The Republic of Congo# is the third–largest crude oil producer in Sub–Saharan Africa after Nigeria and Angola and is heavily dependent on oil production and oil exports. With a population of 5.5 million, Congo is a lower middle-income economy, endowed with abundant natural resources. The economy is heavily dependent on oil production, which accounted for 45 percent of GDP, 75 percent of government revenue, and 95 percent of exports of goods during the height of oil prices (2010-14). Besides crude oil, Congo is endowed with a wealth of mineral resources, including reserves of potash, phosphate, iron, and copper, which remain largely untapped. Much of the country is covered with tropical forests of softwoods and hardwoods (over 65 percent of the country’s total surface area), a fragile ecosystem that removes carbon from the atmosphere and stores it, thus helping to slow global warming.