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government type:
dictatorship; presumably undergoing a transition to representative government capital: kinshasa administrative divisions: 10 provinces (provinces. singular - province) and 1 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: independence day. 30 june (1960) constitution: new constitution adopted 17 july 2003 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: president joseph kabila (since 26 january 2001); note - following the assassination of his father. laurent desire kabila. on 16 january 2001. joseph kabila succeeded to the presidency; the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: president joseph kabila (since 26 january 2001); note - following the assassination of his father. laurent desire kabila. on 16 january 2001. joseph kabila succeeded to the presidency; the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: national executive council. appointed by the president elections: prior to the overthrow of mobutu sese seko. the president was elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; election last held 29 july 1984 (next was scheduled to be held in may 1997); formerly. there was also a prime minister who was elected by the high council of the republic; note - a transitional government is finalizing a new constitution with free elections scheduled to be held in early 2006 election results: mobutu sese seko kuku ngbendu wa za banga reelected president in 1984 without opposition note: joseph kabila succeeded his father. laurent desire kabila. following the latter's assassination in january 2001. negotiations with rebel leaders led to the establishment of a transitional government in july 2003 with free elections scheduled to be held in early 2006 legislative branch: a 500-member national assembly and a 120-seat senate established in june 2003 elections: na; members of the national assembly were appointed by leaders in the factions integrated into the new government judicial branch: supreme court or cour supreme political parties and leaders: democratic social christian party or pdsc [andre bo-boliko]; forces for renovation for union and solidarity or fonus [joseph olenghankoy]; national congolese lumumbist movement or mnc [francois lumumba]; popular movement of the revolution or mpr (three factions: mpr-fait prive [catherine nzuzi wa mbombo]; mpr/vunduawe [felix vunduawe]; mpr/mananga [mananga dintoka mpholo]); unified lumumbast party or palu [antoine gizenga]; union for democracy and social progress or udps [etienne tshisekedi wa mulumba]; union of federalists and independent republicans or uferi (two factions: uferi [lokambo omokoko]; uferi/or [adolph kishwe maya]) political pressure groups and leaders: na international organization participation: acct. acp. afdb. au. cepgl. comesa. fao. g-24. g-77. iaea. ibrd. icao. icct. icftu. icrm. ida. ifad. ifc. ifrcs. iho. ilo. imf. imo. interpol. ioc. iom. iso (correspondent). itu. miga. nam. opcw. pca. sadc. un. unctad. unesco. unhcr. unido. upu. wcl. wco. wftu. who. wipo. wmo. wtoo. wto diplomatic representation in the us: chief of mission: ambassador faida mitifu chancery: 1800 new hampshire avenue nw. washington. dc 20009: note - consular office at 1726 m street. nw. wasington. dc. 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 234-7690. 7691 fax: [1] (202) 234-2609 diplomatic representation from the us: chief of mission: ambassador roger meece embassy: 310 avenue des aviateurs. kinshasa mailing address: unit 31550. apo ae 09828 telephone: [243] (88) 43608 fax: [243] (88) 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 economy - overview: the economy of the democratic republic of the congo - a nation endowed with vast potential wealth - has declined drastically since the mid-1980s. the war. which began in august 1998. dramatically reduced national output and government revenue. increased external debt. and resulted in the deaths of perhaps 3.5 million people from war. famine. and disease. foreign businesses curtailed operations due to uncertainty about the outcome of the conflict. lack of infrastructure. and the difficult operating environment. conditions improved in late 2002 with the withdrawal of a large portion of the invading foreign troops. the transitional government has reopened relations with international financial institutions and international donors. with president kabila implementing reforms. much economic activity lies outside the gdp data. economic stability improved in 2003-05. although an uncertain legal framework. corruption. and a lack of openness in government policy continues to hamper growth. in 2005. renewed activity in the mining sector. the source of most exports. boosted kinshasa's fiscal position and gdp growth. business and economic prospects are expected to improve once a new government is installed after elections. gdp (purchasing power parity): $46.27 billion (2005 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): $7.541 billion (2005 est.) gdp - real growth rate: 6.5% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $800 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 55% industry: 11% services: 34% (2000 est.) labor force: 14.51 million (1993 est.) labor force - by occupation: na unemployment rate: na (2003 est.) population below poverty line: na household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: na highest 10%: na inflation rate (consumer prices): 9% (2004 est.) budget: revenues: $700 million expenditures: $750 million. including capital expenditures of $24 million (2004) agriculture - products: coffee. sugar. palm oil. rubber. tea. quinine. cassava (tapioca). palm oil. bananas. root crops. corn. fruits; wood products industries: mining (diamonds. copper. zinc). mineral processing. consumer products (including textiles. footwear. cigarettes. processed foods and beverages). cement. commercial ship repair industrial production growth rate: na electricity - production: 6.036 billion kwh (2003) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 1.8% hydro: 98.2% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) electricity - consumption: 4.324 billion kwh (2003) electricity - exports: 1.3 billion kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 10 million kwh (2003) oil - production: 22.000 bbl/day (2003) oil - consumption: 8.300 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: na (2001) oil - imports: na (2001) oil - proved reserves: 1.538 billion bbl (1 january 2002) natural gas - proved reserves: 104.8 billion cu m (1 january 2002) exports: $1.108 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) exports - partners: belgium 47.5%. finland 20.8%. us 10.9%. china 7.5% (2004) imports: $1.319 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) imports - partners: south africa 17.2%. belgium 14.5%. france 10.1%. zambia 8.5%. kenya 5.9%. us 5.6%. germany 5.5% (2004) debt - external: $10.6 billion (2003 est.) economic aid - recipient: $2.2 billion (fy03/04) currency (code): congolese franc (cdf) currency code: cdf exchange rates: congolese francs per us dollar - 437.86 (2005). 401.04 (2004). 405.34 (2003). 346.49 (2002). 206.62 (2001) fiscal year: calendar year telephones - main lines in use: 10.000 (2002) telephones - mobile cellular: 1 million (2003) telephone system: general assessment: poor domestic: barely adequate wire and microwave radio relay service in and between urban areas; domestic satellite system with 14 earth stations international: country code - 243; satellite earth station - 1 intelsat (atlantic ocean) radio broadcast stations: am 3. fm 11. shortwave 2 (2001) radios: 18.03 million (1997) television broadcast stations: 4 (2001) televisions: 6.478 million (1997) internet country code: .cd internet hosts: 153 (2003) internet service providers (isps): 1 (2001) internet users: 50.000 (2002) airports: 230 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 25 over 3.047 m: 4 2.438 to 3.047 m: 2 1.524 to 2.437 m: 16 914 to 1.523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 207 1.524 to 2.437 m: 18 914 to 1.523 m: 92 under 914 m: 97 (2005 est.) pipelines: gas 54 km; oil 71 km (2004) railways: total: 5.138 km 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 (2004) roadways: total: 157.000 km (including 30 km of expressways) (1999) waterways: 15.000 km (navigation on the congo curtailed by fighting) (2004) merchant marine: registered in other countries: 1 ports and terminals: banana. boma. bukavu. bumba. goma. kalemie. kindu. kinshasa. kisangani. matadi. mbandaka military branches: army. navy. air force manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 11.052.696 (2005 est.) manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 5.851.292 (2005 est.) military expenditures - dollar figure: $93.5 million (2004) military expenditures - percent of gdp: 1.5% (2004) disputes - international: heads of the great lakes states and un pledge to end conflict but unchecked tribal. rebel. and militia fighting continues unabated in the northeastern region of the democratic republic of the congo. drawing in the neighboring states of burundi. rwanda and uganda; the un organization mission in the democratic republic of the congo (monuc) has maintained over 14.000 peacekeepers in the region since 1999; thousands of ituri refugees from the congo continue to flee the fighting primarily into uganda; 90.000 angolan refugees were repatriated by 2004 with the remainder in the democratic republic of the congo expected to return in 2005; in 2005. droc and rwanda established a border verification mechanism to address accusations of rwandan military supporting congolese rebels and the droc providing rebel rwandan "interhamwe" forces the means and bases to attack rwandan forces; the location of the boundary in the broad congo river with the republic of the congo is indefinite except in the pool malebo/stanley pool area refugees and internally displaced persons: refugees (country of origin): 45.060 (sudan) 100.000 (angola) 19.552 (burundi) 6.626 (republic of congo) 19.743 (rwanda) 18.953 (uganda) idps: 2.33 million (fighting between government forces and rebels since mid-1990s; most idps are in eastern provinces) (2004) illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis. mostly for domestic consumption; while rampant corruption and inadequate supervision leaves the banking system vulnerable to money laundering. the lack of a well-developed financial system limits the country's utility as a money-laundering center
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