"French Congo. Batéké cabins (Middle Congo)": Colonial Postcard, c. 1905. Note the distinctive Bateke woven architecture.

The Bateke are a Central African ethnic group. Its population is situated mainly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo and with a minority in Gabon. The former president of Gabon, Omar Bongo (known before his conversion to Islam as Albert-Bernard Bongo), is a member of the Bateke.^[1]

Unusually for central-African people, the Bateke historically breed dogs and cats for domestic purposes. The chien bateke is a small lean hunting dog with a short, medium gray coat. The chat bateke is large house cat with nearly the same coloring as the dog of the same name. A majority of domesticated cats and dogs in areas bordering the Congo River are of these breeds, though ownership of domesticated animals in general is rare in the region.

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[edit] References

• Reed, Michael C. (June 1987), "Gabon: A Neo-Colonial Enclave of Enduring French Interest", The Journal of Modern African Studies (Cambridge University Press) 25 (2): 283–320, doi:10.1017/S0022278X00000392, OCLC 77874468, http://www.jstor.org/pss/161015 .

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