GEOGRAPHY
Location: Central Africa, northeast of Angola
Geographic coordinates: 0 00 N, 25 00 E
Map references: Africa
Area:
total: 2,345,410 sq km
land: 2,267,600 sq km
water: 77,810 sq km
Area comparative: slightly less than one-fourth the size of the US
Land boundaries:
total: 10,271 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, Uganda 765 km, Zambia 1,930 km
Coastline: 37 km
Maritime claims:
exclusive economic zone: boundaries with neighbors
territorial sea: 12 nm
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
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
Natural resources: cobalt, copper, cadmium, petroleum, industrial and
gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin,
germanium, uranium, radium, bauxite, iron ore, coal, hydropower potential,
timber
Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 7%
forests and woodland: 77%
other: 13% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 100 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: periodic droughts in south; volcanic activity
Environment?current issues: 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: 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
Geography?note: 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
TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
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
Highways:
total: 145,000 km
paved: 2,500 km
unpaved: 142,500 km (1993 est.)
Waterways: 15,000 km including the Congo, its tributaries, and unconnected
lakes
Pipelines: petroleum products 390 km
Ports and harbors: Banana, Boma, Bukavu, Bumba, Goma, Kalemie, Kindu,
Kinshasa, Kisangani, Matadi, Mbandaka
Merchant marine: none
Airports: 233 (1998 est.)
Airports with paved runways:
total: 23
over 3,047 m: 4
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 14
914 to 1,523 m: 2 (1998 est.)
Airports with unpaved runways:
total: 210
1,524 to 2,437 m: 21
914 to 1,523 m: 95
under 914 m: 94 (1998 est.)
Telephones: 34,000 (1991 est.)
Telephone system:
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)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 10, FM 4, shortwave 0
Radios: 3.87 million (1992 est.)
Television broadcast stations: 18 (1997)
Televisions: 55,000 (1992 est.)
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Government type: dictatorship; presumably undergoing a transition to
representative government
Capital: Kinshasa
Administrative divisions: 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
Independence: 30 June 1960 (from Belgium)
National holiday: anniversary of independence from Belgium, 30 June
(1960)
Constitution: 24 June 1967, amended August 1974, revised 15 February
1978, amended April 1990; transitional constitution
promulgated in April 1994; following successful rebellion the new government
announced on 29 May 1997 a program of
constitutional reform and, in November 1998, a draft constitution was
approved by President KABILA and awaits ratification
by national referendum
Legal system: based on Belgian civil law system and tribal law; has
not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Executive branch:
chief of state: Laurent Desire KABILA (since 17 May 1997); note?the
president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: Laurent Desire KABILA (since 17 May 1997); note?the
president 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 to be held in May 1997);
formerly, the prime minister was elected by the High Council
of the Republic; note?the term of the former government expired in
1991, elections were not held, and former president
MOBUTU continued in office until his government was militarily defeated
by KABILA on 17 May 1997
election results: 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 overturned militarily
by Laurent Desire KABILA, who immediately assumed
governing authority; in his 29 May 1997 inaugural address, President
KABILA announced a two-year time table for political
reform leading to elections by April 1999; subsequently, in December
1998, President KABILA announced that elections
would be postponed until all foreign military forces attempting his
overthrow had withdrawn from the country
Legislative branch: legislative activity has been suspended pending
the establishment of KABILA's promised constitutional
reforms and the elections to be held by April 1999 (now postponed indefinitely)
elections: the country's first multi-party presidential and legislative
elections had been scheduled for May 1997 but were not
held; instead KABILA overthrew the MOBUTU government and seized control
of the country
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
Political parties and leaders: sole legal party until January 1991?Popular
Movement of the Revolution or MPR [leader NA];
note?may be replaced by Union for the Republic or UPR [leader NA];
other parties include Union for Democracy and Social
Progress or UDPS [Etienne TSHISEKEDI wa Mulumba]; Congolese Rally for
Democracy or RCD [Ernest WAMBA dia
Wamba]; Democratic Social Christian Party or PDSC [Andre BO-BOLIKO];
Union of Federalists and Independent
Republicans or UFERI [Gabriel KYUNGU wa Kumwunzu]; Unified Lumumbast
Party or PALU [Antoine GIZENGA]
note: President KABILA, who has banned political party activity indefinitely,
currently leads the Alliance of Democratic Forces
for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire or AFDL
International organization participation: 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), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR,
UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Faida MITIFU
chancery: 1800 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone: [1] (202) 234-7690, 7691
FAX: [1] (202) 236-0748
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador William Lacy SWING
embassy: 310 Avenue des Aviateurs, Kinshasa
mailing address: Unit 31550, APO AE 09828
telephone: [243] (12) 21028, 21959
FAX: [243] (88) 43805 43467
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.
Disputes international: 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
movement which occupies 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)
The Military
Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Presidential Security Group,
Gendarmerie
Military manpower availability:
males age 15-49: 10,874,744 (1999 est.)
Military manpower fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 5,536,277 (1999 est.)
Military expenditures dollar figure: $250 million (1997)
Military expenditures percent of GDP: 4.6% (1997)
Back
to SHQ
