-88),
$18 million

Currency: Comoran franc (plural--francs); 1 Comoran franc (CF) = 100
centimes

Exchange rates: Comoran francs (CF) per US$1--287.99 (January 1990),
319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985);
note--linked to the French franc at 50 to 1 French franc

Fiscal year: calendar year

- Communications
Highways: 750 km total; about 210 km bituminous, remainder crushed
stone or gravel

Ports: Mutsamudu, Moroni

Civil air: 4 major transport aircraft

Airports: 4 total, 4 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 3 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: sparse system of radio relay and high-frequency radio
communication stations for interisland and external communications to Madagascar
and Reunion; over 1,800 telephones; stations--2 AM, 1 FM, 1 TV

- Defense Forces
Branches: Army, Presidential Guard, Gendarmerie

Military manpower: males 15-49, 97,504; 58,274 fit for military service

Defense expenditures: 3% of GDP (1981)
----------------------------------------------------
Country: Congo
- Geography
Total area: 342,000 km2; land area: 341,500 km2

Comparative area: slightly smaller than Montana

Land boundaries: 5,504 km total; Angola 201 km, Cameroon 523 km,
Central African Republic 467 km, Gabon 1,903 km, Zaire 2,410 km

Coastline: 169 km

Maritime claims:

Territorial sea: 200 nm

Disputes: long section with Zaire along the Congo River is indefinite
(no division of the river or its islands has been made)

Climate: tropical; rainy season (March to June); dry season (June
to October); constantly high temperatures and humidity; particularly enervating
climate astride the Equator

Terrain: coastal plain, southern basin, central plateau, northern basin

Natural resources: petroleum, timber, potash, lead, zinc, uranium,
copper, phosphates, natural gas

Land use: 2% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 29% meadows and
pastures; 62% forest and woodland; 7% other

Environment: deforestation; about 70% of the population lives in
Brazzaville, Pointe Noire, or along the railroad between them

- People
Population: 2,242,274 (July 1990), growth rate 3.0% (1990)

Birth rate: 43 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 14 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 110 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expecta