniela: Bouagnela, Bouanéla, Bouanila (variant)
3. Enyellé: Enyelé (variant)
4. Goma Tsé-Tsé: Ngamaba (obsolete); Ngoma Tsé-Tsé (variant)
5. Hinda: Loandjili (obsolete); Minda (variant)
6. Igné: Ignie (variant); P.K. 45, PK Rouge (obsolete)
7. Kakamoéka: Kakamoueka, Kalamoéka (variant)
8. Kayes: Nkayi (obsolete)
9. Kéllé: Kélé (variant)
10. Kimba: Kibouendé (variant)
11. Louvakou: Dolisie (variant); Loubomo (obsolete)
12. Madingo-Kayes: Madingou Kayes (variant)
13. Makotipoko: Makotimpoko, Mokotipoko (variant)
14. Mayéyé: Makabana (variant)
15. Mbandza-Ndounga: Mbanza-Ndounga (variant)
16. Mokéko: Ouesso (obsolete)
17. Moutamba: Mossendjo (obsolete)
18. Mvouti: Mvoun (variant)
19. Ntokou: Niokou, Tokou (variant)
20. Nyanga: Nianga (variant)
21. Ongoni: Ongogni, Ongonyi (variant)
22. Pikounda: Pikoundo (variant)
23. Tchamba Nzassi: Nzassi, Pointe-Noire, Tchiamba-Nzassi (variant)
24. Vindza: Vinza (variant)

Change history:

Again, we get differing information from different sources. According to a report from the Ministry of Health and Population  dated December 2003, Congo is divided into eleven administrative departments, and further into 76 sub-prefectures and six urban communes: Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, Dolisie, Nkayi, Mossendjo et Ouesso. Each urban commune is again subdivided into arrondissements. This government site , citing "Atlas Congo" (Éditions du jaguar) as its source, shows the following changes:

1. 1984: Ngamaba district moved from Brazzaville to Pool and renamed Ngoma Tsé-Tsé; Loandjili district split from Pointe-Noire and renamed Hinda; Loubomo district renamed Louvakou; Mossendjo district renamed Moutamba; Nkayi district renamed Kayes; Ouesso district renamed Mokéko.
2. 1994: Cuvette-Ouest region split from Cuvette (effective 1995-02-18), consisting of Etoumbi, Ewo, Kéllé, Mbama, Mbomo, and Okoyo districts; Bouaniela, Kimba, Moungoundou Nord, Ongoni, Tchamba Nzassi, and Yaya districts created; status of all "postes de contrôle administratifs" (administrative control stations) changed to districts, including Banda, Igné, Louingui, Loumo, Mbinda, Mpouya, Ngbala, Ngo, and Nyanga. According to another source, Etoumbi, Mbama, Ngoko, Tchikapika, and Tokou were also P.C.A.s.