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Country summary

Capital

Kinshasa

Borders

Angola 2,511 km (of which 225 km is the boundary of Angola's discontiguous Cabinda Province), Burundi 233 km, Central African Republic 1,577 km, Republic of the Congo 2,410 km, Rwanda 217 km, Sudan 628 km, Tanzania 459 km, Uganda 765 km, Zambia 1,930 km

Government type

republic

Population

68,692,542[1]

Population growth

3.208% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

54.36 years[1]

Unemployment

NA%[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

172[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

162[3]

Doing Business ranking

182[4]


Established as a Belgian colony in 1908, the Republic of the Congo gained its independence in 1960, but its early years were marred by political and social instability. Col. Joseph MOBUTU seized power and declared himself president in a November 1965 coup. He subsequently changed his name - to MOBUTU Sese Seko - as well as that of the country - to Zaire. MOBUTU retained his position for 32 years through several sham elections, as well as through brutal force. Ethnic strife and civil war, touched off by a massive inflow of refugees in 1994 from fighting in Rwanda and Burundi, led in May 1997 to the toppling of the MOBUTU regime by a rebellion backed by Rwanda and Uganda and fronted by Laurent KABILA. He renamed the country the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), but in August 1998 his regime was itself challenged by a second insurrection again backed by Rwanda and Uganda. Troops from Angola, Chad, Namibia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe intervened to support KABILA's regime. A cease-fire was signed in July 1999 by the DRC, Congolese armed rebel groups, Angola, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zimbabwe but sporadic fighting continued. Laurent KABILA was assassinated in January 2001 and his son, Joseph KABILA, was named head of state. In October 2002, the new president was successful in negotiating the withdrawal of Rwandan forces occupying eastern Congo; two months later, the Pretoria Accord was signed by all remaining warring parties to end the fighting and establish a government of national unity. A transitional government was set up in July 2003. Joseph KABILA as president and four vice presidents represented the former government, former rebel groups, the political opposition, and civil society. The transitional government held a successful constitutional referendum in December 2005 and elections for the presidency, National Assembly, and provincial legislatures in 2006. The National Assembly was installed in September 2006 and KABILA was inaugurated president in December 2006. Provincial assemblies were constituted in early 2007, and elected governors and national senators in January 2007.[1]

Economical characteristics[]

  • Currency: Congolese franc (ISO code: CDF)
  • Central bank discount rate: NA% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: NA%[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $613.9 million (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $947.8 million (31 December 2008)[1]


Statistics[]

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (USD)[5]
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[6]
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[7]
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[8]
Debt to revenue (years)

References[]

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Facebook. "Democratic Republic of the Congo", from The World Facebook. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  2. Heritage Foundation. "Democratic Republic of the Congo", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  3. Transparency International. "Democratic Republic of the Congo", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  4. Doing Business. "Democratic Republic of the Congo", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  5. World Bank. "Democratic Republic of the Congo: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  6. World Bank. "Democratic Republic of the Congo: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  7. World Bank. "Democratic Republic of the Congo: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  8. World Bank. "Democratic Republic of the Congo: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.

External links[]

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