"text":"Upon independence in 1960, the former French region of Middle Congo became the Republic of the Congo. A quarter century of experimentation with Marxism was abandoned in 1990 and a democratically elected government took office in 1992. A brief civil war in 1997 restored former Marxist President Denis SASSOU-Nguesso, and ushered in a period of ethnic and political unrest. Southern-based rebel groups agreed to a final peace accord in March 2003. The Republic of Congo is one of Africa's largest petroleum producers, but with declining production it will need new offshore oil finds to sustain its oil earnings over the long term."
}
},
"Geography":{
"Location":{
"text":"Central Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola and Gabon"
"text":"Angola 231 km, Cameroon 494 km, Central African Republic 487 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 1,229 km, Gabon 2,567 km"
}
},
"Coastline":{
"text":"169 km"
},
"Maritime claims":{
"territorial sea":{
"text":"12 nm"
},
"contiguous zone":{
"text":"24 nm"
},
"exclusive economic zone":{
"text":"200 nm"
}
},
"Climate":{
"text":"tropical; rainy season (March to June); dry season (June to October); persistent high temperatures and humidity; particularly enervating climate astride the Equator"
},
"Terrain":{
"text":"coastal plain, southern basin, central plateau, northern basin"
"text":"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, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2016 est.)"
"text":"Kongo 48%, Sangha 20%, M'Bochi 12%, Teke 17%, Europeans and other 3%"
},
"Languages":{
"text":"French (official), Lingala and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages), many local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo is the most widespread)"
"text":"named for the Congo River, which makes up much of the country's eastern border; the river name derives from Kongo, a Bantu kingdom that occupied its mouth at the time of Portuguese discovery in the late 15th century and whose name stems from its people the Bakongo, meaning \"hunters\""
"text":"previous 1992; latest approved by referendum 20 January 2002; amended 2015; note - the constitutional referendum approved in October 2015 changed the head of government from the president to the prime minister, reduced the presidential term from 7 to 5 years and limited total presidential terms to 3"
"text":"Prime Minister Clement MOUAMBA (since 23 April 2016); note - a constitutional referendum held in 2015 approved the change of the head of government from the president to the prime minister"
"text":"president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for 2 additional terms); election last held on 20 March 2016 (next to be held in 2021)"
"text":"bicameral Parliament or Parlement consists of the Senate (72 seats; members indirectly elected by regional councils by simple majority vote to serve 6-year terms with one-half of membership renewed every three years) and the National Assembly (139 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority popular vote in two rounds if needed; members serve 5-year terms)"
"text":"Senate - last held on 12 October 2014 for 36 of the expiry seats (next to be held in 2020); National Assembly - last held on 15 July and 5 August 2012 (next to be held in July 2017)"
"text":"Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - RMP 33, FDU 23, UPADS 2, other 7, independent 7; National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PCT 89, MCDDI 7, UPADS 7, RDPS 5, MAR 4, RC 3, MUST 2, UPDP 2, CPR 1, PRL 1, PUR 1, UFD 1, UR 1, independent 12, vacant 3"
"text":"Supreme Court or Cour Supreme (consists of NA judges); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 members); note - a High Court of Justice, outside the judicial authority, tries cases involving treason by the president of the republic"
"text":"Supreme Court judges elected by Parliament and serve until age 65; Constitutional Court members appointed by the president of the republic - 3 directly by the president and 6 nominated by Parliament; members appointed for renewable 9-year terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 3 years"
"text":"Action Movement for Renewal or MAR [Roland BOUITI-VIAUDO] ++ Citizen's Rally or RC ++ Congolese Labour Party or PCT [Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO] ++ Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development or MCDDI [Guy Price Parfait KOLELAS] ++ Movement for Unity, Solidarity, and Work or MUST [Claudine MUNARI] ++ Pan-African Union for Social Development or UPADS [Pascal Tsaty MABIALA] ++ Party for the Unity of the Republic or PUR ++ Patriotic Union for Democracy and Progress or UPDP [Auguste-Celestin GONGARD NKOUA ++ Prospects and Realities Club or CPR ++ Rally for Democracy and Social Progress or RDPS [Bernard BATCHI] ++ Rally of the Presidential Majority or RMP ++ Republican and Liberal Party or PRL ++ Union for the Republic or UR ++ Union of Democratic Forces ++ Union for Democracy and Republic or UDR ++ United Democratic Forces or FDU [Sebastian EBAO]; many smaller parties"
"text":"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"
"text":"divided diagonally from the lower hoist side by a yellow band; the upper triangle (hoist side) is green and the lower triangle is red; green symbolizes agriculture and forests, yellow the friendship and nobility of the people, red is unexplained but has been associated with the struggle for independence",
"note":{
"text":"uses the popular Pan-African colors of Ethiopia"
}
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"lion, elephant; national colors: green, yellow, red"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"La Congolaise\" (The Congolese)"
},
"lyrics/music":{
"text":"Jacques TONDRA and Georges KIBANGHI/Jean ROYER and Joseph SPADILIERE"
"text":"The economy is a mixture of subsistence farming and hunting, an industrial sector based largely on oil and support services, and government spending. Oil has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the economy, providing a major share of government revenues and exports. Natural gas is increasingly being converted to electricity rather than being flared, greatly improving energy prospects. New mining projects, particularly iron ore, which entered production in late 2013, may add as much as $1 billion to annual government revenue. ++ ++ Economic reform efforts have been undertaken with the support of international organizations, notably the World Bank and the IMF, including the recently concluded Article IV consultations. The current administration faces difficult economic challenges of stimulating recovery and reducing poverty. The recent drop in oil prices has constrained government spending; lower oil prices forced the government to cut more than $1 billion in planned spending. However, the government increased infrastructure spending for the September 2015 All-Africa Games and also ahead of the March 2016 presidential election, putting further pressure on the budget. ++ ++ Officially the country became a net external creditor as of 2011, with external debt representing only about 16% of GDP and debt servicing less than 3% of government revenue."
"text":"primary network consists of microwave radio relay and coaxial cable with services barely adequate for government use; key exchanges are in Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, and Loubomo; intercity lines frequently out of order"
"text":"fixed-line infrastructure inadequate, providing less than 1 connection per 100 persons; in the absence of an adequate fixed-line infrastructure, mobile-cellular subscribership has surged to 110 per 100 persons"
"text":"1 state-owned TV and 3 state-owned radio stations; several privately owned TV and radio stations; satellite TV service is available; rebroadcasts of several international broadcasters are available (2007)"
"text":"1,120 km (commercially navigable on Congo and Oubanqui Rivers above Brazzaville; there are many ferries across the river to Kinshasa; the Congo south of Brazzaville-Kinshasa to the coast is not navigable because of rapids, necessitating a rail connection to Pointe Noire; other rivers are used for local traffic only) (2011)"
},
"Merchant marine":{
"registered in other countries":{
"text":"1 (Democratic Republic of the Congo 1) (2010)"
"text":"Congolese Armed Forces (Forces Armees Congolaises, FAC): Army (Armee de Terre), Navy, Congolese Air Force (Armee de l'Air Congolaise); Gendarmerie; Special Presidential Security Guard (GSSP) (2013)"
},
"Military service age and obligation":{
"text":"18 years of age for voluntary military service; women may serve in the Armed Forces (2012)"
}
},
"Transnational Issues":{
"Disputes - international":{
"text":"the location of the boundary in the broad Congo River with the Democratic Republic of the Congo is undefined except in the Pool Malebo/Stanley Pool area"
"text":"7,800 (multiple civil wars since 1992) (2015)"
}
},
"Trafficking in persons":{
"current situation":{
"text":"the Republic of the Congo is a source and destination country for children, men, and women, subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; most trafficking victims are from Benin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and, to a lesser extent, other neighboring countries and are subjected to domestic servitude and market vending by West African and Congolese nationals; adults and children, the majority from the DRC, are also sex trafficked in Congo, mainly Brazzaville; internal trafficking victims, often from rural areas, are exploited as domestic servants or forced to work in quarries, bakeries, fishing, and agriculture"
},
"tier rating":{
"text":"Tier 2 Watch List - the Republic of the Congo does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the country drafted an action plan based on anti-trafficking legislation, which remains pending in the Supreme Court; the government made minimal anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts in 2014, failing to prosecute or convict suspected traffickers from cases dating back to 2010; serious allegations of official complicity continue to be reported; the government lacks a systematic means of identifying victims and relies on NGOs and international organizations to identify victims and NGOs and foster families to provide care to victims; the quality of care varied widely because the foster care system was allegedly undermined by inadequate security and official complicity (2015)"
