Upon independence in 1960, the
former French region of Middle Congo became the Republic of the Congo. A
quarter century of experimentation with Marxism was abandoned in 1990 and
a democratically elected government took office in 1992. A brief civil war
in 1997 restored former Marxist President Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO, and
ushered in a period of ethnic and political unrest. Southern-based rebel
groups agreed to a final peace accord in March 2003, but the calm is
tenuous and refugees continue to present a humanitarian crisis. The
Republic of Congo was once one of Africa's largest petroleum producers,
but with declining production it will need new offshore oil finds to
sustain its oil earnings over the long term.
Geography
Congo, Republic of the
Location:
Western Africa, bordering the
South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola and Gabon
Geographic coordinates:
1 00 S, 15 00 E
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 342,000 sq km
land: 341,500 sq km water: 500 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Montana
Land boundaries:
total: 5,504 km
border countries: Angola 201 km, Cameroon 523 km, Central
African Republic 467 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 2,410 km, Gabon
1,903 km
Coastline:
169 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 200 nm
Climate:
tropical; rainy season (March
to June); dry season (June to October); persistent high temperatures and
humidity; particularly enervating climate astride the Equator
Terrain:
coastal plain, southern basin,
central plateau, northern basin
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic
Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Berongou 903 m
total: 0.03 cu km/yr
(59%/29%/12%) per capita: 8 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
seasonal flooding
Environment - current issues:
air pollution from vehicle
emissions; water pollution from the dumping of raw sewage; tap water is
not potable; deforestation
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94,
Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Geography - note:
about 70% of the population
lives in Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, or along the railroad between them
People
Congo, Republic of the
Population:
3,903,318 note:
estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of
excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy,
higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth
rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than
would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)
total: 16.7 years
male: 16.5 years female: 17 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.696% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
41.76 births/1,000 population
(2008 est.)
Death rate:
12.28 deaths/1,000 population
(2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
-2.52 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2008 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03
male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64
years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7
male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2008
est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 81.29
deaths/1,000 live births male: 86.9 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 75.51 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 53.74
years male: 52.52 years female: 55 years (2008 est.)
Total fertility rate:
5.92 children born/woman (2008
est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
4.9% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
90,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
9,700 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: very
high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal
diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne disease:
malaria and African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) animal
contact disease: rabies (2008)
Nationality:
noun: Congolese
(singular and plural) adjective: Congolese or Congo
Ethnic groups:
Kongo 48%, Sangha 20%, M'Bochi
12%, Teke 17%, Europeans and other 3%
Religions:
Christian 50%, animist 48%,
Muslim 2%
Languages:
French (official), Lingala and
Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages), many local languages and
dialects (of which Kikongo is the most widespread)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and
over can read and write total population: 83.8%
male: 89.6% female: 78.4% (2003 est.)
Government
Congo, Republic of the
Country name:
conventional long form:
Republic of the Congo conventional short form: Congo
(Brazzaville) local long form: Republique du Congo local
short form: none former: Middle Congo, Congo/Brazzaville,
Congo
Government type:
republic
Capital:
name: Brazzaville
geographic coordinates: 4 15 S, 15 17 E time
difference: UTC+1 (six hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard
Time)
Administrative divisions:
10 regions (regions, singular -
region) and 1 commune*; Bouenza, Brazzaville*, Cuvette, Cuvette-Ouest,
Kouilou, Lekoumou, Likouala, Niari, Plateaux, Pool, Sangha
Independence:
15 August 1960 (from France)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 15 August
(1960)
Constitution:
approved by referendum 20
January 2002
Legal system:
based on French civil law
system and customary law
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state:
President Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO (since 25 October 1997, following the civil
war in which he toppled elected president Pascal LISSOUBA); head of
government: Prime Minister Isidore MVOUBA (since 7 January 2005)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year
term (eligible for a second term); election last held 10 March 2002 (next
to be held in 2009) election results: Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO
reelected president; percent of vote - Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO 89.4%, Joseph
Kignoumbi Kia MBOUNGOU 2.7%
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament consists
of the Senate (66 seats; members are elected by indirect vote to serve
five-year terms) and the National Assembly (137 seats; members are elected
by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: Senate -
last held 11 July 2002 (next to be held in July 2008); National Assembly -
last held 24 June and 5 August 2007 (next to be held in 2012)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats
by party - FDU 56, other 10; National Assembly - percent of vote by party
- NA; seats by party - PCT 46, MCDDI 11, UPADS 11, MAR 5, MSD 5,
independents 37, other 22
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court or Cour Supreme
Political parties and leaders:
Action Movement for Renewal or
MAR; Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development or MCDDI
[Michel MAMPOUYA]; Congolese Labour Party or PCT; Movement for Solidarity
and Development or MSD; Pan-African Union for Social Development or UPADS
[Martin MBERI]; Rally for Democracy and Social Progress or RDPS
[Jean-Pierre Thystere TCHICAYA, president]; Rally for Democracy and the
Republic or RDR [Raymond Damasge NGOLLO]; Union for Democracy and Republic
or UDR; United Democratic Forces or FDU [Sebastian EBAO]; many less
important parties
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Congolese Trade Union Congress
or CSC; General Union of Congolese Pupils and Students or UGEEC;
Revolutionary Union of Congolese Women or URFC; Union of Congolese
Socialist Youth or UJSC
chief of mission:
Ambassador Robert WEISBERG embassy: BDEAC Building, 4th Floor,
Brazzaville note - a new Embassy is expected to open in 2009
mailing address: NA telephone: [242] 81-1480
FAX:: [243] 81-5324; note - until the new embassy in
Brazzaville is operational, some duties are still handled in the US
embassy in Kinshasha, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Flag description:
divided diagonally from the
lower hoist side by a yellow band; the upper triangle (hoist side) is
green and the lower triangle is red note: uses the popular
pan-African colors of Ethiopia
Economy
Congo, Republic of the
Economy - overview:
The economy is a mixture of
subsistance agriculture, an industrial sector based largely on oil, and
support services, and a government characterized by budget problems and
overstaffing. Oil has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the economy,
providing a major share of government revenues and exports. In the early
1980s, rapidly rising oil revenues enabled the government to finance
large-scale development projects with GDP growth averaging 5% annually,
one of the highest rates in Africa. The government has mortgaged a
substantial portion of its oil earnings through oil-backed loans that have
contributed to a growing debt burden and chronic revenue shortfalls.
Economic reform efforts have been undertaken with the support of
international organizations, notably the World Bank and the IMF. However,
the reform program came to a halt in June 1997 when civil war erupted.
Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO, who returned to power when the war ended in October
1997, publicly expressed interest in moving forward on economic reforms
and privatization and in renewing cooperation with international financial
institutions. Economic progress was badly hurt by slumping oil prices and
the resumption of armed conflict in December 1998, which worsened the
republic's budget deficit. The current administration presides over an
uneasy internal peace and faces difficult economic challenges of
stimulating recovery and reducing poverty. Recovery of oil prices has
boosted the economy's GDP and near-term prospects. In March 2006, the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved Heavily
Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) treatment for Congo.
US 35.9%, China 31.4%, Taiwan
9.9%, South Korea 8% (2006)
Imports:
$1.724 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.)
Imports - commodities:
capital equipment, construction
materials, foodstuffs
Imports - partners:
France 23.5%, China 13.2%, US
7.6%, India 7%, Italy 5.6%, Belgium 5.3% (2006)
Economic aid - recipient:
$1.449 billion (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$2.242 billion (31 December
2007 est.)
Debt - external:
$5 billion (2000 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
Currency (code):
Communaute Financiere Africaine
franc (XAF); note - responsible authority is the Bank of the Central
African States
Currency code:
XAF
Exchange rates:
Communaute Financiere Africaine
francs (XAF) per US dollar - 483.6 (2007), 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005),
528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications
Congo, Republic of the
Telephones - main lines in use:
15,900 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
490,000 (2005)
Telephone system:
general assessment:
services barely adequate for government use; key exchanges are in
Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, and Loubomo; intercity lines frequently out of
order; fixed-line infrastructure inadequate providing less than 1
connection per 100 persons; mobile-cellular subscribership has surged
reaching 16 per 100 persons domestic: primary network consists
of microwave radio relay and coaxial cable international:
country code - 242; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 3 (2001)
Radios:
341,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
1 (2001)
Televisions:
33,000 (1997)
Internet country code:
.cg
Internet hosts:
3 (2007)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
1 (2000)
Internet users:
70,000 (2006)
Transportation
Congo, Republic of the
Airports:
31 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 5 over
3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m:
2 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 26 1,524
to 2,437 m: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 9
(2007)
Pipelines:
gas 89 km; liquid petroleum gas
4 km; oil 758 km (2007)
Railways:
total: 894 km
narrow gauge: 894 km 1.067-m gauge (2006)
Roadways:
total: 17,289 km
paved: 864 km unpaved: 16,425 km (2004)
Waterways:
1,125 km (commercially
navigable on Congo and Oubanqui rivers) (2006)
Merchant marine:
registered in other
countries: 1 (Congo, Democratic Republic of the 1) (2007)
Congolese Armed Forces (Forces
Armees Congolaises, FAC): Army, Navy, Congolese Air Force (Armee de l'Air
Congolaise), Gendarmerie, Special Presidential Security Guard (GSSP)
(2008)
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary
military service; women allowed to serve (2007)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 842,771
females age 16-49: 833,624 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 519,296
females age 16-49: 509,564 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males age 16-49: 45,671
females age 16-49: 45,248 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
3.1% (2006)
Transnational Issues
Congo, Republic of the
Disputes - international:
Congo hosts about 63,000
refugees from neighboring states, primarily from the Pool border area of
the Democratic Republic of the Congo; the location of the boundary in the
broad Congo River with the Democratic Republic of the Congo is indefinite
except in the Pool Malebo/Stanley Pool area
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of
origin): 46,341 (Democratic Republic of Congo); 6,564 (Rwanda)
IDPs: 48,000 (multiple civil wars since 1992; most IDPs are
ethnic Lari) (2007)
