Natural resources: unexploited deposits of petroleum, bauxite, phosphates; fish, timber

Land use: 11% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 43% meadows and pastures; 38% forest and woodland; 7% other

Environment: hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season

- People
Population: 998,963 (July 1990), growth rate 2.5% (1990)

Birth rate: 43 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 19 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

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

Infant mortality rate: 127 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 44 years male, 48 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 5.9 children born/woman (1990)