Republic of the Congo

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Country summary

Capital

Brazzaville

Borders

Angola 201 km, Cameroon 523 km, Central African Republic 467 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 2,410 km, Gabon 1,903 km

Government type

republic

Population

4,012,809[1]

Population growth

2.754% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

54.15 years[1]

Unemployment

NA%[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

169[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

162[3]

Doing Business ranking

179[4]


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, but the calm is tenuous and refugees continue to present a humanitarian crisis. The Republic of Congo was once 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.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Central African CFA franc (ISO code: XAF)
  • Central bank discount rate: 4.75% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: NA% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $1.811 billion (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $268.4 million (31 December 2008)[1]

Notable events:

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[6] 2 354 3 220 2 794 3 020 3 496 4 649 6 087 7 731 7 646 10 723
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[7] 0.214
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[8] 32.269 31.911 31.551 32.744 39.937
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[9] 23.650 28.042 20.248 30.795 24.791
Debt to revenue (years) 0.007

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Republic of the Congo", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  2. Heritage Foundation. "Republic of the Congo", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  3. Transparency International. "Republic of the Congo", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  4. Doing Business. "Republic of the Congo", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  5. Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 358. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-19.
  6. World Bank. "Republic of the Congo: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  7. World Bank. "Republic of the Congo: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  8. World Bank. "Republic of the Congo: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  9. World Bank. "Republic of the Congo: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.

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