Congo, Democratic Republic of the

Airports

total: 278 usable: 233 with permanent-surface runways: 25 with runways over 3,659 m: 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 6 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 72

Highways

total: 146,500 km paved: 2,800 km unpaved: gravel, improved earth 46,200 km; unimproved earth 97,500 km

Inland waterways

15,000 km including the Congo, its tributaries, and unconnected lakes

Merchant marine

1 passenger cargo ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 15,489 GRT/13,481 DWT

Pipelines

petroleum products 390 km

Ports

Matadi, Boma, Banana

Railroads

5,254 km total; 3,968 km 1.067-meter gauge (851 km electrified); 125 km 1.000-meter gauge; 136 km 0.615-meter gauge; 1,025 km 0.600-meter gauge; limited trackage in use because of civil strife

Telecommunications

barely adequate wire and microwave service; broadcast stations - 10 AM, 4 FM, 18 TV; satellite earth stations - 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 14 domestic

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary National Gendarmerie, Civil Guard, Special Presidential Division

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $49 million, 0.8% of GDP (1988)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 9,178,659; fit for military service 4,674,819

Agriculture

cash crops - coffee, palm oil, rubber, quinine; food crops - cassava, bananas, root crops, corn

Budget

revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Currency

1 zaire (Z) = 100 makuta

Economic aid

recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.1 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $6.9 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $35 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $263 million note: except for humanitarian aid to private organizations, no US assistance was given to Zaire in 1992

Electricity

capacity: 2,580,000 kW production: 6 billion kWh consumption per capita: 160 kWh (1991)

Exchange rates

zaire (Z) per US$1 - 7,915,000 (September 1993), 1,990,000 (1992), 15,587 (1991), 719 (1990), 381 (1989)

Exports

$1.5 billion (f.o.b., 1992 est.) commodities: copper, coffee, diamonds, cobalt, crude oil partners: US, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, UK, Japan, South Africa

External debt

$9.2 billion (May 1992 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

illicit producer of cannabis, mostly for domestic consumption

Imports

$1.2 billion (f.o.b., 1992 est.) commodities: consumer goods, foodstuffs, mining and other machinery, transport equipment, fuels partners: South Africa, US, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK

Industrial production

growth rate NA%

Industries

mining, mineral processing, consumer products (including textiles, footwear, and cigarettes), processed foods and beverages, cement, diamonds

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

35%-40% per month (1992 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $21 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$500 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

-6% (1992 est.)

Overview

Zaire's economy has continued to disintegrate. While meaningful economic figures are difficult to come by, Zaire's hyperinflation, the largest government deficit ever, and plunging mineral production have made the country one of the world's poorest. Most formal transactions are conducted in hard currency as indigenous banknotes have lost almost all value, and a barter economy now flourishes in all but the largest cities. Most individuals and families hang on grimly through subsistence farming and petty trade. The government has not been able to meet its financial obligations to the International Momentary Fund or put in place the financial measures advocated by the IMF. Although short-term prospects for improvement are dim, improved political stability would boost Zaire's long-term potential to effectively exploit its vast wealth of mineral and agricultural resources.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Area

total area: 2,345,410 sq km land area: 2,267,600 sq km comparative area: slightly more than one-quarter the size of US

Climate

tropical; hot and humid in equatorial river basin; cooler and drier in southern highlands; cooler and wetter in eastern highlands; north of Equator - wet season April to October, dry season December to February; south of Equator - wet season November to March, dry season April to October

Coastline

37 km

Environment

current issues: poaching threatens wildlife populations; water pollution; deforestation natural hazards: periodic droughts in south international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Tropical Timber; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental Modification

International disputes

Tanzania-Zaire-Zambia tripoint in Lake Tanganyika may no longer be indefinite since it is reported that the indefinite section of the Zaire-Zambia boundary has been settled; long section with Congo along the Congo River is indefinite (no division of the river or its islands has been made)

Irrigated land

100 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

total 10,271 km, Angola 2,511 km, Burundi 233 km, Central African Republic 1,577 km, Congo 2,410 km, Rwanda 217 km, Sudan 628 km, Uganda 765 km, Zambia 1,930 km

Land use

arable land: 3% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 4% forest and woodland: 78% other: 15%

Location

Central Africa, between Congo and Zambia

Map references

Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

cobalt, copper, cadmium, petroleum, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, germanium, uranium, radium, bauxite, iron ore, coal, hydropower potential

Note

straddles Equator; very narrow strip of land that controls the lower Congo River and is only outlet to South Atlantic Ocean; dense tropical rain forest in central river basin and eastern highlands

Terrain

vast central basin is a low-lying plateau; mountains in east

Administrative divisions

10 regions (regions, singular - region) and 1 town* (ville); Bandundu, Bas-Zaire, Equateur, Haut-Zaire, Kasai-Occidental, Kasai-Oriental, Kinshasa*, Maniema, Nord-Kivu, Shaba, Sud-Kivu

Capital

Kinshasa

Constitution

24 June 1967, amended August 1974, revised 15 February 1978; amended April 1990; new transitional constitution promulgated in April 1994

Digraph

CG

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador TATANENE Manata chancery: 1800 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: (202) 234-7690 or 7691

Executive branch

chief of state: President Marshal MOBUTU Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga (since 24 November 1965) election last held 29 July 1984 (next to be scheduled by High Council, the opposition-controlled transition legislature); results - President MOBUTU was reelected without opposition head of government: Prime Minister Etienne TSHISEKEDI (since NA 1993); note - de facto executive authority is exercised by President MOBUTU cabinet: National Executive Council; appointed by the president on recommendation of the prime minister

FAX

[243] (12) 21232 or 21534/5, ext. 2308 consulate(s) general: Lubumbashi (closed and evacuated in October 1991 because of the poor security situation)

Flag

light green with a yellow disk in the center bearing a black arm holding a red flaming torch; the flames of the torch are blowing away from the hoist side; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia

Independence

30 June 1960 (from Belgium)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)

Legal system

based on Belgian civil law system and tribal law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

unicameral parliament: a single body consisting of the High Council of the Republic and the Parliament of the Transition with membership equally divided between presidential supporters and opponents

Member of

ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEEAC, CEPGL, ECA, FAO, G-19, G-24, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Names

conventional long form: Republic of Zaire conventional short form: Zaire local long form: Republique du Zaire local short form: Zaire former: Belgian Congo Congo/Leopoldville Congo/Kinshasa

National holiday

Anniversary of the Regime (Second Republic), 24 November (1965)

Political parties and leaders

sole legal party until January 1991 - Popular Movement of the Revolution (MPR); other parties include Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), Etienne TSHISEKEDI wa Mulumba; Democratic Social Christian Party (PDSC), Joseph ILEO; Union of Federalists and Independent Republicans (UFERI), NGUZ a Karl-I-Bond; Unified Lumumbast Party (PALU), Antoine GIZENGA

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Type

republic with a strong presidential system

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: (vacant); Deputy Chief of Mission John YATES embassy: 310 Avenue des Aviateurs, Kinshasa mailing address: Unit 31550, Kinshasha; APO AE 09828 telephone: [243] (12) 21532, 21628

Birth rate

48.39 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

16.74 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

over 200 African ethnic groups, the majority are Bantu; four largest tribes - Mongo, Luba, Kongo (all Bantu), and the Mangbetu-Azande (Hamitic) make up about 45% of the population

Infant mortality rate

110.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

15 million (13% of the labor force is wage earners; 51% of the population is of working age) by occupation: agriculture 75%, industry 13%, services 12% (1985)

Languages

French, Lingala, Swahili, Kingwana, Kikongo, Tshiluba

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 47.4 years male: 45.57 years female: 49.29 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.) total population: 72% male: 84% female: 61%

Nationality

noun: Zairian(s) adjective: Zairian

Net migration rate

0.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

42,684,091 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

3.17% (1994 est.)

Religions

Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%, Muslim 10%, other syncretic sects and traditional beliefs 10%

Total fertility rate

6.7 children born/woman (1994 est.)