Part 830

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

Geography ---------

Location: Central Africa, northeast of Angola

Geographic coordinates: 0 00 N, 25 00 E

Map references: Africa

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

Land boundaries: total: 10,271 km border countries: 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 economic zone: boundaries with neighbors territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: Tanzania-Zaire-Zambia tripoint in Lake Tanganyika may no longer be indefinite since it has been informally 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)

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 lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Margherita Peak (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 potential

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

Irrigated land: 100 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment: current issues: poaching threatens wildlife populations; water pollution; deforestation; 1.2 million Rwandan refugees are responsible for significant deforestation, soil erosion, and wildlife poaching in eastern Zaire natural hazards: periodic droughts in south; volcanic activity international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83; signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Environmental Modification

Geographic 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

People ------

Population: 46,498,539 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 48% (male 11,161,347; female 11,124,583) 15-64 years: 49% (male 11,197,097; female 11,783,524) 65 years and over: 3% (male 539,775; female 692,213) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.67% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 48.1 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 16.9 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: -14.56 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.) note: in 1994, more than one million refugees fled into Zaire to escape the fighting between the Hutus and the Tutsis in Rwanda and Burundi; a small number of these returned to their homes in 1995 despite fear of the ongoing violence; additionally, Zaire is host to about 100,000 Angolan, and about 100,000 Sudanese refugees

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female all ages: 0.97 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 108 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 46.7 years male: 44.97 years female: 48.47 years (1996 est.)