Congo, Republic of the (2001) | Mongolia (2004) | |
![]() | ![]() | |
Administrative divisions | 9 regions (regions, singular - region) and 1 commune*; Bouenza, Brazzaville*, Cuvette, Kouilou, Lekoumou, Likouala, Niari, Plateaux, Pool, Sangha | 21 provinces (aymguud, singular - aymag) and 1 municipality* (singular - hot); Arhangay, Bayanhongor, Bayan-Olgiy, Bulgan, Darhan Uul, Dornod, Dornogovi, Dundgovi, Dzavhan, Govi-Altay, Govi-Sumber, Hentiy, Hovd, Hovsgol, Omnogovi, Orhon, Ovorhangay, Selenge, Suhbaatar, Tov, Ulaanbaatar*, Uvs |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
42.43% (male 618,411; female 609,633) 15-64 years: 54.23% (male 765,501; female 804,125) 65 years and over: 3.34% (male 38,772; female 57,894) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 29.7% (male 415,735; female 400,560)
15-64 years: 66.7% (male 916,445; female 918,235) 65 years and over: 3.6% (male 43,205; female 57,134) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | cassava (tapioca), sugar, rice, corn, peanuts, vegetables, coffee, cocoa; forest products | wheat, barley, potatoes, forage crops, sheep, goats, cattle, camels, horses |
Airports | 33 (2000 est.) | 36 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
4 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
total: 11
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 10 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
29 1,524 to 2,437 m: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 12 under 914 m: 10 (2000 est.) |
total: 25
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 1,524 to 2,437 m: 11 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 5 (2003 est.) |
Area | total:
342,000 sq km land: 341,500 sq km water: 500 sq km |
total: 1,564,116 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Montana | slightly smaller than Alaska |
Background | Upon independence in 1960, the former French region of Middle Congo became the Republic of the Congo. A quarter century of experimentation with Marxism was abandoned in 1990 and a democratically elected government installed in 1992. A brief civil war in 1997 restored former Marxist President SASSOU-NGUESSO. | The Mongols gained fame in the 13th century when under Chinggis KHAN they conquered a huge Eurasian empire. After his death the empire was divided into several powerful Mongol states, but these broke apart in the 14th century. The Mongols eventually retired to their original steppe homelands and later came under Chinese rule. Mongolia won its independence in 1921 with Soviet backing. A Communist regime was installed in 1924. During the early 1990s, the ex-Communist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) gradually yielded its monopoly on power to the Democratic Union Coalition (DUC), which defeated the MPRP in a national election in 1996. Since then, parliamentary elections returned the MPRP overwhelmingly to power in 2000 and produced a coalition government in 2004. |
Birth rate | 38.24 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 21.44 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$870 million expenditures: $970 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.) |
revenues: $387 million
expenditures: $428 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2001 est.) |
Capital | Brazzaville | Ulaanbaatar |
Climate | tropical; rainy season (March to June); dry season (June to October); constantly high temperatures and humidity; particularly enervating climate astride the Equator | desert; continental (large daily and seasonal temperature ranges) |
Coastline | 169 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | Draft constitution approved by transitional parliament in September 2000 | 12 February 1992 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of the Congo conventional short form: none local long form: Republique du Congo local short form: none former: Middle Congo, Congo/Brazzaville, Congo |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Mongolia local long form: none local short form: Mongol Uls former: Outer Mongolia |
Currency | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF); note - responsible authority is the Bank of the Central African States | togrog/tugrik (MNT) |
Death rate | 16.22 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 7.1 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $5 billion (1999 est.) | $885 million (2001 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador David H. KAEUPER embassy: NA mailing address: NA telephone: [243] (88) 43608 FAX: [243] (88) 41036 note: the embassy is temporarily collocated with the US Embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (US Embassy Kinshasa, 310 Avenue des Aviateurs, Kinshasa) |
chief of mission: Ambassador Pamela J. SLUTZ
embassy: Micro Region 11, Big Ring Road, C.P.O. 1021, Ulaanbaatar 13 mailing address: PSC 461, Box 300, FPO AP 96521-0002 telephone: [976] (11) 329095 FAX: [976] (11) 320776 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
(vacant); Charge d'Affaires ad interim Serge MOMBOULI chancery: 4891 Colorado Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20011 telephone: [1] (202) 726-5500 FAX: [1] (202) 726-1860 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Ravdangiyn BOLD
chancery: 2833 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 333-7117 FAX: [1] (202) 298-9227 consulate(s) general: New York |
Disputes - international | most of the Congo river boundary with the Democratic Republic of the Congo is indefinite (no agreement has been reached on the division of the river or its islands, except in the Stanley Pool/Pool Malebo area) | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $159.1 million (1995) | $332 million (2003 est.) |
Economy - overview | The economy is a mixture of village agriculture and handicrafts, an industrial sector based largely on oil, 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. Moreover, the government has mortgaged a substantial portion of its oil earnings, contributing to the government's shortage of revenues. The 12 January 1994 devaluation of Franc Zone currencies by 50% resulted in inflation of 61% in 1994, but inflation has subsided since. Economic reform efforts continued with the support of international organizations, notably the World Bank and the IMF. 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. However, economic progress was badly hurt by slumping oil prices and the resumption of armed conflict in December 1998, which worsened the Republic of the Congo's budget deficit. Even with the IMF's renewed confidence and high world oil prices, Congo is unlikely to realize growth of more than 5% in 2001-02. With the return to fragile peace, the IMF approved a $14 million credit in November 2000 to aid post-conflict reconstruction. | Economic activity traditionally has been based on agriculture and breeding of livestock. Mongolia also has extensive mineral deposits; copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold account for a large part of industrial production. Soviet assistance, at its height one-third of GDP, disappeared almost overnight in 1990-91 at the time of the dismantlement of the USSR. Mongolia was driven into deep recession, prolonged by the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party's (MPRP) reluctance to undertake serious economic reform. The Democratic Union Coalition (DUC) government embraced free-market economics, eased price controls, liberalized domestic and international trade, and attempted to restructure the banking system and the energy sector. Major domestic privatization programs were undertaken, as well as the fostering of foreign investment through international tender of the oil distribution company, a leading cashmere company, and banks. Reform was held back by the ex-Communist MPRP opposition and by the political instability brought about through four successive governments under the DUC. Economic growth picked up in 1997-99 after stalling in 1996 due to a series of natural disasters and declines in world prices of copper and cashmere. In August and September 1999, the economy suffered from a temporary Russian ban on exports of oil and oil products, and Mongolia remains vulnerable in this sector. Mongolia joined the World Trade Organization (WTrO) in 1997. The international donor community pledged over $300 million per year at the Consultative Group Meeting, held in Ulaanbaatar in June 1999. The MPRP government, elected in July 2000, was anxious to improve the investment climate; it also had to deal with a heavy burden of external debt. Falling prices for Mongolia's mainly primary sector exports, widespread opposition to privatization, and adverse effects of weather on agriculture in early 2000 and 2001 restrained real GDP growth. Despite drought problems in 2002, GDP rose 4.0%, followed by a solid 5.0% increase in 2003. The first applications under the land privatization law have been marked by a number of disputes over particular sites. Russia claims Mongolia owes it $11 billion from the Soviet period; any settlement could substantially increase Mongolia's foreign debt burden. |
Electricity - consumption | 406.9 million kWh (1999) | 2.194 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 25 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 126 million kWh (1999) | 196 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 302 million kWh (1999) | 2.225 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
0.66% hydro: 99.34% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Berongou 903 m |
lowest point: Hoh Nuur 518 m
highest point: Nayramadlin Orgil (Huyten Orgil) 4,374 m |
Environment - current issues | air pollution from vehicle emissions; water pollution from the dumping of raw sewage; tap water is not potable; deforestation | limited natural fresh water resources in some areas; the policies of former Communist regimes promoted rapid urbanization and industrial growth that had negative effects on the environment; the burning of soft coal in power plants and the lack of enforcement of environmental laws severely polluted the air in Ulaanbaatar; deforestation, overgrazing, and the converting of virgin land to agricultural production increased soil erosion from wind and rain; desertification and mining activities had a deleterious effect on the environment |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Kongo 48%, Sangha 20%, M'Bochi 12%, Teke 17%, Europeans NA%; note - Europeans estimated at 8,500, mostly French, before the 1997 civil war; may be half that of 1998, following the widespread destruction of foreign businesses in 1997 | Mongol (mostly Khalkha) 94.9%, Turkic (mostly Kazakh) 5%, other (including Chinese and Russian) 0.1% (2000) |
Exchange rates | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XAF) per US dollar - 699.21 (January 2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997), 511.55 (1996); note - from 1 January 1999, the XAF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XAF per euro | togrogs/tugriks per US dollar - 1,171 (2003), 1,110.31 (2002), 1,097.7 (2001), 1,076.67 (2000), 1,021.87 (1999) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO (since 25 October 1997, following the civil war in which he toppled elected president Pascal LISSOUBA); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO (since 25 October 1997, following the civil war in which he toppled elected president Pascal LISSOUBA); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 16 August 1992 (next was to be held 27 July 1997 but will be delayed for several years pending the drafting of a new constitution) election results: Pascal LISSOUBA elected president in 1992; percent of vote - Pascal LISSOUBA 61.3%, Bernard KOLELAS 38.7%; note - LISSOUBA was deposed in 1997, replaced by Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO |
chief of state: President Natsagiyn BAGABANDI (since 20 June 1997)
head of government: Prime Minister Tsakhiagiyn ELBEGDORJ (since 20 August 2004); Deputy Prime Minister Chultem ULAAN (since 28 September 2004) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the State Great Hural (parliament) in consultation with the president elections: presidential candidates nominated by political parties represented in State Great Hural and elected by popular vote for a four-year term; presidential tenure limited to two four-year terms; election last held 20 May 2001 (next to be held in May 2005); following legislative elections, leader of majority party or majority coalition is usually elected prime minister by State Great Hural; election last held 27 June 2004 (next to be held in June 2008) election results: Natsagiyn BAGABANDI reelected president in 2001; percent of vote - Natsagiyn BAGABANDI (MPRP) 58.13%, Radnaasumbereliyn GONCHIGDORJ (DP) 36.58%, Luvsandamba DASHNYAM (CWP) 3.54%, other 1.75%; Tsakkhiagiyn ELBEGDORJ elected prime minister by the State Great Hural 74 to 0 |
Exports | $2.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | petroleum 50%, lumber, plywood, sugar, cocoa, coffee, diamonds | copper, livestock, animal products, cashmere, wool, hides, fluorspar, other nonferrous metals |
Exports - partners | US 23%, Benelux 14%, Germany, Italy, Taiwan, China (1998) | China 46.1%, US 23.2%, Russia 6.7%, Singapore 5.7%, Australia 5.5%, UK 4.2% (2003) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | 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 | three equal, vertical bands of red (hoist side), blue, and red; centered on the hoist-side red band in yellow is the national emblem ("soyombo" - a columnar arrangement of abstract and geometric representation for fire, sun, moon, earth, water, and the yin-yang symbol) |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $3.1 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $4.882 billion (2003 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
10% industry: 48% services: 42% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 20.6%
industry: 21.4% services: 58% (2002 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1,800 (2003 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.8% (2000 est.) | 5% (2003 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 1 00 S, 15 00 E | 46 00 N, 105 00 E |
Geography - note | about 70% of the population lives in Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, or along the railroad between them | landlocked; strategic location between China and Russia |
Heliports | - | 2 (2003 est.) |
Highways | total:
12,800 km paved: 1,242 km unpaved: 11,558 km (1996) |
total: 49,250 km
paved: 1,724 km unpaved: 47,526 km (2003) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 37% (1995) |
Imports | $870 million (f.o.b., 2000) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | petroleum products, capital equipment, construction materials, foodstuffs | machinery and equipment, fuels, food products, industrial consumer goods, chemicals, building materials, sugar, tea |
Imports - partners | France 23%, US 9%, Belgium 8%, UK 7%, Italy (1997 est.) | Russia 33.1%, China 21.5%, South Korea 8.5%, Japan 7.9%, Germany 4.7% (2003) |
Independence | 15 August 1960 (from France) | 11 July 1921 (from China) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 4.1% (2002 est.) |
Industries | petroleum extraction, cement kilning, lumbering, brewing, sugar milling, palm oil, soap, flour, cigarette making | construction materials; mining (coal, copper, molybdenum, fluorspar, and gold); oil; food and beverages; processing of animal products |
Infant mortality rate | 99.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 55.45 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 58.97 deaths/1,000 live births female: 51.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.5% (2000 est.) | 1.5% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, BDEAC, CCC, CEEAC, CEMAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ARF, AsDB, CP, EBRD, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OPCW, OSCE (partner), SCO (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 10 sq km (1993 est.) | 840 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme | Supreme Court (serves as appeals court for people's and provincial courts but rarely overturns verdicts of lower courts; judges are nominated by the General Council of Courts and approved by the president) |
Labor force | NA | 1.4 million (2001) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | herding/agriculture 46%, manufacturing 6%, trade 10.3%, public sector 4.7%, other/unemployed 33% (2001) |
Land boundaries | total:
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 |
total: 8,220 km
border countries: China 4,677 km, Russia 3,543 km |
Land use | arable land:
0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 29% forests and woodland: 62% other: 9% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 0.77%
permanent crops: 0% other: 99.23% (2001) |
Languages | French (official), Lingala and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages), many local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo has the most users) | Khalkha Mongol 90%, Turkic, Russian (1999) |
Legal system | based on French civil law system and customary law | blend of Soviet, German, and US systems that combine "continental" or "civil" code and case-precedent; constitution ambiguous on judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Transitional Council (75 seats, members elected by reconciliation forum of 1,420 delegates on NA January 1998); note - the National Transitional Council replaced the bicameral Parliament
elections: National Transitional Council - last held NA January 1998 (next to be held NA 2001); note - at that election the National Transitional Council is to be replaced by a bicameral assembly election results: National Transitional Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA |
unicameral State Great Hural 76 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms
elections: last held 27 June 2004 (next to be held in June 2008) election results: percent of vote by party - MPRP 48.78%, MDC 44.8%, independents 3.5%, Republican Party 1.5%, others 1%; seats by party - MPRP 36, MDC 34, others 4; note - following the June 2004 election, two seats in dispute and unoccupied |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
47.57 years male: 44.38 years female: 50.85 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 64.17 years
male: 61.97 years female: 66.48 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 74.9% male: 83.1% female: 67.2% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.8% male: 98% female: 97.5% (2002) |
Location | Western Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola and Gabon | Northern Asia, between China and Russia |
Map references | Africa | Asia |
Maritime claims | territorial sea:
200 NM |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | - | total: 65 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 339,423 GRT/533,853 DWT
by type: bulk 4, cargo 53, chemical tanker 1, container 2, liquefied gas 2, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 1, specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: Belize 1, Cambodia 1, China 4, Cuba 1, Hong Kong 2, Indonesia 1, Japan 1, North Korea 1, Lebanon 1, Malaysia 1, Malta 1, Marshall Islands 5, Moldova 1, Panama 3, Romania 1, Russia 14, Singapore 13, Syria 4, Thailand 1, Turkey 1, Ukraine 1, United States 3, Vietnam 4 (2004 est.) |
Military branches | Army, Air Force, Navy, Gendarmerie | Mongolian People's Army (comprising Ground Forces, Air Defense Forces), Border Guards, Internal Security Forces, Construction Corps Forces, Civil Defense Authority |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $110 million (FY93) | $23.1 million (FY02) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 3.8% (FY93) | 2.2% (FY02) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
684,922 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 818,977 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
347,946 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 530,594 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 20 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
32,350 (2001 est.) |
males: 33,718 (2004 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 15 August (1960) | Independence Day/Revolution Day, 11 July (1921) |
Nationality | noun:
Congolese (singular and plural) adjective: Congolese or Congo |
noun: Mongolian(s)
adjective: Mongolian |
Natural hazards | seasonal flooding | dust storms, grassland and forest fires, drought, and "zud," which is harsh winter conditions |
Natural resources | petroleum, timber, potash, lead, zinc, uranium, copper, phosphates, natural gas, hydropower | oil, coal, copper, molybdenum, tungsten, phosphates, tin, nickel, zinc, fluorspar, gold, silver, iron |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 25 km | - |
Political parties and leaders | the most important of the many parties are the Democratic and Patriotic Forces or FDP (an alliance of Convention for Alternative Democracy, Congolese Labor Party or PCT, Liberal Republican Party, National Union for Democracy and Progress, Patriotic Union for the National Reconstruction, and Union for the National Renewal) [Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO, president]; Association for Democracy and Social Progress or RDPS [Jean-Pierre Thystere TCHICAYA, president]; Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development or MCDDI [Michel MAMPOUYA]; Pan-African Union for Social Development or UPADS [Martin MBERI]; Union of Democratic Forces or UFD [Sebastian EBAO] | Citizens' Will Republican Party or CWRP (also called Civil Courage Republican Party or CCRP) [Sanjaasurengiin OYUN]; Democratic Party or DP [R. GONCHIKDORJ]; Motherland-Mongolian New Socialist Democratic Party or M-MNSDP [B. ERDENEBAT]; Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party or MPRP [Nambaryn ENKHBAYAR]; Mongolian Republican Party or MRP [B. JARGALSAIKHAN]
note: DP and M-MNSDP formed Motherland-Democracy Coalition (MDC) in 2003 and with CWRP contested June 2004 elections as single party; MDC's leadership dissolved coalition in December 2004 |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Congolese Trade Union Congress or CSC; General Union of Congolese Pupils and Students or UGEEC; Revolutionary Union of Congolese Women or URFC; Union of Congolese Socialist Youth or UJSC | NA |
Population | 2,894,336
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.) |
2,751,314 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 33% (2003 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.2% (2001 est.) | 1.43% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Brazzaville, Impfondo, Ouesso, Oyo, Pointe-Noire | none |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 1 (1999) | AM 7, FM 9, shortwave 4 (2001) |
Radios | 341,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
894 km narrow gauge: 894 km 1.067-m gauge (2000) |
1,810 km
broad gauge: 1,810 km 1.524-m gauge (2004) |
Religions | Christian 50%, animist 48%, Muslim 2% | Buddhist Lamaist 50%, none 40%, Shamanist and Christian 6%, Muslim 4% (2004) |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
services barely adequate for government use; key exchanges are in Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, and Loubomo; intercity lines frequently out-of-order domestic: primary network consists of microwave radio relay and coaxial cable international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: very low density: about 3.5 telephones for each thousand persons
domestic: NA international: country code - 976; satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean Region) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 22,000 (1997) | 128,000 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 1,000 (1996) | 216,000 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (1999) | 9 (plus 18 provincial repeaters and many low power repeaters) (2004) |
Terrain | coastal plain, southern basin, central plateau, northern basin | vast semidesert and desert plains, grassy steppe, mountains in west and southwest; Gobi Desert in south-central |
Total fertility rate | 5 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.27 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 4.6% (2001) |
Waterways | 1,120 km
note: the Congo and Ubangi (Oubangui) rivers provide 1,120 km of commercially navigable water transport; other rivers are used for local traffic only |
580 km
note: only waterway in operation is Lake Khovsgol (135 km); Selenge River (270 km) and Orkhon River (175 km) are navigable but carry little traffic; lakes and rivers freeze in winter, are open from May to September (2004) |