Location of the Republic of Congo. Source: Vardion/Wikipedia

Map of the Republic of Congo. Source: CIA World Factbook

Current Environmental Issues: air pollution from vehicle emissions; water pollution from the dumping of raw sewage; tap water is not potable; deforestation

Geography

Location: Western Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola and Gabon

Geographic Coordinates: 1 00 S, 15 00 E

Area: 342,000 km² (341,500 km² land and 500 km² water)

Land Boundaries: 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

Natural Hazards: seasonal flooding

Terrain: Coastal plain, southern basin, central plateau, northern basin

Elevation Extremes:

lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Berongou 903 m

Climate: Tropical; rainy season (March to June); dry season (June to October); persistent high temperatures and humidity; particularly enervating climate astride the Equator

Government

Government Type: Republic

Capital: Brazzaville

Independence Date: 15 August 1960 (from France)

Legal System: based on French civil law system and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

International Agreement

Environmental-international Agreement:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

People and Society

Population: 3,903,318

Age Structure:

0-14 years: 46.1% (male 906,345/female 894,568)
15-64 years: 51% (male 989,126/female 1,002,682)
65 years and over: 2.8% (male 45,560/female 65,037) (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.)

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.)

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.)

Water

Total Renewable Water Resourecs: 832 cu km (1987)

Freshwater Withdrawal (domestic, industrial, agricultural):

total: 0.03 cu km/yr (59%/29%/12%)
per capita: 8 cu m/yr (2000)

Agriculture

Agricultural Products: cassava (tapioca), sugar, rice, corn, peanuts, vegetables, coffee, cocoa; forest products

Irrigated Land: 20 sq km (2003)

Resources

Natural Resources: petroleum, timber, potash, lead, zinc, uranium, copper, phosphates, gold, magnesium, natural gas, hydropower

Land Use:

arable land: 1.45%
permanent crops: 0.15%
other: 98.4% (2005)

Energy

Health

Prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Adults: 4.9% (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)

Conflict

International Disputes: 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)

Trafficking in Persons:

current situation: Republic of the Congo is a source and destination country for children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation; girls are trafficked from rural areas within the country for commercial sexual exploitation, forced street vending, and domestic servitude; children are trafficked from other African countries for domestic servitude, forced market vending, and forced labor in the fishing industry
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Republic of the Congo is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in persons in 2007; struggling to recover from six years of civil conflict that ended in 2003, the Republic of the Congo's capacity to address trafficking is handicapped; the government neither monitors its borders for trafficking activity nor provides specialized anti-trafficking training for law enforcement officials; the government does not encourage victims to assist in trafficking investigations or prosecutions, and has not taken measures to reduce demand for commercial sex acts in the Republic of the Congo (2008)

Economy

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.

GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $13.23 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (Official Exchange Rate): $7.657 billion (2007 est.)

GDP- real growth rate: -1.6% (2007 est.)

GDP- per capita (PPP): $3,700 (2007 est.)

GDP- composition by sector:

agriculture: 5.6%
industry: 57.1%
services: 37.3% (2006 est.)

Population Below Poverty Line: NA%

Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share:

agriculture: 5.6%
industry: 57.1%
services: 37.3% (2006 est.)

Industries: petroleum extraction, cement, lumber, brewing, sugar, palm oil, soap, flour, cigarettes

Exports: petroleum, lumber, plywood, sugar, cocoa, coffee, diamonds

Export Partners: US 34.4%, China 31.2%, South Korea 9.5%, Taiwan 8.3%, Brazil 4.3% (2006)

Imports: capital equipment, construction materials, foodstuffs

Import Partners: France 21.5%, China 14.6%, Italy 12.2%, India 5.6%, US 5%, Belgium 4.4% (2006)

Economic Aid Recipient: $1.449 billion (2005)

Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF)

Communications

Telephones- main line in use: 15,900 (2005)

Telephones- mobile/cellular: 1.334 million (2007)

Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 3 (2001)

Television Broadcast Stations: 1 (2001)

Internet Hosts: 3 (2007)

Internet Users: 70,000 (2006)

Transportation

Airports: 31 (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)

Ports and Terminals: Brazzaville, Djeno, Impfondo, Ouesso, Oyo, Pointe-Noire