Country name
conventional long form: Republic of the Congo
conventional short form: none
local long form : Republique du Congo
local short form: none
former: Congo/Brazzaville, Congo

Data code CF

Government type republic

National capital Brazzaville

Administrative divisions 9 regions (regions, singular - region) and 1 commune*; Bouenza, Brazzaville*,Cuvette, Kouilou, Lekoumou, Likouala, Niari, Plateaux, Pool, Sangha

Independence 15 August 1960 (from France)

National holiday Congolese National Day, 15 August (1960)

Constitution new constitution approved by referendum March 1992

Legal system based on French civil law system and customary law

Suffrage 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
chief of state: President Pascal LISSOUBA (since August 1992)
head of government: Prime Minister David Charles GANAO (since 2 September 1996)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
elections : president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election lastheld 16 August 1992 (next was to be held 27 July 1997 but armed clashes betweenpolitical parties in early July seemed likely to delay it); prime ministerappointed by the president
election results: Pascal LISSOUBA elected president; percent of vote - Pascal LISSOUBA61%

Legislative branch bicameral Parliament consists of the National Assembly or AssembleeNationale (125 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to servefive-year terms) and the Senate (60 seats; members are elected by local andregional councils to serve six-year terms)
elections: National Assembly - last held 3 October 1993 (next to be held NA 1998);Senate - last held November 1996 (next to be held NA 2002)
election results: National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party -UPADS 64, URD/PCT 58, others 3; Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seatsby party - UPADS 23, MCDDI 14, RDD 8, RDPS 5, PCT 2, others 8

Judicial branch Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)

Political parties and leaders the most important of the many political parties are Congolese LaborParty or PCT [Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO, president]; Association for Democracyand Development or RDD [Joachim Yhombi OPANGO, president]; Association forDemocracy and Social Progress or RDPS [Jean-Pierre Thystere TCHICAYA, president];Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development or MCDDI [BernardKOLELAS, leader]; Pan-African Union for Social Development or UPADS [PascalLISSOUBA, leader]; Union of Democratic Forces or UFD [David Charles GANAO,leader]; Union for Democratic Renewal or URD; Union for Development and SocialProgress or UDPS [Jean-Michael BOKAMBA-YANGOUMA, leader]

Political pressure groups and leaders Union of Congolese Socialist Youth or UJSC; Congolese Trade Union Congressor 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, NAM, OAU, UDEAC, UN, UNAVEM III, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO,WIPO, WMO, WToO

Diplomatic representation in the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Dieudonne Antoine GANGA
chancery: 4891 Colorado Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20011
telephone: [1] (202) 726-5500
FAX : [1] (202) 726-1860

Diplomatic representation from the US
chief of mission: Ambassador J. Aubrey HOOKS (10 June 1996)
embassy: Avenue Amilcar Cabral, Brazzaville
mailing address: B. P. 1015, Brazzaville
telephone: [242] 83 20 70
FAX: [242] 83 63 38

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

NOTE: The information regarding Congo, Republic of the on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Congo, Republic of the Government 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Congo, Republic of the Government 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.