,524 to 2,437 m:
3 (2001)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 29 1,524 to 2,437 m: 7 914 to
1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 12 (2001)

Military Congo, Republic of the

Military branches: Army, Air Force, Navy, Gendarmerie, National Police

Military manpower - military age: 20 years of age (2002 est.)

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 702,048 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 356,388
(2002 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 32,350
(2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $84 million (FY01)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.8% (FY01)

Transnational Issues Congo, Republic of the

Disputes - international: most of the Congo River boundary with the
Democratic Republic of the Congo is indefinite (no agreement has been
reached on the division of the river or its islands, except in the
Stanley Pool/Pool Malebo area)

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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

Congo, Democratic Republic of the

Introduction

Congo, Democratic Republic of the

Background: Since 1997 the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DROC;
formerly called Zaire) has been rent by ethnic strife and civil war,
touched off by a massive inflow in 1994 of refugees from the fighting
in Rwanda and Burundi. The government of former president MOBUTU Sese
Seko was toppled by a rebellion led by Laurent KABILA in May 1997;
his regime was subsequently challenged by a Rwanda- and Uganda-backed
rebellion in August 1998. Troops from Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Chad,
and Sudan intervened to support the Kinshasa regime. A cease-fire was
signed on 10 July 1999 by the DROC, Zimbabwe, Angola, Uganda, Namibia,
Rwanda, and Congolese armed rebel groups RCD-G and MLC, but sporadic
fighting continued. KABILA was assassinated on 16 January 2001 and his
son Joseph KABILA was named head of state on 26 January 2001. Despite
taking a radically different approach than his father, the new president
has been equally unsuccessful in ending the war.

Geography Congo, Democratic Republic of the

Location: Central Africa, northeast of Angola

Geographic coordinates: 0 00 N, 25 00 E

Map references: Africa

Area: total: 2,345,410 sq km water: 77,810 sq km land: 2,267,600 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly less than one-fourth the size of the US

Land boundaries: t