Access to THE WORLD FACTBOOK 1993 provided courtesy of The Libraries of the University of Missouri-St. Louis Match 58 DB Rec# - 55,805 Dataset-WOFACT Source :CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Source key :CI Program :WORLD FACTBOOK Program key :CI WOFACT Update sched. :Annually ID number :CI WOFACT 057 Title :CONGO Data type :TEXT End year :1994 Date of record:02/16/1994 Keywords 3 : | CONGO Text : CONGO GEOGRAPHY Location: Western Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean between Gabon and Zaire Map references: Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World Area: total area: 342,000 km2 land area: 341,500 km2 comparative area: slightly smaller than Montana Land boundaries: total 5,504 km, Angola 201 km, Cameroon 523 km, Central African Republic 467 km, Gabon 1,903 km, Zaire 2,410 km Coastline: 169 km territorial sea: 200 nm International disputes: long section with Zaire along the Congo River is indefinite (no division of the river or its islands has been made) climate astride the Equator Terrain: coastal plain, southern basin, central plateau, northern basin Natural resources: petroleum, timber, potash, lead, zinc, uranium, copper, phosphates, natural gas Land use: arable land: 2% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 29% forest and woodland: 62% other: 7% Irrigated land: 40 km2 (1989) Environment: deforestation; about 70% of the population lives in Brazzaville, Pointe Noire, or along the railroad between them PEOPLE Population: 2,388,667 (July 1993 est.) Population growth rate: 2.44% (1993 est.) Birth rate: 40.68 births/1,000 population (1993 est.) Death rate: 16.28 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.) Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.) Infant mortality rate: 112.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 48.04 years male: 46.3 years female: 49.84 years (1993 est.) Total fertility rate: 5.38 children born/woman (1993 est.) Nationality: noun: Congolese (singular and plural) adjective: Congolese or Congo south: Kongo 48% north: Sangha 20%, M'Bochi 12% center: Teke 17%, Europeans 8,500 (mostly French) Languages: French (official), African languages (Lingala and Kikongo are the most widely used) Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990) total population: 57% male: 70% female: 44% Labor force: 79,100 wage earners by occupation: agriculture 75%, commerce, industry, and government 25% note: 51% of population of working age; 40% of population economically active (1985) GOVERNMENT Names: conventional long form: Republic of the Congo conventional short form: Congo local long form: Republique Populaire du Congo local short form: Congo former: Congo/Brazzaville Digraph: CF Type: republic Capital: Brazzaville Administrative divisions: 9 regions (regions, singular - region) and 1 commune*; Bouenza, Brazzaville*, Cuvette, Kouilou, Lekoumou, Likouala, Niari, Plateaux, Pool, Sangha Independence: 15 August 1960 (from France) Constitution: 8 July 1979, currently being modified Legal system: based on French civil law system and customary law National holiday: Congolese National Day, 15 August (1960) Political parties and leaders: Congolese Labor Party (PCT), headed by former president Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO; Union for Democratic Renewal (URD) - a coalition of opposition parties; Panafrican Union for Social Development (UPADS) Other political or pressure groups: Union of Congolese Socialist Youth (UJSC); Congolese Trade Union Congress (CSC); Revolutionary Union of Congolese Women (URFC); General Union of Congolese Pupils and Students (UGEEC) Elections: President: last held 2-16 August 1992 (next to be held August 1997); results - President Pascal LISSOUBA won with 61% of the vote National Assembly: last held 24 June-19 July 1992; results - (125 total) UPADS 39, MCDDI (part of URD coalition) 29, PCT 19; more than a dozen smaller parties split the remaining 38 seats note: National Assembly dissolved in November 1992; next election to be held May 1993 Executive branch: president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet) Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale) was dissolved on NA November 1992 Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme) Leaders: Chief of State: President Pascal LISSOUBA (since August 1992) Head of Government: Prime Minister Claude Antoine DA COSTA (since December 1992) Member of: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, BDEAC, CCC, CEEAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, UDEAC, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNTAC, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO Diplomatic representation in US: chief of mission: Ambassador Roger ISSOMBO chancery: 4891 Colorado Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20011 telephone: (202) 726-5500 US diplomatic representation: chief of mission: Ambassador James Daniel PHILLIPS embassy: Avenue Amilcar Cabral, Brazzaville mailing address: B. P. 1015, Brazzaville, or Box C, APO AE 09828 telephone: (242) 83-20-70 FAX: 242 83-63-38 Flag: red, divided diagonally from the lower hoist side by a yellow band; the upper triangle (hoist side) is green and the lower triangle is red; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia ECONOMY Overview: Congo's economy is a mixture of village agriculture and A reform program, supported by the IMF and World Bank, ran into difficulties in 1990-91 because of problems in changing to a democratic political regime and a heavy debt-servicing burden. Oil has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the economy, providing about two-thirds of government revenues and exports. In the early 1980s rapidly rising oil revenues enabled Congo to finance large-scale development projects with growth averaging 5% annually, one of the highest rates in Africa. During the period 1987-91, however, growth has slowed to an average of roughly 1.5% annually, only half the population growth rate. The new government, responding to pressure from businessmen and the electorate, has promised to reduce the bureaucracy and government regulation but little has been accomplished as of early 1993. National product: GDP - exchange rate conversion - $2.5 billion (1991 est.) National product real growth rate: 0.6% (1991 est.) National product per capita: $1,070 (1991 est.) Inflation rate (consumer prices): -0.6% (1991 est.) Unemployment rate: NA% Budget: revenues $765 million; expenditures $952 million, including capital expenditures of $65 million (1990) Exports: $1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1990) commodities: crude oil 72%, lumber, plywood, coffee, cocoa, sugar, diamonds partners: US, France, other EC countries Imports: $704 million (c.i.f., 1990) commodities: foodstuffs, consumer goods, intermediate manufactures, capital equipment partners: France, Italy, other EC countries, US, Germany, Spain, Japan, Brazil External debt: $4.1 billion (1991) Industrial production: growth rate 1.2% (1989); accounts for 33% of GDP; includes petroleum Electricity: 140,000 kW capacity; 315 million kWh produced, 135 kWh per capita (1991) Industries: petroleum, cement, lumbering, brewing, sugar milling, palm oil, soap, cigarette Agriculture: accounts for 13% of GDP (including fishing and forestry); cassava accounts for 90% of food output; other crops - rice, corn, peanuts, vegetables; cash crops include coffee and cocoa; forest products important export earner; imports over 90% of food needs Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-90), $63 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-90), $2.5 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $15 million; Communist countries Currency: 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 274.06 (January 1993), 264.69 (1992), 282.11 (1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988) Fiscal year: calendar year COMMUNICATIONS Railroads: 797 km, 1.067-meter gauge, single track (includes 285 km that are privately owned) Highways: 11,960 km total; 560 km paved; 850 km gravel and laterite; 5,350 km improved earth; 5,200 km unimproved earth Inland waterways: the Congo and Ubangi (Oubangui) Rivers provide 1,120 km of commercially navigable water transport; the rest are used for local traffic only Pipelines: crude oil 25 km Ports: Pointe-Noire (ocean port), Brazzaville (river port) Airports: total: 44 usable: 41 with permanent-surface runways: 5 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 16 Telecommunications: services adequate for government use; primary network is composed of radio relay routes and coaxial cables; key centers are Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, and Loubomo; 18,100 telephones; broadcast stations - 4 AM, 1 FM, 4 TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite earth station Defense forces Branches: Army, Navy (including Marines), Air Force, National Police Manpower availability: males age 15-49 534,802; fit for military service 272,051; reach military age (20) annually 24,190 (1993 est.) Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GDP -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section of THE WORLD FACTBOOK 1993 produced by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was derived from the US Dept. of Commerce Economics and Statistics Division's NATIONAL TRADE DATA BANK CD-ROM, July, 1994, SuDoc No. C 1.88:994/7/v.1-2 / R. Muns, UM-St. Louis Libraries Local Filename: WF940056.TXT