Map of Zaire | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: Since 1994, Zaire has been rent by ethnic strife and civil war touched off by a massive inflow of refugees from the fighting in Rwanda and Burundi. Troops from Uganda Rwanda Zimbabwe Angola and Namibia have intervened in this devastating conflict.


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Location: Central Africa, between Congo and Zambia

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area
Total: total area: 2,345,410 km²; land:2,267,600 km²

Land boundaries: total 10,271 km, Angola 2,511 km, Burundi 233 km, Central African Republic 1,577 km, Congo 2,410 km, Rwanda 217 km, Sudan 628 km, Uganda 765 km, Zambia 1,930 km

Coastline: 37 km

Maritime claims: exclusive fishing zone:200 nm; territorial sea:12 nm

Climate: tropical; hot and humid in equatorial river basin; cooler and drier in southern highlands; cooler and wetter in eastern highlands; north of Equator - wet season April to October, dry season December to February; south of Equator - wet season November to March, dry season April to October

Terrain: vast central basin is a low-lying plateau; mountains in east

Elevation

Natural resources: cobalt, copper, cadmium, petroleum, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, germanium, uranium, radium, bauxite, iron ore, coal, hydropower potential

Land use: arable land:3%; permanent crops:0%; meadows and pastures:4%; forest and woodland:78%; other:15%

Irrigated land: 100 km² (1989 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: periodic droughts in south

Geography
Note: straddles Equator; very narrow strip of land that controls the lower Congo River and is only outlet to South Atlantic Ocean; dense tropical rain forest in central river basin and eastern highlands


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Population: 42,684,091 (July 1994 est.)
Growth rate: 3.17% (1994 est.)

Nationality: noun:Zairian(s)

Ethnic groups: over 200 African ethnic groups, the majority are Bantu; four largest tribes - Mongo, Luba, Kongo (all Bantu), and the Mangbetu-Azande (Hamitic) make up about 45% of the population

Languages: French, Lingala, Swahili, Kingwana, Kikongo, Tshiluba

Religions: Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%, Muslim 10%, other syncretic sects and traditional beliefs 10%

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 3.17% (1994 est.)

Birth rate: 48.39 births/1000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate: 16.74 deaths/1000 population (1994 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.03 migrant(s)/1000 population (1994 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: poaching threatens wildlife populations; water pollution; deforestation

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 110.9 deaths/1000 live births (1994 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population:47.4 years; male:45.57 years; female:49.29 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.7 children born/woman (1994 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.); total population:72%; male:84%; female:61%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Zaire; conventional short form: local long form: Republique du Zaire; local short form; former:Belgian Congo Congo/Leopoldville Congo/Kinshasa

Government type: republic with a strong presidential system

Capital: Kinshasa

Administrative divisions: 10 regions (regions, singular - region) and 1 town* (ville); Bandundu, Bas-Zaire, Equateur, Haut-Zaire, Kasai-Occidental, Kasai-Oriental, Kinshasa*, Maniema, Nord-Kivu, Shaba, Sud-Kivu

Dependent areas

Independence: 30 June 1960 (from Belgium)

National holiday: Anniversary of the Regime (Second Republic), 24 November (1965)

Constitution: 24 June 1967, amended August 1974, revised 15 February 1978; amended April 1990; new transitional constitution promulgated in April 1994

Legal system: based on Belgian civil law system and tribal law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Executive branch: chief of state:President Marshal MOBUTU Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga (since 24 November 1965) election last held 29 July 1984 (next to be scheduled by High Council, the opposition-controlled transition legislature); results - President MOBUTU was reelected without opposition; head of government:Prime Minister Etienne TSHISEKEDI (since NA 1993); note - de facto executive authority is exercised by President MOBUTU

Legislative branch: Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary National Gendarmerie, Civil Guard, Special Presidential Division

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEEAC, CEPGL, ECA, FAO, G-19, G-24, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
From the us:

Flag description: light green with a yellow disk in the center bearing a black arm holding a red flaming torch; the flames of the torch are blowing away from the hoist side; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Zaire's economy has continued to disintegrate. While meaningful economic figures are difficult to come by, Zaire's hyperinflation, the largest government deficit ever, and plunging mineral production have made the country one of the world's poorest. Most formal transactions are conducted in hard currency as indigenous banknotes have lost almost all value, and a barter economy now flourishes in all but the largest cities. Most individuals and families hang on grimly through subsistence farming and petty trade. The government has not been able to meet its financial obligations to the International Momentary Fund or put in place the financial measures advocated by the IMF. Although short-term prospects for improvement are dim, improved political stability would boost Zaire's long-term potential to effectively exploit its vast wealth of mineral and agricultural resources.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: -6% (1992 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $500 (1993 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: cash crops - coffee, palm oil, rubber, quinine; food crops - cassava, bananas, root crops, corn

Industries: mining, mineral processing, consumer products (including textiles, footwear, and cigarettes), processed foods and beverages, cement, diamonds

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Labor force: 15 million (13% of the labor force is wage earners; 51% of the population is of working age)
By occupation agriculture: 75%
By occupation industry: 13%
By occupation services: 12% (1985)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues:$N/A

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $1.5 billion (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
Commodities: copper, coffee, diamonds, cobalt, crude oil
Partners: US, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, UK, Japan, South Africa

Imports: $1.2 billion (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
Commodities: consumer goods, foodstuffs, mining and other machinery, transport equipment, fuels
Partners: South Africa, US, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $9.2 billion (May 1992 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: zaire (Z) per US$1 - 7,915,000 (September 1993), 1,990,000 (1992), 15,587 (1991), 719 (1990), 381 (1989)


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Electricity
Capacity: 2,580,000 kW
Production: 6 billion kWh
Consumption per capita: 160 kWh (1991)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: exchange rate conversion - $49 million, 0.8% of GDP (1988)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: total:278; usable:233; with permanent-surface runways:25; with runways over 3,659 m:1; with runways 2,440-3,659 m:6; with runways 1,220-2,439 m:72

Heliports

Pipelines: petroleum products 390 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 15,000 km including the Congo, its tributaries, and unconnected lakes

Merchant marine: 1 passenger cargo ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 15,489 GRT/13,481 DWT

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: Tanzania-Zaire-Zambia tripoint in Lake Tanganyika may no longer be indefinite since it is reported that the indefinite section of the Zaire-Zambia boundary has been settled; long section with Congo along the Congo River is indefinite (no division of the river or its islands has been made)

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis, mostly for domestic consumption