National Name: Republique Democratique du Congo

President: Joseph Kabila (2001)

Land area: 875,520 sq mi (2,267,599 sq km); total area: 905,568 sq mi (2,345,410 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 62,660,551 (growth rate: 3.1%); birth rate: 43.7/1000; infant mortality rate: 88.6/1000; life expectancy: 51.5; density per sq mi: 72

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Kinshasa, 6,541,300

Other large cities: Lubumbashi, 1,105,900; Mbuji-Mayi, 938,000; Kolwezi, 832,400; Kisangani, 523,000

Monetary unit: Congolese franc

Languages: French (official), Lingala, Kingwana, Kikongo, Tshiluba

Ethnicity/race: With over 200 African ethnic groups, 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

Religions: Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%, Islam 10%; other syncretic and indigenous 10%

Literacy rate: 66% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $46.37 billion; per capita $800. Real growth rate: 6.5%. Inflation: 9% (2004 est.). Unemployment: n.a. Arable land: 3%. Agriculture: coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber, tea, quinine, cassava (tapioca), palm oil, bananas, root crops, corn, fruits; wood products. Labor force: n.a. Industries: mining (diamonds, copper, zinc), mineral processing, consumer products (including textiles, footwear, cigarettes, processed foods and beverages), cement, commercial ship repair. Natural resources: cobalt, copper, cadmium, petroleum, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, germanium, uranium, radium, bauxite, iron ore, coal, hydropower, timber. Exports: $1.108 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.): diamonds, copper, crude oil, coffee, cobalt. Imports: $1.319 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.): foodstuffs, mining and other machinery, transport equipment, fuels. Major trading partners: Belgium, Finland, U.S., China, South Africa, France, Zambia, Kenya, Germany (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 10,000 (2002); mobile cellular: 1 million (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM 11, shortwave 2 (2001). Television broadcast stations: 4 (2001). Internet hosts: 153 (2003). Internet users: 50,000 (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 5,138 km (2004). Highways: total: 157,000 km; paved: n.a. (including 30 km of expressways); unpaved: n.a. (1999 est.). Waterways: 15,000 km (navigation on the Congo curtailed by fighting) (2004). Ports and harbors: Banana, Boma, Bukavu, Bumba, Goma, Kalemie, Kindu, Kinshasa, Kisangani, Matadi, Mbandaka. Airports: 230 (2004 est.).

International disputes: heads of the Great Lakes states and UN pledge to end conflict but unchecked tribal, rebel, and militia fighting continues unabated in the northeastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, drawing in the neighboring states of Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda; the UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) has maintained over 14,000 peacekeepers in the region since 1999; thousands of Ituri refugees from the Congo continue to flee the fighting primarily into Uganda; 90,000 Angolan refugees were repatriated by 2004 with the remainder in the Democratic Republic of the Congo expected to return in 2005; in 2005, DROC and Rwanda established a border verification mechanism to address accusations of Rwandan military supporting Congolese rebels and the DROC providing rebel Rwandan “Interhamwe” forces the means and bases to attack Rwandan forces; 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.

 

Go to Country details page