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Line 81: == Background == The cities of [[Brazzaville]] and [[Kinshasa]], capitals of the [[Republic of the Congo]] (ROC) and [[Democratic Republic of Congo]] (DRC) respectively, are situated on opposite ~~ends~~banks of the [[Congo River]]. They are considered the closest national capitals on Earth.<ref>{{cite news \|last1=Jennings \|first1=Ken \|author-link=Ken Jennings \|title=The World's Closest Capitals Are Just 2 Miles Apart \|url=https://www.cntraveler.com/story/the-worlds-closest-capitals-are-just-2-miles-apart \|access-date=8 September 2021 \|work=Condé Nast Traveler \|date=6 November 2017}}</ref><ref name="14apr03">{{cite news \|title=Relance du projet d’érection d’un pont sur le fleuve Congo entre Kinshasa et Brazzaville \|url=http://www.congopage.com/Relance-du-projet-d-erection-d-un \|trans-title=Relaunch of the project to erect a bridge over the Congo River between Kinshasa and Brazzaville \|access-date=8 September 2021 \|work=Congopage \|date=14 April 2003 \|language=fr}}</ref> Plans for a bridge crossing the Congo River to connect the two countries were financed in 1991 but shelved in 1993 due to a lack of funding and turmoil in the ROC.<ref name="14apr03"/> The project was revived a decade later in 2003 by the ROC's Transport Infrastructure Unit (''Cellule d’infrastructures de transport''), which had previously cooperated with the [[European Union]] on similar projects in [[Central Africa]].<ref name="14apr03"/> The proposed bridge was relocated downstream to take advantage of the rocky riverbed which would facilitate easier erection of bridge pillars. The cost of construction was estimated to be between 40 million and 80 million euros in 2003.<ref name="14apr03"/> In January 2004, the project was endorsed by the [[Economic Community of Central African States]] (ECCAS), which by then was estimated to cost 403 million euros.<ref name="29aug12">{{cite news \|title=RDC – Congo : un pont pour relier Kinshasa et Brazzaville ? \|trans-title=DRC - Congo: a bridge to connect Kinshasa and Brazzaville? \|url=https://www.jeuneafrique.com/140341/archives-thematique/rdc-congo-un-pont-pour-relier-kinshasa-et-brazzaville/ \|access-date=8 September 2021 \|work=jeuneafrique \|date=29 August 2012}}</ref>

Brazzaville–Kinshasa Bridge: Difference between revisions