4 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 28
1,524 to 2,437 m: 6
914 to 1,523 m: 11
under 914 m: 11 (2004 est.)

Military Congo, Republic of the

Military branches:
Congolese Armed Forces (FAC): Army, Air Force (Armee de l'Air
Congolaise), Navy, Gendarmerie, Republican Guard (2005)

Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary military service (2001)

Manpower available for military service:
males age 18-49: 686,123 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18-49: 360,492 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males: 34,281 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$126.5 million (2004)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
2.8% (2004)

Transnational Issues Congo, Republic of the

Disputes - international:
about 7,000 Congolese refugees fleeing internal civil conflicts
since the mid-1990s still reside in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo; the location of the boundary in the broad Congo River with
the Democratic Republic of the Congo is indefinite except in the
Pool Malebo/Stanley Pool area

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
IDPs: 60,000 (multiple civil wars since 1992; most IDPs are ethnic
Lari) (2004)

This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005

======================================================================

@Cook Islands

Introduction Cook Islands

Background:
Named after Captain COOK, who sighted them in 1770, the islands
became a British protectorate in 1888. By 1900, administrative
control was transferred to New Zealand; in 1965 residents chose
self-government in free association with New Zealand. The emigration
of skilled workers to New Zealand and government deficits are
continuing problems.

Geography Cook Islands

Location:
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about
one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand

Geographic coordinates:
21 14 S, 159 46 W

Map references:
Oceania

Area:
total: 240 sq km
land: 240 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative:
1.3 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:
0 km

Coastline:
120 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

Climate:
tropical; moderated by trade winds

Terrain:
low coral