Natural resources: diamonds, uranium, timber, gold, oil

Land use: 3% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 5% meadows and pastures; 64% forest and woodland; 28% other

Environment: hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds affect northern areas; poaching has diminished reputation as one of last great wildlife refuges; desertification

Note: landlocked; almost the precise center of Africa

- People
Population: 2,877,365 (July 1990), growth rate 2.6% (1990)

Birth rate: 44 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 18 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 141 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 45 years male, 48 years female (1990)