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government type:
republic capital: brazzaville administrative divisions: 10 regions (regions. singular - region) and 1 commune*; bouenza. brazzaville*. cuvette. cuvette-ouest. kouilou. lekoumou. likouala. niari. plateaux. pool. sangha independence: 15 august 1960 (from france) national holiday: independence day. 15 august (1960) constitution: approved by referendum 20 january 2002 legal system: based on french civil law system and customary law suffrage: 18 years of age; universal executive branch: chief of state: president denis sassou-nguesso (since 25 october 1997. following the civil war in which he toppled elected president pascal lissouba); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: president denis sassou-nguesso (since 25 october 1997. following the civil war in which he toppled elected president pascal lissouba); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: council of ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term (eligible for a second seven-year term); election last held 10 march 2002 (next to be held na 2009) election results: denis sassou-nguesso reelected president; percent of vote - denis sassou-nguesso 89.4%. joseph kignoumbi kia mboungou 2.7% legislative branch: bicameral parliament consists of the senate (66 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and the national assembly (137 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: senate - last held 11 july 2002 (next to be held july 2007); national assembly - last held 27 may and 26 june 2002 (next to be held by na may 2007) election results: senate - percent of vote by party - na%; seats by party - fdp 56. other 10; national assembly - percent of vote by party - na%; seats by party - fdp 83. udr 6. upads 3. other 45 judicial branch: supreme court or cour supreme political parties and leaders: the most important of the many parties are the democratic and patriotic forces or fdp (an alliance of convention for alternative democracy. congolese labor party or pct. liberal republican party. national union for democracy and progress. patriotic union for the national reconstruction. and union for the national renewal) [denis sassou-nguesso. president]; congolese movement for democracy and integral development or mcddi [michel mampouya]; pan-african union for social development or upads [martin mberi]; rally for democracy and social progress or rdps [jean-pierre thystere tchicaya. president]; rally for democracy and the republic or rdr [raymond damasge ngollo]; union for democracy and republic or udr [leader na]; union of democratic forces or ufd [sebastian ebao] political pressure groups and leaders: congolese trade union congress or csc; general union of congolese pupils and students or ugeec; revolutionary union of congolese women or urfc; union of congolese socialist youth or ujsc international organization participation: acct. acp. afdb. au. bdeac. cemac. fao. fz. g-77. ibrd. icao. icct. icftu. icrm. ida. ifad. ifc. ifrcs. ilo. imf. imo. interpol. ioc. iom. itu. miga. nam. opcw (signatory). un. unctad. unesco. unido. unoci. upu. wcl. wco. wftu. who. wipo. wmo. wtoo. wto diplomatic representation in the us: chief of mission: ambassador serge mombouli chancery: 4891 colorado avenue nw. washington. dc 20011 telephone: [1] (202) 726-5500 fax: [1] (202) 726-1860 diplomatic representation from the us: chief of mission: ambassador (vacant); charge d'affaires mark biedlingmaier embassy: na mailing address: na telephone: [243] (88) 43608 note: the embassy is temporarily collocated with the us embassy in the democratic republic of the congo (us embassy kinshasa. 310 avenue des aviateurs. kinshasa) flag description: 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 economy - overview: the economy is a mixture of village agriculture and handicrafts. an industrial sector based largely on oil. support services. and a government characterized by budget problems and overstaffing. oil has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the economy. providing a major share of government revenues and exports. in the early 1980s. rapidly rising oil revenues enabled the government to finance large-scale development projects with gdp growth averaging 5% annually. one of the highest rates in africa. the government has mortgaged a substantial portion of its oil earnings through oil-backed loans that has contributed to a growing debt burden and chronic revenue shortfalls. economic reform efforts have been undertaken with the support of international organizations. notably the world bank and the imf. however. the reform program came to a halt in june 1997 when civil war erupted. denis sassou-nguesso. who returned to power when the war ended in october 1997. publicly expressed interest in moving forward on economic reforms and privatization and in renewing cooperation with international financial institutions. economic progress was badly hurt by slumping oil prices and the resumption of armed conflict in december 1998. which worsened the republic's budget deficit. the current administration presides over an uneasy internal peace and faces difficult economic challenges of stimulating recovery and reducing poverty. recovery of oil prices has boosted the economy's gdp and near term prospects. the republic of congo may be eligible for an imf-world bank heavily indebted poor countries (hipc) initiative in early 2006. provided it meets the strict fiscal and monetary targets set out for it under a new three-year prgf with the imf. gdp (purchasing power parity): $2.52 billion (2005 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): $4.798 billion (2005 est.) gdp - real growth rate: 5.5% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $800 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 6.7% industry: 62.4% services: 30.9% (2005 est.) labor force: na unemployment rate: na (2003) population below poverty line: na household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: na highest 10%: na inflation rate (consumer prices): 2% (2005 est.) investment (gross fixed): 28.9% of gdp (2005 est.) budget: revenues: $1.328 billion expenditures: $1.065 billion. including capital expenditures of na (2005 est.) agriculture - products: cassava (tapioca). sugar. rice. corn. peanuts. vegetables. coffee. cocoa; forest products industries: petroleum extraction. cement. lumber. brewing. sugar. palm oil. soap. flour. cigarettes industrial production growth rate: 0% (2002 est.) electricity - production: 343 million kwh (2003) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 0.3% hydro: 99.7% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) electricity - consumption: 619 million kwh (2003) electricity - exports: 0 kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 300 million kwh (2003) oil - production: 267.100 bbl/day (2005 est.) oil - consumption: 5.200 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: na (2001) oil - imports: na (2001) oil - proved reserves: 93.5 million bbl (1 january 2002) natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - consumption: 0 cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - proved reserves: 495.5 million cu m (1 january 2002) current account balance: $195.6 million (2005 est.) exports: $2.209 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) exports - partners: china 26.8%. taiwan 19.2%. north korea 8.4%. us 7.3%. france 5.5%. south korea 4.8% (2004) imports: $806.5 million f.o.b. (2005 est.) imports - partners: france 32.7%. us 10.1%. germany 6.2%. italy 6%. china 5.2%. netherlands 4.5% (2004) reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $102.2 million (2005 est.) debt - external: $5 billion (2000 est.) economic aid - recipient: $159.1 million (1995) currency (code): communaute financiere africaine franc (xaf); note - responsible authority is the bank of the central african states currency code: xaf exchange rates: communaute financiere africaine francs (xaf) per us dollar - 480.56 (2005). 528.29 (2004). 581.2 (2003). 696.99 (2002). 733.04 (2001) fiscal year: calendar year telephones - main lines in use: 7.000 (2003) telephones - mobile cellular: 330.000 (2003) telephone system: general assessment: services barely adequate for government use; key exchanges are in brazzaville. pointe-noire. and loubomo; intercity lines frequently out of order domestic: primary network consists of microwave radio relay and coaxial cable international: country code - 242; satellite earth station - 1 intelsat (atlantic ocean) radio broadcast stations: am 1. fm 5. shortwave 3 (2001) radios: 341.000 (1997) television broadcast stations: 1 (2002) televisions: 33.000 (1997) internet country code: .cg internet hosts: 46 (2003) internet service providers (isps): 1 (2000) internet users: 15.000 (2003) airports: 32 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 4 over 3.047 m: 1 2.438 to 3.047 m: 1 1.524 to 2.437 m: 2 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 28 1.524 to 2.437 m: 6 914 to 1.523 m: 11 under 914 m: 11 (2005 est.) pipelines: gas 53 km; oil 646 km (2004) railways: total: 894 km narrow gauge: 894 km 1.067-m gauge (2004) roadways: total: 12.800 km paved: 1.242 km unpaved: 11.558 km (1999) waterways: 4.385 km (on congo and oubanqui rivers) (2004) ports and terminals: brazzaville. djeno. impfondo. ouesso. oyo. pointe-noire military branches: congolese armed forces (fac): army. air force (armee de l'air congolaise). navy. gendarmerie. republican guard (2005) military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service (2001) manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 686.123 (2005 est.) manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 360.492 (2005 est.) manpower reaching military service age annually: males: 34.281 (2005 est.) military expenditures - dollar figure: $126.5 million (2004) military expenditures - percent of gdp: 2.8% (2004) disputes - international: about 7.000 congolese refugees fleeing internal civil conflicts since the mid-1990s still reside in the democratic republic of the congo; the location of the boundary in the broad congo river with the democratic republic of the congo is indefinite except in the pool malebo/stanley pool area refugees and internally displaced persons: idps: 60.000 (multiple civil wars since 1992; most idps are ethnic lari) (2004)
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