Current Environmental Issues: 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

Geography

Source: CIA

Location: Central Africa, northeast of Angola

Geographic Coordinates: 0 00 N, 25 00 E

Area:

total: 2,345,410 sq km
land: 2,267,600 sq km
water: 77,810 sq km

Land Boundaries:

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

Coastline: 37 km

Maritime Claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: boundaries with neighbors

Natural Hazards: periodic droughts in south; Congo River floods (seasonal); in the east, in the Great Rift Valley, there are active volcanoes

Terrain

Vast central basin is a low-lying plateau; mountains in east

Elevation Extremes:

lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pic Marguerite on Mont Ngaliema (Mount Stanley) 5,110 m

Climate

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)

Government

Government Type: Republic

Capital: Kinshasa

Independence Date: 30 June 1960 (from Belgium)

Legal System: a new constitution was adopted by referendum 18 December 2005; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

International Agreement

Environmental-international Agreement:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification

People and Society

Population: 66,514,506

Age Structure:

0-14 years: 47.1% (male 15,711,817/female 15,594,449)
15-64 years: 50.4% (male 16,672,399/female 16,875,468)
65 years and over: 2.5% (male 674,766/female 985,607) (2008 est.)

Population Growth Rate: 3.236% (2008 est.)

Birthrate: 43 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death Rate: 11.88 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net Migration Rate: 1.24 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth:

total population: 53.98 years
male: 52.22 years
female: 55.8 years (2008 est.)

Total Fertility Rate: 6.28 children born/woman (2008 est.)

Languages: French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write French, Lingala, Kingwana, or Tshiluba
total population: 67.2%
male: 80.9%
female: 54.1% (2001 est.)

Water

Total Renewable Water Resources: 1,283 cu km (2001)

Freshwater Withdrawal (domestic, industrial, agricultural):

total: 0.36 cu km/yr (53%/17%/31%)
per capita: 6 cu m/yr (2000)

Agriculture

Agricultural Products: coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber, tea, quinine, cassava (tapioca), palm oil, bananas, root crops, corn, fruits; wood products

Irrigated Land: 110 sq km (2003)

Resources

Natural Resources: cobalt, copper, niobium, tantalum, petroleum, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, uranium, coal, hydropower, timber

Land Use:

arable land: 2.86%
permanent crops: 0.47%
other: 96.67% (2005)

Energy

Health

Prevalence Rate of HIV/AIDS in Adults: 4.2% (2003 est.)

Conflict

International Disputes:

Heads of the Great Lakes states and UN pledged in 2004 to abate tribal, rebel, and militia fighting in the region, including northeast Congo, where the UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), organized in 1999, maintains over 16,500 uniformed peacekeepers; members of Uganda's Lords Resistance Army forces continue to seek refuge in Congo's Garamba National Park as peace talks with the Uganda government evolve; the location of the boundary in the broad Congo River with the Republic of the Congo is indefinite except in the Pool Malebo/Stanley Pool area; Uganda and DROC dispute Rukwanzi island in Lake Albert and other areas on the Semliki River with hydrocarbon potential; boundary commission continues discussions over Congolese-administered triangle of land on the right bank of the Lunkinda river claimed by Zambia near the DROC village of Pweto

Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons:

refugees (country of origin): 132,295 (Angola); 37,313 (Rwanda); 17,777 (Burundi); 13,904 (Uganda); 6,181 (Sudan); 5,243 (Republic of Congo)
IDPs: 1.4 million (fighting between government forces and rebels since mid-1990s; most IDPs are in eastern provinces) (2007)

Trafficking in Persons:

current situation: Democratic Republic of the Congo is a source and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation; much of this trafficking occurs within the country's unstable eastern provinces and is perpetrated by armed groups outside government control
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Democratic Republic of the Congo is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in persons in 2007; while some significant initial advances were noted, the government's capacity to apprehend, convict, or imprison traffickers remained weak; the government lacks sufficient financial, technical, and human resources to effectively address not only trafficking crimes, but also to provide basic levels of security in some parts of the country (2008)

Economy

The economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo - a nation endowed with vast potential wealth - is slowly recovering from two decades of decline. Conflict, which began in August 1998, dramatically reduced national output and government revenue, increased external debt, and resulted in the deaths of more than 3.5 million people from violence, famine, and disease. Foreign businesses curtailed operations due to uncertainty about the outcome of the conflict, lack of infrastructure, and the difficult operating environment. Conditions began to improve in late 2002 with the withdrawal of a large portion of the invading foreign troops. The transitional government reopened relations with international financial institutions and international donors, and President KABILA has begun implementing reforms, although progress is slow and the International Monetary Fund curtailed their program for the DRC at the end of March 2006 because of fiscal overruns. Much economic activity still occurs in the informal sector, and is not reflected in GDP data. Renewed activity in the mining sector, the source of most export income, boosted Kinshasa's fiscal position and GDP growth. Government reforms and improved security may lead to increased government revenues, outside budget assistance, and foreign direct investment, although an uncertain legal framework, corruption, and a lack of transparency in government policy are continuing long-term problems.

GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $18.84 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (Official Exchange Rate): $10.14 billion (2007 est.)

GDP-real growth rate: 6.3% (2007 est.)

GDP-per capita (PPP): $300 (2007 est.)

GDP-composition by sector:

agriculture: 55%
industry: 11%
services: 34% (2000 est.)

Population Below Poverty Line: NA%

Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share:

lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Industries: mining (diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt, coltan zinc), mineral processing, consumer products (including textiles, footwear, cigarettes, processed foods and beverages), cement, commercial ship repair

Exports: diamonds, copper, crude oil, coffee, cobalt

Export Partners: Belgium 24.1%, China 22.3%, Brazil 12.8%, US 10%, Finland 7.4%, France 7%

Imports: foodstuffs, mining and other machinery, transport equipment, fuels

Import Partners: South Africa 17.6%, Belgium 10.9%, Zimbabwe 8%, France 7.3%, Zambia 6.8%, Kenya 6.8%, US 4.4%, Cote d'Ivoire 4.4% (2006)

Economic Aid Recipient: $1.828 billion (2005)

Currency: Congolese franc (CDF)

Communications

Telephones-main line in use: 9,700 (2006)

Telephones-mobile/cellular: 4.415 million (2006)

Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 3, FM 11, shortwave 2 (2001)

Internet Hosts: 2,209 (2007)

Internet Users: 180,000 (2006)

Transportation

Airports: 237 (2007)

Pipelines: gas 62 km; oil 71 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 5,138 km
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 (2006)

Roadways:

total: 153,497 km
paved: 2,794 km
unpaved: 150,703 km (2004)

Ports and Terminals: Banana, Boma, Bukavu, Bumba, Goma, Kalemie, Kindu, Kinshasa, Kisangani, Matadi, Mbandaka