Uganda (2006) | Congo, Democratic Republic of the (2003) | |
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Administrative divisions | 56 districts; Adjumani, Apac, Arua, Bugiri, Bundibugyo, Bushenyi, Busia, Gulu, Hoima, Iganga, Jinja, Kabale, Kabarole, Kaberamaido, Kalangala, Kampala, Kamuli, Kamwenge, Kanungu, Kapchorwa, Kasese, Katakwi, Kayunga, Kibale, Kiboga, Kisoro, Kitgum, Kotido, Kumi, Kyenjojo, Lira, Luwero, Masaka, Masindi, Mayuge, Mbale, Mbarara, Moroto, Moyo, Mpigi, Mubende, Mukono, Nakapiripirit, Nakasongola, Nebbi, Ntungamo, Pader, Pallisa, Rakai, Rukungiri, Sembabule, Sironko, Soroti, Tororo, Wakiso, Yumbe
note: as of a July 2005, 13 new districts were reportedly added bringing the total up to 69; the new districts are Amolatar, Amuria, Budaka, Butaleja, Ibanda, Kaabong, Kabingo, Kaliro, Kiruhura, Koboko, Manafwa, Mityana, Nakaseke; a total of nine more districts are in the process of being added |
10 provinces (provinces, singular - province) and one city* (ville); Bandundu, Bas-Congo, Equateur, Kasai-Occidental, Kasai-Oriental, Katanga, Kinshasa*, Maniema, Nord-Kivu, Orientale, Sud-Kivu |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 50% (male 7,091,763/female 6,996,385)
15-64 years: 47.8% (male 6,762,071/female 6,727,230) 65 years and over: 2.2% (male 266,931/female 351,374) (2006 est.) |
0-14 years: 48.3% (male 13,734,706; female 13,624,579)
15-64 years: 49.2% (male 13,648,155; female 14,203,077) 65 years and over: 2.5% (male 583,366; female 831,156) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, cassava (tapioca), potatoes, corn, millet, pulses, cut flowers; beef, goat meat, milk, poultry | coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber, tea, quinine, cassava (tapioca), palm oil, bananas, root crops, corn, fruits; wood products |
Airports | 31 (2006) | 229 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 5
over 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2006) |
total: 24
over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 16 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 26
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 8 (2006) |
total: 205
1,524 to 2,437 m: 19 914 to 1,523 m: 95 under 914 m: 91 (2002) |
Area | total: 236,040 sq km
land: 199,710 sq km water: 36,330 sq km |
total: 2,345,410 sq km
land: 2,267,600 sq km water: 77,810 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Oregon | slightly less than one-fourth the size of the US |
Background | The colonial boundaries created by Britain to delimit Uganda grouped together a wide range of ethnic groups with different political systems and cultures. These differences prevented the establishment of a working political community after independence was achieved in 1962. The dictatorial regime of Idi AMIN (1971-79) was responsible for the deaths of some 300,000 opponents; guerrilla war and human rights abuses under Milton OBOTE (1980-85) claimed at least another 100,000 lives. The rule of Yoweri MUSEVENI since 1986 has brought relative stability and economic growth to Uganda. During the 1990s, the government promulgated non-party presidential and legislative elections. | Since 1997, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DROC; formerly called Zaire) has been rent by ethnic strife and civil war, touched off by a massive inflow in 1994 of refugees from the fighting in Rwanda and Burundi. The government of former president MOBUTU Sese Seko was toppled by a rebellion led by Laurent KABILA in May 1997; his regime was subsequently challenged by a Rwanda- and Uganda-backed rebellion in August 1998. Troops from Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Chad, and Sudan intervened to support the Kinshasa regime. A cease-fire was signed on 10 July 1999 by the DROC, Zimbabwe, Angola, Uganda, Namibia, Rwanda, and Congolese armed rebel groups, but sporadic fighting continued. KABILA was assassinated on 16 January 2001 and his son Joseph KABILA was named head of state ten days later. In October 2002, the new president was successful in getting occupying Rwandan forces to withdraw from eastern Congo; two months later, an agreement was signed by all remaining warring parties to end the fighting and set up a government of national unity. |
Birth rate | 47.35 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) | 45.12 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $1.845 billion
expenditures: $1.904 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.) |
revenues: $269 million
expenditures: $244 million, including capital expenditures of $24 million (1996 est.) |
Capital | name: Kampala
geographic coordinates: 0 19 N, 32 25 E time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Kinshasa |
Climate | tropical; generally rainy with two dry seasons (December to February, June to August); semiarid in northeast | 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 |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 37 km |
Constitution | 8 October 1995; in 2005 the constitution was amended removing presidential term limits and legalizing a multiparty political system | 24 June 1967, amended August 1974, revised 15 February 1978, amended April 1990; transitional constitution promulgated in April 1994; in November 1998, a draft constitution was approved by former President Laurent KABILA but it was not ratified by a national referendum; one outcome of the ongoing inter-Congolese dialogue is to be a new constitution |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Uganda
conventional short form: Uganda |
conventional long form: Democratic Republic of the Congo
conventional short form: none local long form: Republique Democratique du Congo local short form: none former: Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Congo/Leopoldville, Congo/Kinshasa, Zaire abbreviation: DROC |
Currency | - | Congolese franc (CDF) |
Death rate | 12.24 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) | 14.87 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | $4.973 billion (2005 est.) | $12.9 billion (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires William FITZGERALD
embassy: 1577 Ggaba Rd., Kampala mailing address: P. O. Box 7007, Kampala telephone: [256] (41) 234-142 FAX: [256] (41) 258-451 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Aubrey HOOKS
embassy: 310 Avenue des Aviateurs, Kinshasa mailing address: Unit 31550, APO AE 09828 telephone: [243] (88) 43608 FAX: [243] (88) 43467 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Edith G. SSEMPALA
chancery: 5911 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20011 telephone: [1] (202) 726-7100 through 7102, 0416 FAX: [1] (202) 726-1727 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Faida MITIFU
chancery: 1800 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 234-7690, 7691 FAX: [1] (202) 234-2609 |
Disputes - international | Uganda is subject to armed fighting among hostile ethnic groups, rebels, armed gangs, militias, and various government forces; Ugandan refugees have fled the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) into the southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; LRA forces have attacked Kenyan villages across the border | Democratic Republic of the Congo is in the grip of a civil war that has drawn in military forces from neighboring states, with Uganda and Rwanda supporting the rebel movements that occupy much of the eastern portion of the state - Tutsi, Hutu, Lendu, Hema and other conflicting ethnic groups, political rebels, and various government forces continue fighting in Great Lakes region, transcending the boundaries of Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda - heads of the Great Lakes states pledge to end conflict, but localized violence continues despite UN peacekeeping efforts; most of the Congo River boundary with the Republic of the Congo is indefinite (no agreement has been reached on the division of the river or its islands, except in the Pool Malebo/Stanley Pool area) |
Economic aid - recipient | $959 million (2003) | $195.3 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, employing over 80% of the work force. Coffee accounts for the bulk of export revenues. Since 1986, the government - with the support of foreign countries and international agencies - has acted to rehabilitate and stabilize the economy by undertaking currency reform, raising producer prices on export crops, increasing prices of petroleum products, and improving civil service wages. The policy changes are especially aimed at dampening inflation and boosting production and export earnings. During 1990-2001, the economy turned in a solid performance based on continued investment in the rehabilitation of infrastructure, improved incentives for production and exports, reduced inflation, gradually improved domestic security, and the return of exiled Indian-Ugandan entrepreneurs. In 2000, Uganda qualified for enhanced Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt relief worth $1.3 billion and Paris Club debt relief worth $145 million. These amounts combined with the original HIPC debt relief added up to about $2 billion. Growth for 2001-02 was solid despite continued decline in the price of coffee, Uganda's principal export. Growth in 2003-05 reflected an upturn in Uganda's export markets. | The economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo - a nation endowed with vast potential wealth - has declined drastically since the mid-1980s. The war, which began in August 1998, has dramatically reduced national output and government revenue, has increased external debt, and has resulted in the deaths from war, famine, and disease of perhaps 3.5 million people. Foreign businesses have curtailed operations due to uncertainty about the outcome of the conflict, lack of infrastructure, and the difficult operating environment. The war has intensified the impact of such basic problems as an uncertain legal framework, corruption, inflation, and lack of openness in government economic policy and financial operations. Conditions improved in late 2002 with the withdrawal of a large portion of the invading foreign troops. A number of IMF and World Bank missions have met with the government to help it develop a coherent economic plan, and President KABILA has begun implementing reforms. Much economic activity lies outside the GDP data. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.448 billion kWh (2003) | 3.839 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 160 million kWh (2003) | 1.097 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2003) | 60 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 1.729 billion kWh (2003) | 5.243 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 1.8%
hydro: 98.2% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Lake Albert 621 m
highest point: Margherita Peak on Mount Stanley 5,110 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pic Marguerite on Mont Ngaliema (Mount Stanley) 5,110 m |
Environment - current issues | draining of wetlands for agricultural use; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria; poaching is widespread | poaching threatens wildlife populations; water pollution; deforestation; refugees responsible for significant deforestation, soil erosion, and wildlife poaching; mining of minerals (coltan - a mineral used in creating capacitors, diamonds, and gold) causing environmental damage |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification |
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 |
Ethnic groups | Baganda 17%, Ankole 8%, Basoga 8%, Iteso 8%, Bakiga 7%, Langi 6%, Rwanda 6%, Bagisu 5%, Acholi 4%, Lugbara 4%, Batoro 3%, Bunyoro 3%, Alur 2%, Bagwere 2%, Bakonjo 2%, Jopodhola 2%, Karamojong 2%, Rundi 2%, non-African (European, Asian, Arab) 1%, other 8% | 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 |
Exchange rates | Ugandan shillings per US dollar - 1,780.7 (2005), 1,810.3 (2004), 1,963.7 (2003), 1,797.6 (2002), 1,755.7 (2001) | Congolese francs per US dollar - 346.49 (2002), 206.62 (2001), 21.82 (2000), 4.02 (1999), 1.61 (1998) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since seizing power 26 January 1986); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since seizing power 29 January 1986); Prime Minister Apollo NSIBAMBI (since 5 April 1999); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government; the prime minister assists the president in the supervision of the cabinet cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from among elected legislators elections: president reelected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 23 February 2006 (next to be held in 2011) election results: Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI elected president; percent of vote - Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI 59.3%, Kizza BESIGYE 37.4%, other 3.3% |
chief of state: President Joseph KABILA (since 26 January 2001); note - following the assassination of his father, Laurent Desire KABILA, on 16 January 2001, Joseph KABILA succeeded to the presidency; the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Joseph KABILA (since 26 January 2001); note - following the assassination of his father, Laurent Desire KABILA, on 16 January 2001, Joseph KABILA succeeded to the presidency; the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: National Executive Council, appointed by the president elections: prior to the overthrow of MOBUTU Sese Seko, the president was elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; election last held 29 July 1984 (next was scheduled to be held in May 1997); formerly, there was also a prime minister who was elected by the High Council of the Republic; note - a Transitional Government is drafting a new constitution with free elections scheduled to be held in NA 2005 election results: results of the last election were: MOBUTU Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga reelected president in 1984 without opposition note: Joseph KABILA succeeded his father, Laurent Desire KABILA, following the latter's assassination in January 2001, negotiations with rebel leaders led to the establishment of a Transitional Government in July 2003 with free elections scheduled to be held in NA 2005 |
Exports | NA bbl/day | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | coffee, fish and fish products, tea, cotton, flowers, horticultural products; gold | diamonds, copper, crude oil, coffee, cobalt |
Exports - partners | Kenya 15.1%, Belgium 9.9%, Netherlands 9.7%, France 7.1%, Germany 5.1%, Rwanda 4% (2005) | Belgium 64.4%, US 13.4%, Zimbabwe 6.7%, Finland 4.9% (2002) |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | calendar year |
Flag description | six equal horizontal bands of black (top), yellow, red, black, yellow, and red; a white disk is superimposed at the center and depicts a red-crested crane (the national symbol) facing the hoist side | light blue with a large yellow five-pointed star in the center and a columnar arrangement of six small yellow five-pointed stars along the hoist side |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $34 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 31.1%
industry: 22.2% services: 46.9% (2004 est.) |
agriculture: 55%
industry: 11% services: 34% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $600 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4% (2005 est.) | 3.5% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 1 00 N, 32 00 E | 0 00 N, 25 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; fertile, well-watered country with many lakes and rivers | straddles equator; has 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 |
Heliports | - | 1 (2002) |
Highways | - | total: 157,000 km (including 30 km of expressways)
paved: NA km unpaved: NA km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 4%
highest 10%: 21% (2000) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | - | illicit producer of cannabis, mostly for domestic consumption; while rampant corruption and inadequate supervision leaves the banking system vulnerable to money laundering, the lack of a well-developed financial system limits the country's utility as a money-laundering center |
Imports | NA bbl/day | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | capital equipment, vehicles, petroleum, medical supplies; cereals | foodstuffs, mining and other machinery, transport equipment, fuels |
Imports - partners | Kenya 32%, UAE 8.6%, South Africa 6.4%, India 5.7%, China 5.2%, UK 4.4%, US 4.1%, Japan 4% (2005) | Belgium 14.6%, South Africa 14.2%, Nigeria 10.3%, France 9.5%, Germany 7.3%, Netherlands 5.3%, Kenya 5.2% (2002) |
Independence | 9 October 1962 (from UK) | 30 June 1960 (from Belgium) |
Industrial production growth rate | 9% (2005 est.) | NA% |
Industries | sugar, brewing, tobacco, cotton textiles; cement, steel production | mining (diamonds, copper, zinc), mineral processing, consumer products (including textiles, footwear, cigarettes, processed foods and beverages), cement |
Infant mortality rate | total: 66.15 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 69.51 deaths/1,000 live births female: 62.69 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
total: 96.56 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 105.15 deaths/1,000 live births female: 87.71 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 8.1% (2005 est.) | 16% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, EADB, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIS, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CEEAC, CEPGL, ECA, FAO, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW (signatory), PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2001) |
Irrigated land | 90 sq km (2003) | 110 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeal (judges are appointed by the president and approved by the legislature); High Court (judges are appointed by the president) | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme |
Labor force | 13.17 million (2005 est.) | 14.51 million (1993 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 82%
industry: 5% services: 13% (1999 est.) |
NA |
Land boundaries | total: 2,698 km
border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 765 km, Kenya 933 km, Rwanda 169 km, Sudan 435 km, Tanzania 396 km |
total: 10,730 km
border countries: Angola 2,511 km (of which 225 km is the boundary of Angola's discontiguous Cabinda Province), Burundi 233 km, Central African Republic 1,577 km, Republic of the Congo 2,410 km, Rwanda 217 km, Sudan 628 km, Tanzania 459 km, Uganda 765 km, Zambia 1,930 km |
Land use | arable land: 21.57%
permanent crops: 8.92% other: 69.51% (2005) |
arable land: 2.96%
permanent crops: 0.52% other: 96.52% (1998 est.) |
Languages | English (official national language, taught in grade schools, used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio broadcasts), Ganda or Luganda (most widely used of the Niger-Congo languages, preferred for native language publications in the capital and may be taught in school), other Niger-Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan languages, Swahili, Arabic | French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba |
Legal system | in 1995, the government restored the legal system to one based on English common law and customary law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | based on Belgian civil law system and tribal law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly (303 members - 214 directly elected by popular vote, 81 nominated by legally established special interest groups [women 56, army 10, disabled 5, youth 5, labor 5], 8 ex officio members; members serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 23 February 2006 (next to be held in 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; note - election results had not been posted as of March 2006 |
a 300-member Transitional Constituent Assembly established in August 2000
elections: NA; members of the Transitional Constituent Assembly were appointed by former President Laurent Desire KABILA |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 52.67 years
male: 51.68 years female: 53.69 years (2006 est.) |
total population: 48.93 years
male: 46.83 years female: 51.09 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 69.9% male: 79.5% female: 60.4% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write French, Lingala, Kingwana, or Tshiluba
total population: 65.5% male: 76.2% female: 55.1% (2003 est.) |
Location | Eastern Africa, west of Kenya | Central Africa, northeast of Angola |
Map references | Africa | Africa |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | exclusive economic zone: boundaries with neighbors
territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | none (2002 est.) |
Military branches | Ugandan Peoples' Defense Force (UPDF): Army, Marine Unit, Air Wing | Army, Navy, Air Force, Special Security Battalion |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $192.8 million (2005 est.) | $250 million (FY97) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.2% (2005 est.) | 4.6% (FY97) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 12,292,933 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 6,267,752 (2003 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 9 October (1962) | Independence Day, 30 June (1960) |
Nationality | noun: Ugandan(s)
adjective: Ugandan |
noun: Congolese (singular and plural)
adjective: Congolese or Congo |
Natural hazards | NA | periodic droughts in south; Congo River floods (seasonal); in the east, in the Great Rift Valley, there are active volcanoes |
Natural resources | copper, cobalt, hydropower, limestone, salt, arable land | cobalt, copper, cadmium, petroleum, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, germanium, uranium, radium, bauxite, iron ore, coal, hydropower, timber |
Net migration rate | -1.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) | -1.26 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: fighting between the Congolese Government and Uganda- and Rwanda-backed Congolese rebels spawned a regional war in DROC in August 1998, which left 1.8 million Congolese internally displaced and caused 300,000 Congolese refugees to flee to surrounding countries (2003 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 54 km; oil 71 km (2003) |
Political parties and leaders | Conservative Party or CP [Ken LUKYAMUZI]; Democratic Party or DP [Kizito SSEBAANA]; Forum for Democratic Change or FDC [Kizza BESIGYE]; Justice Forum or JEEMA [Muhammad Kibirige MAYANJA]; National Democrats Forum [Chapaa KARUHANGA]; National Resistance Movement or NRM [Yoweri MUSEVENI]; Ugandan People's Congress or UPC [Miria OBOTE]
note: a national referendum in July 2005 opened the way for Uganda's transition to a multi-party political system |
Democratic Social Christian Party or PDSC [Andre BO-BOLIKO]; Forces for Renovation for Union and Solidarity or FONUS [Joseph OLENGHANKOY]; National Congolese Lumumbist Movement or MNC [Francois LUMUMBA]; Popular Movement of the Revolution or MPR (three factions: MPR-Fait Prive [Catherine NZUZI wa Mbombo]; MPR/Vunduawe [Felix VUNDUAWE]; MPR/Mananga [MANANGA Dintoka Mpholo]); Unified Lumumbast Party or PALU [Antoine GIZENGA]; Union for Democracy and Social Progress or UDPS [Etienne TSHISEKEDI wa Mulumba]; Union of Federalists and Independent Republicans or UFERI (two factions: UFERI [Lokambo OMOKOKO]; UFERI/OR [Adolph Kishwe MAYA]) |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Popular Resistance Against a Life President or PRALP | NA |
Population | 28,195,754
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 2006 est.) |
56,625,039
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 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 35% (2001 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 3.37% (2006 est.) | 2.9% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Banana, Boma, Bukavu, Bumba, Goma, Kalemie, Kindu, Kinshasa, Kisangani, Matadi, Mbandaka |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 7, FM 33, shortwave 2 (2001) | AM 3, FM 11, shortwave 2 (2001) |
Railways | total: 1,244 km
narrow gauge: 1,244 km 1.000-m gauge (2005) |
total: 4,772 km
narrow gauge: 3,621 km 1.067-m gauge (858 km electrified); 125 km 1.000-m gauge; 1,026 km 0.600-m gauge (2002) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 33%, Protestant 33%, Muslim 16%, indigenous beliefs 18% | Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%, Muslim 10%, other syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs 10% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
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: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory |
Telephone system | general assessment: seriously inadequate; two cellular systems have been introduced, but a sharp increase in the number of main lines is essential; e-mail and Internet services are available
domestic: intercity traffic by wire, microwave radio relay, and radiotelephone communication stations, fixed and mobile cellular systems for short-range traffic international: country code - 256; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat; analog links to Kenya and Tanzania |
general assessment: poor
domestic: barely adequate wire and microwave radio relay service in and between urban areas; domestic satellite system with 14 earth stations international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 100,800 (2005) | 20,000 (2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 1.525 million (2005) | 15,000 (2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 8 (plus one low-power repeater) (2001) | 4 (2001) |
Terrain | mostly plateau with rim of mountains | vast central basin is a low-lying plateau; mountains in east |
Total fertility rate | 6.71 children born/woman (2006 est.) | 6.69 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | NA% |
Waterways | on Lake Victoria, 200 km on Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, and parts of Albert Nile (2005) | 15,000 km (including the Congo and its tributaries, and unconnected lakes) |