 |
| Country |
: |
Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Capital |
: |
Kinshasa |
| Total Area |
: |
905,567.86 sq mi
2,345,410.00 sq km
(slightly less than
one-fourth the size of the US) |
| Population |
: |
53,624,718 (July 2001 est.)
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 |
| Estimated Population in 2050 |
: |
181,922,656 |
| Languages |
: |
French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language),
Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba |
| Literacy |
: |
77.3% total, 86.6% male, 67.7% female (1995
est.) |
| Religions |
: |
Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%, Muslim
10%, other syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs 10% |
| Life Expectancy |
: |
46.96 male, 50.98 female (2001 est.) |
| Government Type |
: |
Dictatorship; Presumably undergoing a transition to
representative government |
| Currency |
: |
Congolese franc (CF) |
| GDP (per capita) |
: |
$600 (2000 est.) |
| Industry |
: |
Mining (diamonds, copper, zinc), mineral processing, consumer
products (including textiles, footwear, cigarettes, processed foods and
beverages), cement |
| Agriculture |
: |
Coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber, tea, quinine, cassava
(tapioca), palm oil, bananas, root crops, corn, fruits; wood
products |
| Arable Land |
: |
3% |
| Natural Resources |
: |
Cobalt, copper, cadmium, petroleum, industrial and gem
diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, germanium, uranium, radium,
bauxite, iron ore, coal, hydropower, timber |
|
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