97, replaced by Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO

Legislative branch: unicameral National Transitional Council (75
seats, members elected by reconciliation forum of 1,420 delegates;
note--the National Transitioanl Council replaced the bicameral
Paarliament in mid-1997
elections: National Transitional Council--last held NA January 1998
(next to be held NA 2001); note--at that election the National
Transitional Council is to be replaced by a bicameral assembly
election results: National Transitional Council--percent of vote by
party--NA; seats by party--NA

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)

Political parties and leaders: the most important of the many
SASSOU-NGUESSO, president]; Association for Democracy and
TCHICAYA, president]; Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral
BOKAMBA-YANGOUMA]

Political pressure groups and leaders: Union of Congolese
Socialist Youth or UJSC; Congolese Trade Union Congress or CSC;
Revolutionary Union of Congolese Women or URFC; General Union of
Congolese Pupils and Students or UGEEC

International organization participation: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, BDEAC,
CCC, CEEAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD,
IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MONUA, NAM,
OAU, OPCW, UDEAC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WToO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d'Affaires ad interim Serge
MOMBOULI
chancery: 4891 Colorado Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20011

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador J. Aubrey HOOKS
embassy: Avenue Amilcar Cabral, Brazzaville
mailing address: B. P. 1015, Brazzaville
note: the embassy is temporarily collocated with the US Embassy in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (US Embassy Kinshasa, 310
Avenue des Aviateurs, Kinshasa)

Flag description: divided diagonally from the lower hoist side by
a yellow band; the upper triangle (hoist side) is green and the
lower triangle is red; uses the popular pan-African colors of
Ethiopia

Economy

Economy--overview: The economy is a mixture of village agriculture
and handicrafts, an industrial sector based largely on oil, support
services, and a government characterized by budget problems and
overstaffing. Oil has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the
economy, providing a major share of government revenues and exports.
In the early