Brazzaville is capital city of Republic of Congo. Brazzaville lies on the north bank of the Congo River across from Brazzaville. Brazzaville was founded in 1883 by Pierre Savorgnande Brazza. Developed as a European administrative and residential center, Brazzaville was used as a base for later claims of France to lands to the northeast; it became the capital of French Equatorial Africa. The river port forms the terminus of the Congo-ocean transport system, with steamer service to the Congo's upper reaches and a railroad to Pointe-Noire 394 km west.