1997 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1997 (Project Gutenberg)
Geography
Area
total: 2,345,410 sq km land: 2,267,600 sq km water : 77,810 sq km
Area - comparative
slightly less than one-fourth the size of US
Climate
tropical; hot and humid in equatorial river basin; cooler and drier in southern highlands; cooler and wetter in eastern highlands; north of Equator - wet season April to October, dry season December to February; south of Equator - wet season November to March, dry season April to October
Coastline
37 km
Elevation extremes
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Margherita Peak (Mount Stanley) 5,110 m
Geographic coordinates
0 00 N, 25 00 E
Irrigated land
100 sq km (1993 est.)
Land boundaries
total : 10,271 km border countries: Angola 2,511 km, Burundi 233 km, Central African Republic 1,577 km, Republic of the Congo 2,410 km, Rwanda 217 km, Sudan 628 km, Uganda 765 km, Zambia 1,930 km
Land use
arable land : 3% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 7% forests and woodland: 77% other: 13% (1993 est.)
Location
Central Africa, northeast of Angola
Map references
Africa
Maritime claims
exclusive economic zone : boundaries with neighbors territorial sea: 12 nm
Natural hazards
periodic droughts
Natural resources
cobalt, copper, cadmium, petroleum, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, germanium, uranium, radium, bauxite, iron ore, coal, hydropower potential
Terrain
vast central basin is a low-lying plateau; mountains in east