Western Sahara (2005) | Congo, Democratic Republic of the (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | none (under de facto control of Morocco) | 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: NA
15-64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA |
0-14 years:
48.24% (male 12,988,488; female 12,878,232) 15-64 years: 49.21% (male 12,931,886; female 13,459,109) 65 years and over: 2.55% (male 575,113; female 791,890) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads) | coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber, tea, quinine, cassava (tapioca), palm oil, bananas, root crops, corn, fruits; wood products |
Airports | 11 (2004 est.) | 232 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
total:
24 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 15 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 8
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
total:
208 1,524 to 2,437 m: 20 914 to 1,523 m: 96 under 914 m: 92 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 266,000 sq km
land: 266,000 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total:
2,345,410 sq km land: 2,267,600 sq km water: 77,810 sq km |
Area - comparative | about the size of Colorado | slightly less than one-fourth the size of the US |
Background | Morocco virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976, and the rest of the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A guerrilla war with the Polisario Front contesting Rabat's sovereignty ended in a 1991 UN-brokered cease-fire; a UN-organized referendum on final status has been repeatedly postponed. | Since 1994 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 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, but sporadic fighting continued. KABILA was assassinated in January 2001 and his son Joseph KABILA was named head of state. The new president quickly began overtures to end the war. |
Birth rate | NA births/1,000 population | 46.02 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: NA
expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA |
revenues:
$269 million expenditures: $244 million, including capital expenditures of $24 million (1996 est.) |
Capital | none | Kinshasa |
Climate | hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew | 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 | 1,110 km | 37 km |
Constitution | - | 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 has not been ratified by a national referendum |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara former: Spanish Sahara |
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 | NA deaths/1,000 population | 15.15 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | NA | $13 billion (1998 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none | chief of mission:
Ambassador William Lacy SWING embassy: 310 Avenue des Aviateurs, Kinshasa mailing address: Unit 31550, APO AE 09828 telephone: [243] (12) 21804, 21807 FAX: [243] (88) 43805 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none | 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 | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, whose sovereignty remains unresolved - UN-administered cease-fire has remained in effect since September 1991, administered by the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), but attempts to hold a referendum have failed and parties thus far have rejected all brokered proposals | the 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; 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 | NA | $195.3 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | Western Sahara depends on pastoral nomadism, fishing, and phosphate mining as the principal sources of income for the population. The territory lacks sufficient rainfall for sustainable agricultural production, and most of the food for the urban population must be imported. All trade and other economic activities are controlled by the Moroccan Government. Moroccan energy interests in 2001 signed contracts to explore for oil off the coast of Western Sahara, which has angered the Polisario. Incomes and standards of living in Western Sahara are substantially below the Moroccan level. | The economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo - a nation endowed with vast potential wealth - has declined drastically since the mid-1980s. The new government instituted a tight fiscal policy that initially curbed inflation and currency depreciation, but these small gains were quickly reversed when the foreign-backed rebellion in the eastern part of the country began in August 1998. The war has dramatically reduced national output and government revenue and has increased external debt. Foreign businesses have curtailed operations due to uncertainty about the outcome of the conflict and because of increased government harassment and restrictions. The war has intensified the impact of such basic problems as an uncertain legal framework, corruption, raging inflation, and lack of openness in government economic policy and financial operations. A number of IMF and World Bank missions have met with the government to help it develop a coherent economic plan but associated reforms are on hold. |
Electricity - consumption | 83.7 million kWh (2002) | 4.55 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 404 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | 55 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 90 million kWh (2002) | 5.268 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
2.05% hydro: 97.95% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m
highest point: unnamed location 463 m |
lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Pic Marguerite on Mont Ngaliema (Mount Stanley) 5,110 m |
Environment - current issues | sparse water and lack of arable land | 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: none of the selected agreements
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected 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 |
Ethnic groups | Arab, Berber | 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 | Moroccan dirhams per US dollar - 8.868 (2004), 9.5744 (2003), 11.0206 (2002), 11.303 (2001), 10.6256 (2000) | Congolese francs per US dollar - 50 (January 2001), 4.5 (January 2000), 4.02 (1999), 1.61 (1998), 1.31 (1997), 0.50 (1996)
note: on 30 June 1998 the Congolese franc was introduced, replacing the new zaire |
Executive branch | none | chief of state:
Joseph KABILA (since 26 January 2001); note - the president succeeded his father Laurent Desire KABILA after his assassination on 16 January 2001; as president he is both chief of state and head of government head of government: Joseph KABILA (since 26 January 2001); note - the president succeeded his father Laurent Desire KABILA after his assassination on 16 January 2001; as president he is both chief of state and head of government cabinet: National Executive Council, appointed by the president elections: before Laurent Desire KABILA seized power, 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, the prime minister was elected by the High Council of the Republic; note - elections were not held in 1991 as called for by the constitution election results: results of the last election were: MOBUTU Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga reelected president in 1984 without opposition note: Marshal MOBUTU Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga was president from 24 November 1965 until forced into exile on 16 May 1997 when his government was overthrown militarily by Laurent Desire KABILA, who immediately assumed governing authority; KABILA pledged to hold elections by April 1999, but in December 1998 announced that elections would be postponed until all foreign military forces attempting to topple the government had withdrawn from the country; KABILA was assassinated in January 2001 and was succeeded by his son Joseph KABILA |
Exports | NA | $960 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | phosphates 62% | diamonds, copper, coffee, cobalt, crude oil |
Exports - partners | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts | Benelux 62%, US 18%, South Africa, Finland, Italy (1999) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | - | 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 - $31 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA
industry: NA services: 40% (1996 est.) |
agriculture:
58% industry: 17% services: 25% (1997 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - NA | purchasing power parity - $600 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | NA | -15% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 24 30 N, 13 00 W | 0 00 N, 25 00 E |
Geography - note | the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas | 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 |
Highways | total: 6,200 km
paved: 1,350 km unpaved: 4,850 km (1991 est) |
total:
157,000 km (including 30 km of expressways)(1996) paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | - | illicit producer of cannabis, mostly for domestic consumption |
Imports | NA | $660 million (c.i.f., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs | foodstuffs, mining and other machinery, transport equipment, fuels |
Imports - partners | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts | South Africa 28%, Benelux 14%, Nigeria 9%, Kenya 7%, China (1999) |
Independence | - | 30 June 1960 (from Belgium) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | NA% |
Industries | phosphate mining, handicrafts | mining (diamonds, copper, zinc), mineral processing, consumer products (including textiles, footwear, cigarettes, processed foods and beverages), cement |
Infant mortality rate | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
99.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA | 540% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | none | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEEAC, CEPGL, ECA, FAO, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 2 (2000) |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 100 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | - | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme |
Labor force | 12,000 | 14.51 million (1993 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | animal husbandry and subsistence farming 50% | agriculture 65%, industry 16%, services 19% (1991 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 2,046 km
border countries: Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km |
total:
10,744 km border 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, Tanzania 473 km, Uganda 765 km, Zambia 1,930 km |
Land use | arable land: 0.02%
permanent crops: 0% other: 99.98% (2001) |
arable land:
3% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 7% forests and woodland: 77% other: 13% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic | French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba |
Legal system | - | based on Belgian civil law system and tribal law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | - | a 300-member Transitional Constituent Assembly established in August 2000
elections: NA; members of the Transitional Constituent Assembly were appointed by former President KABILA |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: NA years
male: NA years female: NA years |
total population:
48.94 years male: 46.96 years female: 50.98 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
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.) |
Location | Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco | Central Africa, northeast of Angola |
Map references | Africa | Africa |
Maritime claims | contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue | exclusive economic zone:
boundaries with neighbors territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | none (2000 est.) |
Military branches | - | Army, Navy, Air Force, Special Presidential Security Group |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $250 million (FY97) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 4.6% (FY97) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
11,615,554 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
5,915,251 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | - | Independence Day, 30 June (1960) |
Nationality | noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawi, Sahrawian, Sahraouian |
noun:
Congolese (singular and plural) adjective: Congolese or Congo |
Natural hazards | hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility | periodic droughts in south; volcanic activity |
Natural resources | phosphates, iron ore | 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 | - | 0.14 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
note: one million refugees fled into Zaire (now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo or DROC) in 1994 to escape the fighting between the Hutus and the Tutsis; fighting in the DROC between rebels and government forces in October 1996 caused 875,000 refugees to return to Rwanda in late 1996 and early 1997; an additional 173,000 Rwandan refugees disappeared in early 1997 and are assumed to have been killed by Zairian forces; 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 displaced in DROC and caused 300,000 Congolese refugees to flee to surrounding countries |
Pipelines | - | petroleum products 390 km |
Political parties and leaders | - | Democratic Social Christian Party or PDSC [Andre BO-BOLIKO]; Popular Movement of the Revolution or MPR [leader NA]; 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 [Kouyoumba MUCHULI Mulembe] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | NA |
Population | 273,008 (July 2005 est.) | 53,624,718
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.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | NA% |
Population growth rate | NA | 3.1% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Ad Dakhla, Cabo Bojador, Laayoune (El Aaiun) | Banana, Boma, Bukavu, Bumba, Goma, Kalemie, Kindu, Kinshasa, Kisangani, Matadi, Mbandaka |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 3, FM 12, shortwave 1 (1999) |
Radios | - | 18.03 million (1997) |
Railways | - | total:
5,138 km (1995) note: severely reduced route-distance in use because of damage to facilities by civil strife narrow gauge: 3,987 km 1.067-m gauge (858 km electrified); 125 km 1.000-m gauge; 1,026 km 0.600-m gauge (2000) |
Religions | Muslim | Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%, Muslim 10%, other syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs 10% |
Sex ratio | NA | 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: 0.73 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | none; a UN-sponsored voter identification campaign not yet completed | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory |
Telephone system | general assessment: sparse and limited system
domestic: NA international: country code - 212; tied into Morocco's system by microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, and satellite; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) linked to Rabat, Morocco |
general assessment:
NA 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 | about 2,000 (1999 est.) | 21,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (1999) | 8,900 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | NA | 20 (1999) |
Terrain | mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast | vast central basin is a low-lying plateau; mountains in east |
Total fertility rate | NA children born/woman | 6.84 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA | NA% |
Waterways | - | 15,000 km (including the Congo and its tributaries, and unconnected lakes) |