Aminet 6/Aminet 6 - June 1995.iso/Aminet/docs/misc/wfbook93_texi.lha/texi/56.data

Text File | 1995-03-27 | 9.8 KB | 374 lines

@node Geography (Congo)
@section Geography (Congo)

@display

Location:
  Western Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean between Gabon and Zaire
Map references:
  Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
 total area:
  342,000 km2
 land area:
  341,500 km2
 comparative area:
  slightly smaller than Montana
Land boundaries:
  total 5,504 km, Angola 201 km, Cameroon 523 km, Central African Republic 467
  km, Gabon 1,903 km, Zaire 2,410 km
Coastline:
  169 km
Maritime claims:
 territorial sea:
  200 nm
International disputes:
  long section with Zaire along the Congo River is indefinite (no division of
  the river or its islands has been made)
Climate:
  tropical; rainy season (March to June); dry season (June to October);
  constantly high temperatures and humidity; particularly enervating climate
  astride the Equator
Terrain:
  coastal plain, southern basin, central plateau, northern basin
Natural resources:
  petroleum, timber, potash, lead, zinc, uranium, copper, phosphates, natural
  gas
Land use:
 arable land:
  2%
 permanent crops:
  0%
 meadows and pastures:
  29%
 forest and woodland:
  62%
 other:
  7%
Irrigated land:
  40 km2 (1989)
Environment:
  deforestation; about 70% of the population lives in Brazzaville, Pointe
  Noire, or along the railroad between them



@end display

@node People (Congo)
@section People (Congo)

@display

Population:
  2,388,667 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
  2.44% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
  40.68 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
  16.28 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
  0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
  112.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
 total population:
  48.04 years
 male:
  46.3 years
 female:
  49.84 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
  5.38 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
 noun:
  Congolese (singular and plural)
 adjective:
  Congolese or Congo
Ethnic divisions:
 south:
  Kongo 48%
 north:
  Sangha 20%, M'Bochi 12%
 center:
  Teke 17%, Europeans 8,500 (mostly French)
Religions:
  Christian 50%, animist 48%, Muslim 2%
Languages:
  French (official), African languages (Lingala and Kikongo are the most
  widely used)
Literacy:
  age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
 total population:
  57%
 male:
  70%
 female:
  44%
Labor force:
  79,100 wage earners
 by occupation:
  agriculture 75%, commerce, industry, and government 25%
 note:
  51% of population of working age; 40% of population economically active
  (1985)



@end display

@node Government (Congo)
@section Government (Congo)

@display

Names:
 conventional long form:
  Republic of the Congo
 conventional short form:
  Congo
 local long form:
  Republique Populaire du Congo
 local short form:
  Congo
 former:
  Congo/Brazzaville
Digraph:
  CF
Type:
  republic
Capital:
  Brazzaville
Administrative divisions:
  9 regions (regions, singular - region) and 1 commune*; Bouenza,,   Brazzaville*, Cuvette,
Kouilou,, Lekoumou, Likouala, Niari, Plateaux, Pool,
  Sangha
Independence:
  15 August 1960 (from France)
Constitution:
  8 July 1979, currently being modified
Legal system:
  based on French civil law system and customary law
National holiday:
  Congolese National Day, 15 August (1960)
Political parties and leaders:
  Congolese Labor Party (PCT), headed by former president Denis
  SASSOU-NGUESSO; Union for Democratic Renewal (URD) - a coalition of
  opposition parties; Panafrican Union for Social Development (UPADS)
Other political or pressure groups:
  Union of Congolese Socialist Youth (UJSC); Congolese Trade Union Congress
  (CSC); Revolutionary Union of Congolese Women (URFC); General Union of
  Congolese Pupils and Students (UGEEC)
Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal
Elections:
 President:
  last held 2-16 August 1992 (next to be held August 1997); results -
  President Pascal LISSOUBA won with 61% of the vote
 National Assembly:
  last held 24 June-19 July 1992; results - (125 total) UPADS 39, MCDDI (part
  of URD coalition) 29, PCT 19; more than a dozen smaller parties split the
  remaining 38 seats
 note:
  National Assembly dissolved in November 1992; next election to be held May
  1993
Executive branch:
  president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch:
  unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale) was dissolved on NA
  November 1992
Judicial branch:
  Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)



@end display

@node Government (Congo 2. usage)
@section Government (Congo 2. usage)

@display

Leaders:
 Chief of State:
  President Pascal LISSOUBA (since August 1992)
 Head of Government:
  Prime Minister Claude Antoine DA COSTA (since December 1992)
Member of:
  ACCT, ACP, AfDB, BDEAC, CCC, CEEAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO,
  IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM,
  OAU, UDEAC, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNTAC, UPU, WFTU, WHO,
  WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador Roger ISSOMBO
 chancery:
  4891 Colorado Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20011
 telephone:
  [phone]
US diplomatic representation:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador James Daniel PHILLIPS
 embassy:
  Avenue Amilcar Cabral, Brazzaville
 mailing address:
  B. P. 1015, Brazzaville, or Box C, APO AE 09828
 telephone:
  [phone]
 FAX:
  [242] 83-63-38
Flag:
  red, divided diagonally from the lower hoist side by a yellow band; the
  upper triangle (hoist side) is green and the lower triangle is red; uses the
  popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia



@end display

@node Economy (Congo)
@section Economy (Congo)

@display

Overview:
  Congo's economy is a mixture of village agriculture and handicrafts, a
  beginning industrial sector based largely on oil, supporting services, and a
  government characterized by budget problems and overstaffing. A reform
  program, supported by the IMF and World Bank, ran into difficulties in
  1990-91 because of problems in changing to a democratic political regime and
  a heavy debt-servicing burden. Oil has supplanted forestry as the mainstay
  of the economy, providing about two-thirds of government revenues and
  exports. In the early 1980s rapidly rising oil revenues enabled Congo to
  finance large-scale development projects with growth averaging 5% annually,
  one of the highest rates in Africa. During the period 1987-91, however,
  growth has slowed to an average of roughly 1.5% annually, only half the
  population growth rate. The new government, responding to pressure from
  businessmen and the electorate, has promised to reduce the bureaucracy and
  government regulation but little has been accomplished as of early 1993.
National product:
  GDP - exchange rate conversion - $2.5 billion (1991 est.)
National product real growth rate:
  0.6% (1991 est.)
National product per capita:
  $1,070 (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  -0.6% (1991 est.)
Unemployment rate:
  NA%
Budget:
  revenues $765 million; expenditures $952 million, including capital
  expenditures of $65 million (1990)
Exports:
  $1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1990)
 commodities:
  crude oil 72%, lumber, plywood, coffee, cocoa, sugar, diamonds
 partners:
  US, France, other EC countries
Imports:
  $704 million (c.i.f., 1990)
 commodities:
  foodstuffs, consumer goods, intermediate manufactures, capital equipment
 partners:
  France, Italy, other EC countries, US, Germany, Spain, Japan, Brazil
External debt:
  $4.1 billion (1991)
Industrial production:
  growth rate 1.2% (1989); accounts for 33% of GDP; includes petroleum
Electricity:
  140,000 kW capacity; 315 million kWh produced, 135 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
  petroleum, cement, lumbering, brewing, sugar milling, palm oil, soap,
  cigarette
Agriculture:
  accounts for 13% of GDP (including fishing and forestry); cassava accounts
  for 90% of food output; other crops - rice, corn, peanuts, vegetables; cash
  crops include coffee and cocoa; forest products important export earner;
  imports over 90% of food needs
Economic aid:
  US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-90), $63 million; Western (non-US)
  countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-90), $2.5 billion; OPEC
  bilateral aid (1979-89), $15 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $338
  million



@end display

@node Economy (Congo 2. usage)
@section Economy (Congo 2. usage)

@display

Currency:
  1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes
Exchange rates:
  Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 274.06 (January
  1993), 264.69 (1992), 282.11 (1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85
  (1988)
Fiscal year:
  calendar year



@end display

@node Communications (Congo)
@section Communications (Congo)

@display

Railroads:
  797 km, 1.067-meter gauge, single track (includes 285 km that are privately
  owned)
Highways:
  11,960 km total; 560 km paved; 850 km gravel and laterite; 5,350 km improved
  earth; 5,200 km unimproved earth
Inland waterways:
  the Congo and Ubangi (Oubangui) Rivers provide 1,120 km of commercially
  navigable water transport; the rest are used for local traffic only
Pipelines:
  crude oil 25 km
Ports:
  Pointe-Noire (ocean port), Brazzaville (river port)
Airports:
 total:
  44
 usable:
  41
 with permanent-surface runways:
  5
 with runways over 3,659 m:
  0
 with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
  1
 with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
  16
Telecommunications:
  services adequate for government use; primary network is composed of radio
  relay routes and coaxial cables; key centers are Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire,
  and Loubomo; 18,100 telephones; broadcast stations - 4 AM, 1 FM, 4 TV; 1
  Atlantic Ocean satellite earth station



@end display

@node Defense Forces (Congo)
@section Defense Forces (Congo)

@display

Branches:
  Army, Navy (including Marines), Air Force, National Police
Manpower availability:
  males age 15-49 534,802; fit for military service 272,051; reach military
  age (20) annually 24,190 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
  exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GDP



@end display