About 80% of the Congolese population are Christian, predominantly Roman Catholic. Most of the non-Christians adhere to either traditional religions or syncretic sects. Traditional religions embody such concepts as monotheism, animism, vitalism, spirit and ancestor worship, witchcraft, and sorcery and vary widely among ethnic groups; none is formalized. The syncretic sects often merge Christianity with traditional beliefs and rituals. The most popular of these sects, Kimbanguism, was seen as a threat to the colonial regime and was banned by the Belgians. Kimbanguism, officially "the church of Christ on Earth by the prophet Simon Kimbangu," now has about 3 million members, primarily among the Bakongo of Bas-Congo and Kinshasa. In 1969, it was the first independent African church admitted to the World Council of Churches.
Before independence, education was largely in the hands of religious groups. The primary school system was well-developed at independence; however, the secondary school system was limited, and higher education was almost nonexistent in most regions of the country. The principal objective of this system was to train low-level administrators and clerks. Since independence, efforts have been made to increase access to education, and secondary and higher education have been made available to many more Congolese. Despite the deterioration of the state-run educational system in recent years, about 80% of the males and 65% of females, ages 6-11, were enrolled in a mixture of state- and church-run primary schools in 1996. At higher levels of education, males greatly outnumber females. The elite continues to send their children abroad to be educated, primarily in Western Europe.
Population:
56,625,039 (July, 2003 est.), 51,964,999 (July 2000 est.)
note:
estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
Age structure:
0-14 years:
48.3% (male 13,734,706; female 13,624,579) (2003 est.)
48% (male 12,597,444; female 12,490,279) (2000 est.)
15-64 years:
49.2% (male 13,648,155; female 14,203,077) (2003 est.)
49% (male 12,503,440; female 13,037,527) (2000 est.)
65 years and over:
2.5% (male 583,366; female 831,156) (2003 est.)
3% (male 567,823; female 768,486) (2000 est.)
Median age: total: 15.8 years (2002) female: 16.1 years (2002) male: 15.4 years (2002)
Population growth rate: 2.9% (2003 est.), 3.19% (2000 est.)
Birth rate: 45.12 births/1,000 population (2003 est.), 46.44 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Death rate: 14.87 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.), 15.38 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Net migration rate:
-1.26 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.), 0.82 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)
note:
note: fighting between the Congolese Government and Uganda- and Rwanda-backed Congolese rebels spawned a regional war in DROC in August 1998, which left 1.8 million Congolese internally displaced and caused 300,000 Congolese refugees to flee to surrounding countries (2003 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.7 male(s)/female
total population:
0.98 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 96.56 deaths/1,000 live births 96.56 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) 101.71 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.) female: 87.71 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) male: 105.15 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
48.93 years (2003 est.), 48.75 years (2000 est.)
male:
46.83 years (2003 est.), 46.72 years (2000 est.)
female:
51.09 years (2003 est.), 50.83 years (2000 est.)
Total fertility rate: 6.69 children born/woman (2003 est.), 6.92 children born/woman (2000 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Congolese (singular and plural)
adjective:
Congolese or Congo
Ethnic groups: over 200 African ethnic groups of which the majority are Bantu; the four largest tribes - Mongo, Luba, Kongo (all Bantu), and the Mangbetu-Azande (Hamitic) make up about 45% of the population
Religions: Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%, Muslim 10%, other syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs 10%
Languages: French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write French, Lingala, Kingwana, or Tshiluba
total population:
65.5% (2003 est.), 77.3% (1995 est.)
male:
76.2% (2003 est.), 86.6% (1995 est.)
female:
55.1% (2003 est.), 67.7% (1995 est.)