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- <text>
- <title>
- Zaire: Geography
- </title>
- <article><hdr>The World Factbook 1993: Zaire
- Geography</hdr><body>
- <p>Location: Central Africa, between Congo and Zambia
- </p>
- <list>
- <l>Area:</l>
- <l> total area: 2,345,410 km2</l>
- <l> land area: 2,267,600 km2</l>
- <l> comparative area: slightly more than one-quarter the size of
- US</l>
- </list>
- <p>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
- </p>
- <p>Coastline: 37 km
- </p>
- <list>
- <l>Maritime claims:</l>
- <l> exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm</l>
- <l> territorial sea: 12 nm</l>
- </list>
- <p>International disputes: 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)
- </p>
- <p>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
- </p>
- <p>Terrain: vast central basin is a low-lying plateau; mountains
- in east
- </p>
- <p>Natural resources: cobalt, copper, cadmium, petroleum,
- industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin,
- germanium, uranium, radium, bauxite, iron ore, coal, hydropower
- potential
- </p>
- <list>
- <l>Land use:</l>
- <l> arable land: 3%</l>
- <l> permanent crops: 0%</l>
- <l> meadows and pastures: 4%</l>
- <l> forest and woodland: 78%</l>
- <l> other: 15%</l>
- </list>
- <p>Irrigated land: 100 km2 (1989 est.)
- </p>
- <p>Environment: dense tropical rain forest in central river basin
- and eastern highlands; periodic droughts in south
- </p>
- <p>Note: straddles Equator; very narrow strip of land that
- controls the lower Congo River and is only outlet to South
- Atlantic Ocean
- </p></body></article></text>
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