nganese, 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.)

Total fertility rate: 6.64 children born/woman (1996 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Zairian(s)
adjective: Zairian

Ethnic divisions: over 200 African ethnic groups, the majority are