Congo Democratic Republic of the Environment - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

poaching threatens wildlife populations; water pollution; deforestation (forests endangered by fires set to clear the land for agricultural purposes; forests also used as a source of fuel); soil erosion; mining (diamonds, gold, coltan - a mineral used in creating capacitors for electronic devices) causing environmental damage

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification

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)

Land use

agricultural land: 11.4% (2018 est.)

arable land: 3.1% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.3% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 8% (2018 est.)

forest: 67.9% (2018 est.)

other: 20.7% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 47.4% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 4.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Food insecurity

widespread lack of access: due to internal conflict in eastern regions and high food prices - according to an October 2022 analysis, 24.5 million people were projected to experience acute food insecurity between January and June 2023; this is due to the intensification of the conflict in the northeastern provinces, which, among other factors, has prevented completion of the harvests and likely will reduce food availability in the months to come (2023)

Revenue from forest resources

8.72% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 37.62 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 2.02 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 61.24 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 14,385,226 tons (2016 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 704,876 tons (2005 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 4.9% (2005 est.)

Major lakes (area sq km)

fresh water lake(s): Lake Tanganyika (shared with Burundi, Tanzania, and Zambia) - 32,000 sq km; Lake Albert (shared with Uganda) - 5,590 sq km; Lake Mweru (shared with Zambia) - 4,350 sq km; Lac Mai-Ndombe - 2,300 sq km; Lake Kivu (shared with Rwanda) - 2,220 sq km; Lake Edward (shared with Uganda) - 2,150 sq km; Lac Tumba - 500 sq km; Lac Upemba - 530 sq km

Major rivers (by length in km)

Congo river mouth (shared with Zambia [s], Angola, and Republic of Congo) - 4,700 km; Ubangi river mouth (shared with Central African Republic [s] and Republic of Congo) - 2,270 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Congo (3,730,881 sq km), (Mediterranean Sea) Nile (3,254,853 sq km)
Indian Ocean drainage: Zambezi (1,332,412 sq km)

Major aquifers

Congo Basin

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 460 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 150 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 70 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

1.29 trillion cubic meters (2020 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Congo Democratic Republic of the on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Congo Democratic Republic of the 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Congo Democratic Republic of the 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.