Congo

LOCATED ALONG THE south Atlantic Ocean, the sub-Saharan low-income nation of the Republic of the Congo (Congo) was formerly known as Middle Congo. In 1990, the Congolese chose to transform their Marxist economy, and democratic elections were held in 1992. When former Marxists returned to power five years later, civil war broke out. A tenuous peace was negotiated in 2003, but the Congo is still suffering a humanitarian crisis because of the many refugees.

The Congo has great potential for further development of its large petroleum reserves. However, government resources are strained by excess mortality rates, low life expectancy, and low population and growth rates. At present, the Congo's economy combines small farming and handicrafts with a growing industrial sector. Nearly one-third of all Congolese suffer from malnutrition.

The Congolese median age is 20.7 years, and life expectancy is 48.97 years. About 37 percent of the population are under 14 years of age, and 3.7 percent are over 65. The Congolese have a 39.3 chance of not surviving until their 40th birthday.

The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is 4.9 percent in the Congo. In 2003, it was estimated that 90,000 Congolese were living with the disease, and 9,700 deaths have resulted from the disease and its complications. The people are also at very high risk of developing food- and waterborne diseases such as bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever, and vectorborne diseases such as malaria. In the spring of 2005, Congolese officials reported an outbreak of acute hemorrhagic fever. Approximately 49 percent of the population have no sustained access to improved water sources, and access to sanitation is sorely inadequate. General health is further threatened by limited access to physicians, hospitals, and lifesaving drugs. On the positive side, the number of undernourished Congolese dropped from 37 percent in 1990 to 32 percent in 2000.

[Page 201]Infant mortality is unacceptably high at 81 deaths per 1000 live births, as is the under-five mortality rate of 108. Immunization rates have declined since the 1990s. Between 1990 and 2002, infant DPT immunizations decreased from 77 to 41 percent; polio immunizations dropped from 79 to 41 percent; measles immunizations decreased from 77 to 37 percent; and tuberculosis immunizations dropped from 94 to 51 percent. In 2003, half of all children ages 12 to 23 months received measles and DPT3 immunizations. Most Congolese children who die do so from preventable diseases. About 14 percent of all children under 5 have moderate to severe malnutrition; three percent suffer from severe malnutrition; four percent have moderate to severe wasting; and 19 percent suffer from moderate to severe stunting.

The Congo's estimated fertility rate of 3.54 children per female in 2005 was a definite drop from the 6.3 children per female only two years earlier. The adolescent fertility rate, which is estimated at 143 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19, remains high. The Congolese maternal mortality ratio is also high at 510 deaths per 100,000 live births.

The Congo provides free and compulsory education up to age 16. After 1990, when a 90.1 percent primary school attendance was reported, a decline began that was associated with the ongoing conflict. By 2003, males were completing primary school at a rate of 59 percent and females at a rate of 56 percent. Literacy rates are relatively high for sub-Saharan Africa, and 83 percent of the population are literate, although at 78.4 percent, female literacy lags behind males at 89.6.

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