Congo 
Facts
Population:
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.)
Age structure:
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.)
Population growth rate:
3.1% (2001 est.)
Birth rate:
46.02 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate:
15.15 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
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
Sex ratio:
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.)
Infant mortality rate:
99.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
48.94 years
male:
46.96 years
female:
50.98 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:
6.84 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
5.07% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
1.1 million (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
95,000 (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Congolese (singular and plural)
adjective:
Congolese or Congo
Ethnic groups:
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
Religions:
Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%, Muslim 10%, other syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs 10%
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:
77.3%
male:
86.6%
female:
67.7% (1995 est.)
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $31 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
-15% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $600 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:
58%
industry:
17%
services:
25% (1997 est.)
Population below poverty line:
NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
NA%
highest 10%:
NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
540% (2000 est.)
Labor force:
14.51 million (1993 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 65%, industry 16%, services 19% (1991 est.)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues:
$269 million
expenditures:
$244 million, including capital expenditures of $24 million (1996 est.)
Industries:
mining (diamonds, copper, zinc), mineral processing, consumer products (including textiles, footwear, cigarettes, processed foods and beverages), cement
Industrial production growth rate:
NA%
Electricity - production:
5.268 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel:
2.05%
hydro:
97.95%
nuclear:
0%
other:
0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption:
4.55 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports:
404 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports:
55 million kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products:
coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber, tea, quinine, cassava (tapioca), palm oil, bananas, root crops, corn, fruits; wood products
Exports:
$960 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities:
diamonds, copper, coffee, cobalt, crude oil
Exports - partners:
Benelux 62%, US 18%, South Africa, Finland, Italy (1999)
Imports:
$660 million (c.i.f., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities:
foodstuffs, mining and other machinery, transport equipment, fuels
Imports - partners:
South Africa 28%, Benelux 14%, Nigeria 9%, Kenya 7%, China (1999)
Debt - external:
$13 billion (1998 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$195.3 million (1995)
Currency:
Congolese franc (CDF)
Currency code:
CDF
Exchange rates:
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
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Statistics: CIA World Factbook.
Press
Courier d'Afrique
(Government-controlled), Kinshasa
Elima
(Government-owned), Kinshasa
(French-language), Kinshasa
http://www.groupelavenir.com
(Opposition), Kinshasa
http://www.le-phare.com/
Le Potentiel
(French-language), Kinshasa
(French language), Brazzaville
http://www.brazzaville-adiac.com/
Numerica
(Independent biweekly), Kinshasa
Congo in the News
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Displaying 1 to 4 of 21 items.
The violence that has claimed several lives in southwestern Congo, after clashes between a religious sect and the national police, could spread further, local activists and officials warned.
By bringing into office the first truly elected government in four decades, the presidential, legislative, and provincial assembly elections of 2006 opened the door for the possibility of deeper reform.
Although relative security has since returned to most of Congo, the Kivus remain mired in violence with little sign that deep-seated causes of tension and conflict are anywhere near resolution.
Barely two months before legislative elections in the Republic of Congo, a row is raging between the government and opposition over the composition of the electoral commission.
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