total: 10,271 kmborder countries: Angola 2,511 km, Burundi 233 km, Central African
Republic 1,577 km, Republic of the Congo 2,410 km, Rwanda 217 km,
Sudan 628 km, Uganda 765 km, Zambia 1,930 km
Coastline: 37 km
Maritime claims:
exclusive economic zone: boundaries with neighbors
territorial sea: 12 nm
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
Terrain: vast central basin is a low-lying plateau; mountains in
east
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pic Marguerite on Mont Ngaliema (Mount Stanley) 5,110
m
Natural resources: cobalt, copper, cadmium, petroleum, industrial
and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, germanium,
uranium, radium, bauxite, iron ore, coal, hydropower potential,
timber
Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 7%
forests and woodland: 77%
other: 13% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 100 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: periodic droughts in south; volcanic activity
Environment—current issues: poaching threatens wildlife
populations; water pollution; deforestation; refugees who arrived in
mid-1994 were responsible for significant deforestation, soil
erosion, and wildlife poaching in the eastern part of the country
(most of those refugees were repatriated in November and December
1996)
Environment—international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear
Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical
Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification
Geography—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
People
Population: 50,481,305 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 48% (male 12,200,532; female 12,136,372)
15–64 years: 49% (male 12,135,901; female 12,692,057)
65 years and over: 3% (male 564,084; female 752,359) (1999 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.96% (1999 est.)
Birth rate: 46.37 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Death rate: 14.99 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Net migration rate: −1.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.) note: in 1994, about a million refugees fled into Zaire (now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo or DROC), to escape the fighting between the Hutus and the Tutsis in Rwanda and Burundi; the outbreak of widespread fighting in the DROC between rebels and government forces in October 1996 spurred about 875,000 refugees to return to Rwanda in late 1996 and early 1997; additionally,the DROC is host to 200,000 Angolan, 110,000 Burundi, 100,000 Sudanese, and 15,000 Ugandan refugees; renewed fighting in the DROC in August 1998 resulted in more internal displacement and refugee outflows
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (1999 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 99.45 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 49.44 years male: 47.28 years female: 51.67 years (1999 est.)
Total fertility rate: 6.45 children born/woman (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Congolese (singular and plural)
adjective: Congolese or Congo
Ethnic groups: over 200 African ethnic groups of which the
majority are Bantu; the four largest tribes—Mongo, Luba, Kongo (all
Bantu), and the Mangbetu-Azande (Hamitic) make up about 45% of the
population
Religions: Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%,
Muslim 10%, other syncretic sects and traditional beliefs 10%
Languages: French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade
language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo,
Tshiluba
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write French, Lingala,
Kingwana, or Tshiluba
total population: 77.3%
male: 86.6%
female: 67.7% (1995 est.)
Government
Country name:
conventional long form: Democratic Republic of the Congo
conventional short form: none
local long form: Republique Democratique du Congo
