ACOG - Zaire  - IBM

Geography

Location: Central Africa, northeast of Angola

Area:
total area: 2,345,410 sq km
land area: 2,267,600 sq km
comparative area: slightly more than one-quarter the size of US

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, Zambia1,930 km

Coastline: 37 km


People

Population: 44,060,636 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 48% (female 10,522,368; male 10,527,451)
15-64 years: 50% (female 11,211,353; male 10,630,118)
65 years and over: 2% (female 647,307; male 522,039)

Population growth rate: 3.18% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 48.33 births/1,000 population

Death rate: 16.57 deaths/1,000 population

Net migration rate: NA migrant(s)/1,000 population

Infant mortality rate: 108.7 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 47.54 years
male: 45.68 years
female: 49.46 years

Total fertility rate: 6.7 children born/woman

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

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

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

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


Government

Names:
conventional long form: Republic of Zaire
conventional short form: Zaire

Type: republic with a strong presidential system

Capital: Kinshasa

Independence: 30 June 1960 (from Belgium)

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


Economy

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $18.8 billion

National product real growth rate: 4%

National product per capita: $440

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 40%

Unemployment rate:

Electricity:
capacity: 2,830,000 kW
production: 6.2 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 133 kWh



Olympic Factoid
The volunteer staff of the 1996 Olympic Games totaled 50,152. They worked an estimated 850,000 shifts.