branch: president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral National People's Assembly (Assemblee Nationale Populaire)
_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State—President Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO (since 8 February 1979);
Head of Government—Prime Minister Brig. Gen. Louis-Sylvain
GOMA (since 9 January 1991)
_#_Political parties and leaders: Congolese Labor Party (PCT), President Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO, leader; note—multiparty system legalized, with over 50 parties established
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18
_#_Elections:
President—last held 26–31 July 1989 (next to be held July 1994); results—President SASSOU-NGUESSO unanimously reelected leader of the PCT by the Party Congress, which automatically made him president;
People's National Assembly—last held 24 September 1989 (next to be held NA 1994); results—PCT was the only party; seats—(153 total) single list of candidates nominated by the PCT
_#_Communists: unknown number of Communists and sympathizers
_#_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)
_#_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, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU,
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Roger ISSOMBO; Chancery at 4891 Colorado Avenue NW, Washington DC 20011; telephone (202) 726–5500;
US—Ambassador James Daniel PHILLIPS; Embassy at Avenue Amilcar Cabral, Brazzaville (mailing address is B. P. 1015, Brazzaville, or Box C, APO New York 09662–0006); telephone (242) 83–20-70 or 83–26-24
_#_Flag: red with the national emblem in the upper hoist-side corner; the emblem includes a yellow five-pointed star above a crossed hoe and hammer (like the hammer and sickle design) in yellow, flanked by two curved green palm branches; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia
_*Economy #_Overview: 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. The world decline in oil prices, however, has forced the government to launch an austerity program to cope with declining receipts and mounting foreign debts.
_#_GDP: $2.26 billion, per capita $1,050; real growth rate 0.6% (1989 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.6% (1989 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: NA%
_#_Budget: revenues $522 million; expenditures $767 million, including capital expenditures of $141 million (1989)
_#_Exports: $751 million (f.o.b., 1988);
commodities—crude petroleum 72%, lumber, plywood, coffee, cocoa, sugar, diamonds;
partners—US, France, other EC
_#_Imports: $564 million (c.i.f., 1988);
commodities—foodstuffs, consumer goods, intermediate manufactures, capital equipment;
partners—France, Italy, other EC, US, FRG, Spain, Japan, Brazil
_#_External debt: $4.5 billion (December 1988)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 1.2% (1989); accounts for 33% of GDP, including petroleum
_#_Electricity: 133,000 kW capacity; 300 million kWh produced, 130 kWh per capita (1989)
_#_Industries: crude oil, cement, sawmills, brewery, sugar mill, palm oil, soap, cigarettes
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 10% 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 (FY70–89), $60 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970–88), $2.2 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979–89), $15 million; Communist countries (1970–89), $338 million
_#_Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (plural—francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes
_#_Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1—256.54 (January 1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*Communications #_Railroads: 797 km, 1.067-meter gauge, single track (includes 285 km that are privately owned)
_#_Highways: 12,000 km total; 560 km bituminous surface treated; 850 km gravel, laterite; 5,350 km improved earth; 5,240 km unimproved roads
_#_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)
_#_Civil air: 4 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 50 total, 45 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440–3,659 m; 18 with runways 1,220–2,439 m
_#_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; stations—3 AM, 1 FM, 4 TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station
_*Defense Forces #_Branches: Army, Navy (including Marines), Air Force, paramilitary National People's Militia, National Police
_#_Manpower availability: males 15–49, 509,040; 258,861 fit for military service; 24,068 reach military age (20) annually
_#Defense expenditures: $99 million, 4.6% of GDP (1987 est.) % @Cook Islands (free association with New Zealand) *Geography #_Total area: 240 km2; land area: 240 km2
_#_Comparative area: slightly less than 1.3 times the size of Washington, DC
_#_Land boundaries: none
_#_Coastline: 120 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Continental
