otal: 10,744 km border countries: 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 473 km, Uganda 765 km,
Zambia 1,930 km

Coastline: 37 km

Maritime claims: exclusive economic zone: boundaries with neighbors
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 extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point:
Pic Marguerite on Mont Ngaliema (Mount Stanley) 5,110 m

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

Land use: arable land: 3% permanent crops: 1% other: 96% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 110 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: periodic droughts in south; Congo River floods
(seasonal); in the east, in the Great Rift Valley, there are active
volcanoes

Environment - current issues: poaching threatens wildlife populations;
water pollution; deforestation; refugees responsible for significant
deforestation, soil erosion, and wildlife poaching; mining of minerals
(coltan - a mineral used in creating capacitors, diamonds, and gold)
causing environmental damage

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes,
Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection,
Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified:
Environmental Modification

Geography - note: straddles Equator; has 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

People Congo, Democratic Republic of the

Population: 55,225,478 note: estimates for this country explicitly take
into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result
in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rate