Country name: conventional long form: Republic of the Congo conventional short form: none local long form: Republique du Congo local short form: none former: Middle Congo, Congo/Brazzaville, Congo
Data code: CF
Government type: republic
Capital: Brazzaville
Independence: 15 August 1960 (from France)
Legal system: based on French civil law system and customary law
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d'Affaires ad interim 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 David H. KAEUPER embassy: NA mailing address: NA telephone: [242] 81-14-73 (temporary) FAX: [242] 88-40524 (temporary) 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)
Economy
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. Moreover, the government has mortgaged a substantial portion of its oil earnings, contributing to the government's shortage of revenues. The 12 January 1994 devaluation of Franc Zone currencies by 50% resulted in inflation of 61% in 1994 but inflation has subsided since. Economic reform efforts continued with the support of international organizations, notably the World Bank and the IMF. 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. However, economic progress was badly hurt by slumping oil prices in 1998, which worsened the Republic of the Congo's budget deficit. A second blow was the resumption of armed conflict in December 1998. Even with high world oil prices, Congo is unlikely to realize growth of more than 5% in 2000-01.
Currency: 1 Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes
Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 21,000 (1995)
Telephones - mobile cellular: NA
Telephone system: 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: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 1 (1999)
Radios: 341,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 1 (1999)
Televisions: 33,000 (1997)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): NA
Transportation
Railways: total: 795 km (includes 285 km private track) narrow gauge: 795 km 1.067-m gauge (1995 est.)
Highways: total: 12,800 km paved: 1,242 km unpaved: 11,558 km (1996 est.)
Waterways: the Congo and Ubangi (Oubangui) rivers provide 1,120 km of commercially navigable water transport; other rivers are used for local traffic only
Pipelines: crude oil 25 km
Ports and harbors: Brazzaville, Impfondo, Ouesso, Oyo, Pointe-Noire
Airports: 36 (1999 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 4 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 (1999 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 32 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 14 under 914 m: 10 (1999 est.)
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