The document provides demographic and background information about the Democratic Republic of Congo. It states that in 2000, the population of Congo was over 2.8 million growing at an annual rate of 2.23% with birth and mortality rates of 38.61 and 16.35 per 1,000 respectively. Life expectancy is around 47 years overall, though women live to 50 on average and men to 44. It also notes that Congo has been engulfed in conflict for over a decade leading to violence, displacement, rape, and collapse of public services, though a peace agreement was signed in 2002, conflict has persisted in eastern provinces.
