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Compare Congo, Republic of the (2004) - Jamaica (2007)

Compare Congo, Republic of the (2004) z Jamaica (2007)

 Congo, Republic of the (2004)Jamaica (2007)
 Congo, Republic of theJamaica
Administrative divisions 10 regions (regions, singular - region) and 1 commune*; Bouenza, Brazzaville*, Cuvette, Cuvette-Ouest, Kouilou, Lekoumou, Likouala, Niari, Plateaux, Pool, Sangha 14 parishes; Clarendon, Hanover, Kingston, Manchester, Portland, Saint Andrew, Saint Ann, Saint Catherine, Saint Elizabeth, Saint James, Saint Mary, Saint Thomas, Trelawny, Westmoreland


note: for local government purposes, Kingston and Saint Andrew were amalgamated in 1923 into the present single corporate body known as the Kingston and Saint Andrew Corporation
Age structure 0-14 years: 37.9% (male 571,224; female 563,723)


15-64 years: 58.5% (male 865,596; female 888,125)


65 years and over: 3.6% (male 45,093; female 64,279) (2004 est.)
0-14 years: 32.5% (male 459,968/female 444,963)


15-64 years: 60.1% (male 822,486/female 848,310)


65 years and over: 7.4% (male 91,856/female 112,549) (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products cassava (tapioca), sugar, rice, corn, peanuts, vegetables, coffee, cocoa; forest products sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, ackees, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk; crustaceans, mollusks
Airports 32 (2003 est.) 34 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways total: 4


over 3,047 m: 1


1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 (2004 est.)
total: 11


2,438 to 3,047 m: 2


914 to 1,523 m: 4


under 914 m: 5 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways total: 28


1,524 to 2,437 m: 6


914 to 1,523 m: 11


under 914 m: 11 (2004 est.)
total: 23


914 to 1,523 m: 2


under 914 m: 21 (2007)
Area total: 342,000 sq km


land: 341,500 sq km


water: 500 sq km
total: 10,991 sq km


land: 10,831 sq km


water: 160 sq km
Area - comparative slightly smaller than Montana slightly smaller than Connecticut
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, but ushered in a period of ethnic unrest. Southern-based rebel groups agreed to a final peace accord in March 2003. The Republic of Congo is one of Africa's largest petroleum producers with significant potential for offshore development. The island - discovered by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1494 - was settled by the Spanish early in the 16th century. The native Taino Indians, who had inhabited Jamaica for centuries, were gradually exterminated, replaced by African slaves. England seized the island in 1655 and a plantation economy - based on sugar, cocoa, and coffee - was established. The abolition of slavery in 1834 freed a quarter million slaves, many of whom became small farmers. Jamaica gradually obtained increasing independence from Britain, and in 1958 it joined other British Caribbean colonies in forming the Federation of the West Indies. Jamaica gained full independence when it withdrew from the Federation in 1962. Deteriorating economic conditions during the 1970s led to recurrent violence as rival gangs affiliated with the major political parties evolved into powerful organized crime networks involved in international drug smuggling and money laundering. The cycle of violence, drugs, and poverty has served to impoverish large sectors of the populace. Nonetheless, many rural and resort areas remain relatively safe and contribute substantially to the economy.
Birth rate 28.66 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) 20.44 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget revenues: $1.025 billion


expenditures: $946.8 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.)
revenues: $3.214 billion


expenditures: $3.772 billion (2006 est.)
Capital Brazzaville name: Kingston


geographic coordinates: 18 00 N, 76 48 W


time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Climate tropical; rainy season (March to June); dry season (June to October); constantly high temperatures and humidity; particularly enervating climate astride the Equator tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior
Coastline 169 km 1,022 km
Constitution constitution approved by referendum 20 January 2002 6 August 1962
Country name conventional long form: Republic of the Congo


conventional short form: Congo (Brazzaville)


local long form: Republique du Congo


local short form: none


former: Middle Congo, Congo/Brazzaville, Congo
conventional long form: none


conventional short form: Jamaica
Currency Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF); note - responsible authority is the Bank of the Central African States -
Death rate 14.49 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) 6.59 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external $5 billion (2000 est.) $6.926 billion (2006 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US chief of mission: Ambassador Robin R. SANDERS


embassy: NA


mailing address: NA


telephone: [243] (88) 43608


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 Brenda LaGrange JOHNSON


embassy: 142 Old Hope Road, Kingston 6


mailing address: P.O. Box 541, Kingston 5


telephone: [1] (876) 702-6000


FAX: [1] (876) 702-6348
Diplomatic representation in the US chief of mission: Ambassador Serge MOMBOULI


chancery: 4891 Colorado Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20011


telephone: [1] (202) 726-5500


FAX: [1] (202) 726-1860
chief of mission: Ambassador Gordon SHIRLEY


chancery: 1520 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036


telephone: [1] (202) 452-0660


FAX: [1] (202) 452-0081


consulate(s) general: Miami, New York
Disputes - international 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 none
Economic aid - recipient $159.1 million (1995) $35.74 million (2005)
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. The government has mortgaged a substantial portion of its oil earnings, contributing to a 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's budget deficit. The current administration presides over an uneasy internal peace and faces difficult economic problems of stimulating recovery and reducing poverty. The Jamaican economy is heavily dependent on services, which now account for more than 60% of GDP. The country continues to derive most of its foreign exchange from tourism, remittances, and bauxite/alumina. Jamaica's economy, already saddled with a record of sluggish growth, was hit hard by Hurricane Ivan in late 2004, but has made a gradual recovery. The economy faces serious long-term problems: high but declining interest rates, increased foreign competition, exchange rate instability, a sizable merchandise trade deficit, large-scale unemployment and underemployment, and a high debt burden - the result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy, most notably the financial sector in the mid-to-late 1990s. Following a strategy begun in 2004, Jamaica has reduced its public debt to 133.3% of GDP. Inflation also had declined to 5.8% at the end of 2006. High unemployment exacerbates the serious crime problem, including gang violence fueled by the drug trade. The government faces the difficult prospect of having to achieve fiscal discipline in order to maintain debt payments while simultaneously attacking a serious and growing crime problem that is hampering economic growth.
Electricity - consumption 633 million kWh (2001) 6.131 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports 0 kWh (2001) 0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports 300 million kWh (2001) 0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - production 358.1 million kWh (2001) 6.985 billion kWh (2005)
Elevation extremes lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m


highest point: Mount Berongou 903 m
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m


highest point: Blue Mountain Peak 2,256 m
Environment - current issues air pollution from vehicle emissions; water pollution from the dumping of raw sewage; tap water is not potable; deforestation heavy rates of deforestation; coastal waters polluted by industrial waste, sewage, and oil spills; damage to coral reefs; air pollution in Kingston results from vehicle emissions
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, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands


signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups Kongo 48%, Sangha 20%, M'Bochi 12%, Teke 17%, Europeans and other 3%


note: Europeans estimated at 8,500, mostly French, before the 1997 civil war; may be half that in 1998, following the widespread destruction of foreign businesses in 1997
black 91.2%, mixed 6.2%, other or unknown 2.6% (2001 census)
Exchange rates Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XAF) per US dollar - 581.2 (2003), 696.988 (2002), 733.039 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.7 (1999) Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 65.768 (2006), 62.51 (2005), 61.197 (2004), 57.741 (2003), 48.416 (2002)
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 seven-year term (eligible for a second seven-year term); election last held 10 March 2002 (next to be held NA 2009)


election results: Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO reelected president; percent of vote - Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO 89.4%, Joseph Kignoumbi Kia MBOUNGOU 2.7%
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Kenneth O. HALL (since 15 February 2006)


head of government: Prime Minister Bruce GOLDING (since 11 September 2007)


cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister


elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition in the House of Representatives is appointed prime minister by the governor general; the deputy prime minister is recommended by the prime minister
Exports NA (2001) NA bbl/day
Exports - commodities petroleum, lumber, plywood, sugar, cocoa, coffee, diamonds alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels
Exports - partners China 28.6%, Taiwan 19.3%, US 16%, South Korea 12.9% (2003) US 30.2%, Canada 15.6%, China 15.2%, UK 10.3%, Netherlands 7%, Norway 4.6% (2006)
Fiscal year calendar year 1 April - 31 March
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 diagonal yellow cross divides the flag into four triangles - green (top and bottom) and black (hoist side and outer side)
GDP purchasing power parity - $2.148 billion (2003 est.) -
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 6.9%


industry: 53.9%


services: 39.2% (2003 est.)
agriculture: 5.4%


industry: 33.8%


services: 60.8% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $700 (2003 est.) -
GDP - real growth rate 1.3% (2003 est.) 2.5% (2006 est.)
Geographic coordinates 1 00 S, 15 00 E 18 15 N, 77 30 W
Geography - note about 70% of the population lives in Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, or along the railroad between them strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel, the main sea lanes for the Panama Canal
Highways total: 12,800 km


paved: 1,242 km


unpaved: 11,558 km (1999 est.)
-
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%: NA


highest 10%: NA
lowest 10%: 2.1%


highest 10%: 35.8% (2004)
Illicit drugs - transshipment point for cocaine from South America to North America and Europe; illicit cultivation and consumption of cannabis; government has an active manual cannabis eradication program; corruption is a major concern; substantial money-laundering activity; Colombian narcotics traffickers favor Jamaica for illicit financial transactions
Imports NA (2001) NA bbl/day
Imports - commodities capital equipment, construction materials, foodstuffs food and other consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts and accessories of capital goods, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials
Imports - partners France 22.2%, US 6.8%, Italy 6.2%, China 5.1%, Belgium 4.6%, India 4.4% (2003) US 39.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.6%, Venezuela 9.5% (2006)
Independence 15 August 1960 (from France) 6 August 1962 (from UK)
Industrial production growth rate 0% (2002 est.) -2% (2000 est.)
Industries petroleum extraction, cement, lumber, brewing, sugar, palm oil, soap, flour, cigarettes tourism, bauxite/alumina, agro processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunications
Infant mortality rate total: 93.86 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 99.95 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 87.59 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
total: 15.73 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 16.4 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 15.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2.4% (2003 est.) 8.6% (2006 est.)
International organization participation ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, BDEAC, CEMAC, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOCI, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-15, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Irrigated land 10 sq km (1998 est.) 250 sq km (2002)
Judicial branch Supreme Court or Cour Supreme Supreme Court (judges appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister); Court of Appeal
Labor force NA (2000 est.) 1.249 million (2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation - agriculture: 18.1%


industry: 17.3%


services: 64.6% (2004)
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
0 km
Land use arable land: 0.51%


permanent crops: 0.13%


other: 99.36% (2001)
arable land: 15.83%


permanent crops: 10.01%


other: 74.16% (2005)
Languages French (official), Lingala and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages), many local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo is the most widespread) English, English patois
Legal system based on French civil law system and customary law based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (66 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and the National Assembly (137 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)


elections: Senate - last held 11 July 2002 (next to be held NA July 2007); National Assembly - last held 27 May and 26 June 2002 (next to be held by NA May 2007)


election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - FDP 56, other 10; National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - FDP 83, UDR 6, UPADS 3, other 45
bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (a 21-member body appointed by the governor general on the recommendations of the prime minister and the leader of the opposition; ruling party is allocated 13 seats, and the opposition is allocated 8 seats) and the House of Representatives (60 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)


elections: last held 3 September 2007 (next to be held no later than October 2012)


election results: percent of vote by party - JLP 50.1%, PNP 49.8%; seats by party - JLP 33, PNP 27
Life expectancy at birth total population: 49.51 years


male: 48.51 years


female: 50.55 years (2004 est.)
total population: 73.12 years


male: 71.43 years


female: 74.9 years (2007 est.)
Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 83.8%


male: 89.6%


female: 78.4% (2003 est.)
definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school


total population: 87.9%


male: 84.1%


female: 91.6% (2003 est.)
Location Western Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola and Gabon Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba
Map references Africa Central America and the Caribbean
Maritime claims territorial sea: 200 nm measured from claimed archipelagic straight baselines


territorial sea: 12 nm


contiguous zone: 24 nm


exclusive economic zone: 200 nm


continental shelf: 200 nm or to edge of the continental margin
Merchant marine - total: 13 ships (1000 GRT or over) 161,700 GRT/241,663 DWT


by type: bulk carrier 6, cargo 2, carrier 1, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 3


foreign-owned: 12 (Denmark 1, Germany 1, Greece 8, Latvia 2)


registered in other countries: 1 (Panama 1) (2007)
Military branches Congolese Armed Forces (FAC): Army, Air Force, Navy Jamaica Defense Force: Ground Forces, Coast Guard, Air Wing (2007)
Military expenditures - dollar figure $68.6 million (2003) -
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 2.8% (2003) 0.6% (2006 est.)
Military manpower - availability males age 15-49: 773,790 (2004 est.) -
Military manpower - fit for military service males age 15-49: 390,884 (2004 est.) -
Military manpower - reaching military age annually males: 31,964 (2004 est.) -
National holiday Independence Day, 15 August (1960) Independence Day, 6 August (1962)
Nationality noun: Congolese (singular and plural)


adjective: Congolese or Congo
noun: Jamaican(s)


adjective: Jamaican
Natural hazards seasonal flooding hurricanes (especially July to November)
Natural resources petroleum, timber, potash, lead, zinc, uranium, copper, phosphates, natural gas, hydropower bauxite, gypsum, limestone
Net migration rate 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) -6.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Pipelines gas 53 km; oil 646 km (2004) -
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]; Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development or MCDDI [Michel MAMPOUYA]; Pan-African Union for Social Development or UPADS [Martin MBERI]; Rally for Democracy and Social Progress or RDPS [Jean-Pierre Thystere TCHICAYA, president]; Rally for Democracy and the Republic or RDR [Raymond Damasge NGOLLO]; Union for Democracy and Republic or UDR [leader NA]; Union of Democratic Forces or UFD [Sebastian EBAO] Jamaica Labor Party or JLP [Bruce GOLDING]; People's National Party or PNP [Portia SIMPSON-MILLER]; National Democratic Movement or NDM [Michael WILLIAMS]
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 New Beginnings Movement or NBM; Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists)
Population 2,998,040


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 2004 est.)
2,780,132 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line NA 14.8% (2003 est.)
Population growth rate 1.42% (2004 est.) 0.777% (2007 est.)
Ports and harbors Brazzaville, Impfondo, Ouesso, Oyo, Pointe-Noire -
Radio broadcast stations AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 3 (2001) AM 10, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998)
Railways total: 894 km


narrow gauge: 894 km 1.067-m gauge (2003)
-
Religions Christian 50%, animist 48%, Muslim 2% Protestant 62.5% (Seventh-Day Adventist 10.8%, Pentecostal 9.5%, Other Church of God 8.3%, Baptist 7.2%, New Testament Church of God 6.3%, Church of God in Jamaica 4.8%, Church of God of Prophecy 4.3%, Anglican 3.6%, other Christian 7.7%), Roman Catholic 2.6%, other or unspecified 14.2%, none 20.9%, (2001 census)
Sex ratio at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female


total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2004 est.)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.034 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.816 male(s)/female


total population: 0.978 male(s)/female (2007 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: country code - 242; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
general assessment: fully automatic domestic telephone network


domestic: the 1999 agreement to open the market for telecommunications services resulted in rapid growth in mobile-cellular telephone usage; mobile-cellular teledensity now exceeds 100 per 100 persons; the number of fixed-lines in use has been declining


international: country code - 1-876; the Fibralink submarine cable network provides enhanced delivery of business and broadband traffic and is linked to the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) submarine cable in the Dominican Republic; the link to ARCOS-1 provides seamless connectivity to US, parts of the Caribbean, Central America, and South America; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Telephones - main lines in use 7,000 (2003) 319,000 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular 330,000 (2003) 2.804 million (2005)
Television broadcast stations 1 (2002) 7 (1997)
Terrain coastal plain, southern basin, central plateau, northern basin mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain
Total fertility rate 3.54 children born/woman (2004 est.) 2.36 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate NA (2003) 11.3% (2006 est.)
Waterways 4,385 km (on Congo and Oubanqui rivers) (2004) -
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