Official name: République du Congo (Republic of Congo)

Head of State: President Denis Sassou-Nguesso (PCT) (since 1997; re-elected Mar 2002)

Head of government: Prime Minister Isidore Mvouba (appointed Jan 2005)

Ruling party: Coalition of Parti Congolais du Travail (PCT) (Congolese Labour Party), and its allies (since 2002; re-elected Aug 2007)

Area: 342,000 square km

Population: 3.92 million (2005)

Capital: Brazzaville (political); Pointe-Noire (economic)

Official language: French

Currency: CFA franc (CFAf) = 100 centimes (Communauté Financière Africaine (African Financial Community) franc)

Exchange rate: CFAf507.22 per US$ (Jan 2007); CFAf655.95 per euro (pegged from Jan 1999)

GDP per capita: US$1,301 (2005)

GDP real growth: 9.20% (2005)

Labour force: 1.56 million (2004)

Inflation: 2.00% (2005)

Oil production: 262,000 bpd (2006)

Balance of trade: US$3.37 billion (2005)

Foreign debt: US$5.83 billion (2004)