Geography

 Location; Central Africa. Bordering nations--Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia. Area; 2.345 sq. km. (905,063 sq. mi.; about the size of the U.S. east of the Mississippi). Cities; Capital--Kinshasa (pop. 8 million). Regional capitals--Bandundu, Bukavu, Goma, Kananga, Kindu, Kisangani, Lubumbashi, Matadi, Mbandaka, Mbuji-Mayi. Terrain; Varies from tropical rainforests to mountainous terraces, plateaus, savannas, dense grasslands, and mountains. Climate; Equatorial; ranges from tropical rainforest in the Congo River basin, hot and humid in much of the north and west, cooler and drier in the south central area and the east.

People

Nationality; Noun and adjective--Congolese. Population (2010 est.); 68 million. Annual population growth rate (2008 est.); 3.24%. Ethnic groups; Approximately 250 African ethnic groups; the Luba, Kongo, and Anamongo are some of the larger groups. Religions; Christian 70% (Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%); Kimbanguist 10%; other sects and traditional beliefs 10%; Muslim 10%. Language; Official--French. National languages--Lingala, Swahili, Kikongo, Tshiluba. Education; Literacy (2008 est.)--French or local language; 55% (women), 76% (men). Schooling (2007 est.)--none 21%, primary 46%, secondary 30%, university 3%. Health (2007 est.); Infant mortality rate--92/1,000 live births. Life expectancy (2008 est.)--51.3 yrs.

Government

Type; Republic; highly centralized with executive power vested in the president. Independence; June 30, 1960 (from Belgium). Constitution; The D.R.C. has had numerous constitutions, constitutional amendments, and transitional constitutions since independence. The currently operative constitution was approved by 84% of voters in a December 2005 referendum and officially promulgated in February 2006. Branches; Executive--President is head of state. Cabinet is appointed by the ruling party in the parliament. Prime minister is elected by the parliament. Legislative--The 500-member lower house of parliament was elected in July 30, 2006 national elections. Provincial Assemblies elected the Senate in October 29, 2006 elections, and provincial governors in early 2007. Judicial--Supreme Court (Cour Supreme). Administrative subdivisions; Eleven provinces including the capital city, Kinshasa. Political parties; President Joseph Kabila's party is Parti du Peuple pour la Reconstruction et le Developpement (PPRD). Two main coalitions, the Alliance pour la Majorite Presidentielle (AMP) and the Union pour la Nation (UN), respectively represent President Kabila and former Transitional Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba. Bemba was Kabila’s principal opponent in the 2006 presidential election (see “Government and Political Conditions” section below), and despite his May 2008 arrest by Belgian authorities and transfer to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, is still the official president of the largest single opposition party, Mouvement pour la Liberation du Congo (MLC). Another important opposition party is the Union pour la Democratie et le Progres Social (UDPS), led by aging Mobutu opponent Etienne Tshisekedi. Although the UDPS boycotted the 2006 elections, Tshisekedi announced in August 2010 he would be a presidential candidate and that the UDPS would participate in the 2011 presidential and parliamentary elections and the 2012 local elections. Other parties include Forces du Futur (FDF), Forces Novatrices pour l'Union et la Solidarite (FONUS), Parti Democrate Social Chretien (PDSC), Mouvement Social Democratie et Developpement (MSDD), Mouvement Populaire de la Revolution--Fait Prive (MPR-FP), Union des Nationalistes et des Federalistes Congolais (UNAFEC), and Mouvement National Congolais/ Lumumba (MNC/L). Former rebel movements-turned-political parties include the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie (RCD), Mouvement pour la Liberation du Congo (MLC), and independent splinter groups of the RCD (RCD/ML, RCD/N, RCD/G). The former rebel group Congres National pour la Defense du Peuple (CNDP) received official status as a political party in May 2009. Suffrage; 18 years of age and universal.

Economy

GDP (2009); $10.82 billion. Annual GDP growth rate (2009); 2.7%. Per capita GDP (2009); $171. Natural resources; Copper, cobalt, diamonds, gold, other minerals; petroleum; wood; hydroelectric potential. Agriculture; Cash crops--coffee, rubber, palm oil, cotton, cocoa, sugar, tea. Food crops--manioc, corn, legumes, plantains, peanuts. Land use; Agriculture 3%; pasture 7%; forest/woodland 77%; other 13%. Industry; Types--processed and unprocessed minerals; consumer products, including textiles, plastics, footwear, cigarettes, metal products; processed foods and beverages, cement, timber. Currency; Congolese franc (FC). The U.S. dollar is also used as legal tender. Trade; Exports (2009 est.)--$3.787 billion. Products--diamonds, cobalt, copper, coffee, petroleum. Main partners--EU, Japan, South Africa, U.S., China. Imports (2009 est.)--$5.254 billion. Products--consumer goods (food, textiles), capital equipment, refined petroleum products. Partners--EU, China, South Africa, U.S. Official debt (est.); $13.5 billion.

 

Background

After more than a century of rule by France, Algerians fought through much of the 1950s to achieve independence in 1962. Algeria's primary political party, the National Liberation Front (FLN), has dominated politics ever since. Many Algerians in the subsequent generation were not satisfied, however, and moved to counter the FLN's centrality in Algerian politics. The surprising first round success of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in the December 1991 balloting spurred the Algerian army to intervene and postpone the second round of elections to prevent what the secular elite feared would be an extremist-led government from assuming power. The army began a crackdown on the FIS that spurred FIS supporters to begin attacking government targets. The government later allowed elections featuring pro-government and moderate religious-based parties, but did not appease the activists who progressively widened their attacks. The fighting escalated into an insurgency, which saw intense fighting between 1992-98 and which resulted in over 100,000 deaths - many attributed to indiscriminate massacres of villagers by extremists. The government gained the upper hand by the late-1990s and FIS's armed wing, the Islamic Salvation Army, disbanded in January 2000. However, small numbers of armed militants persist in confronting government forces and conducting ambushes and occasional attacks on villages. The army placed Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA in the presidency in 1999 in a fraudulent election but claimed neutrality in his 2004 landslide reelection victory. Longstanding problems continue to face BOUTEFLIKA in his second term, including the ethnic minority Berbers' ongoing autonomy campaign, large-scale unemployment, a shortage of housing, unreliable electrical and water supplies, government inefficiencies and corruption, and the continuing activities of extremist militants. The 2006 merger of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) with al-Qaida (followed by a name change to al-Qaida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb) signaled an increase in bombings, including high-profile, mass-casualty suicide attacks targeted against the Algerian government and Western interests. Algeria must also diversify its petroleum-based economy, which has yielded a large cash reserve but which has not been used to redress Algeria's many social and infrastructure problems.

National colours > Some well-known national colours > Primary colours Red, white, and green

SOURCES All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008; Wikipedia National colours

ALTERNATIVE NAMES Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, Al Jumhuriyah al Jaza'iriyah ad Dimuqratiyah ash Sha'biyah, Al Jaza'ir, algeria b

Identification

 

SOURCES ; CIA World Factbook, 28 July 2005; All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008; Microsoft.com; Wkipedia; IOC country codes

ALTERNATIVE NAMES Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republique Democratique du Congo, congo (drc), congo (kinshasa), congo dr, congo-kinshasa, dem. rep. of the congo, zaire, Congo, Democratic Republic, Congo, Dem. Republic, Congo (Kinsasha), Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, Democratic Republic of, Congo, Dem. Rep. of the, Congo, The Democratic Republic of the, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dem Rep. of the Congo, DRC Congo, DR Congo, Congo, Dem. Rep.

Top Rankings

 

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

Bottom Rankings

 

Last

2nd last

3rd last

4th last

5th last

6th last