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BURUNDI

@Burundi:Geography

 Location: Central Africa, east of Zaire

 Map references: Africa
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BURUNDI - MAJOR CITIES 
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                                        Latitude,      Internat'l     Time   
                        Population      Longitude      Phone Code     Zone   
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BUJUMBURA                  273,000     3.22S, 29.19E     257-        GMT+2   
Gitega                      95,000     3.24S, 29.56E     257-        GMT+2   
Bururi                       8,000     3.57S, 29.35E     257-        GMT+2   
Rumonge                      5,000     3.58S, 29.26E     257-        GMT+2   
Ngozi                        4,000     2.54S, 29.48E     257-        GMT+2   
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 Area:
 total area: 27,830 sq km
 land area: 25,650 sq km
 comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland

 Land boundaries: total 974 km, Rwanda 290 km, Tanzania 451 km, Zaire
 233 km

 Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

 Maritime claims: none; landlocked

 International disputes: none

 Climate: temperate; warm; occasional frost in uplands; dry season from
 June to September

 Terrain: hilly and mountainous, dropping to a plateau in east, some
 plains

 Natural resources: nickel, uranium, rare earth oxide, peat, cobalt,
 copper, platinum (not yet exploited), vanadium

 Land use:
 arable land: 43%
 permanent crops: 8%
 meadows and pastures: 35%
 forest and woodland: 2%
 other: 12%

 Irrigated land: 720 sq km (1989 est.)

 Environment:
 current issues: soil erosion as a result of overgrazing and the
 expansion of agriculture into marginal lands; deforestation (little
 forested land remains because of uncontrolled cutting of trees for
 fuel); habitat loss threatens wildlife populations
 natural hazards: flooding, landslides
 international agreements: party to - Endangered Species; signed, but
 not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Law of
 the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban

 Note: landlocked; straddles crest of the Nile-Congo watershed

@Burundi:People

 Population: 6,262,429 (July 1995 est.)

 Age structure:
 0-14 years: 48% (female 1,489,721; male 1,494,730)
 15-64 years: 50% (female 1,606,307; male 1,498,021)
 65 years and over: 2% (female 105,446; male 68,204) (July 1995 est.)

 Population growth rate: 2.18% (1995 est.)

 Birth rate: 43.35 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Death rate: 21.51 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Net migration rate: NA migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
 note: in a number of waves since April 1994, hundreds of thousands of
 refugees have fled the civil strife between the Hutu and Tutsi
 factions in Burundi and crossed into Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zaire; the
 refugee flows are continuing in 1995 as the ethnic violence has
 persisted

 Infant mortality rate: 111.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

 Life expectancy at birth:
 total population: 39.86 years
 male: 37.84 years
 female: 41.95 years (1995 est.)

 Total fertility rate: 6.63 children born/woman (1995 est.)

 Nationality:
 noun: Burundian(s)
 adjective: Burundi

 Ethnic divisions:
 Africans: Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%
 non-Africans: Europeans 3,000, South Asians 2,000

 Religions: Christian 67% (Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 5%),
 indigenous beliefs 32%, Muslim 1%

 Languages: Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake
 Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area)

 Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
 total population: 50%
 male: 61%
 female: 40%

 Labor force: 1.9 million (1983 est.)
 by occupation: agriculture 93.0%, government 4.0%, industry and
 commerce 1.5%, services 1.5%

@Burundi:Government

 Names:
 conventional long form: Republic of Burundi
 conventional short form: Burundi
 local long form: Republika y'u Burundi
 local short form: Burundi

 Digraph: BY

 Type: republic

 Capital: Bujumbura

 Administrative divisions: 15 provinces; Bubanza, Bujumbura, Bururi,
 Cankuzo, Cibitoke, Gitega, Karuzi, Kayanza, Kirundo, Makamba,
 Muramvya, Muyinga, Ngozi, Rutana, Ruyigi

 Independence: 1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian
 administration)

 National holiday: Independence Day, 1 July (1962)

 Constitution: 13 March 1992; provides for establishment of a plural
 political system

 Legal system: based on German and Belgian civil codes and customary
 law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

 Suffrage: universal adult at age NA

 Executive branch:
 chief of state: President Sylvestre NTIBANTUNGANYA (since September
 1994)
 note: President Melchior NDADAYE, Burundi's first democratically
 elected president, died in the military coup of 21 October 1993 and
 was succeeded on 5 February 1994 by President Cyprien NTARYAMIRA, who
 was killed in a mysterious airplane explosion on 6 April 1994
 head of government: Prime Minister Antoine NDUWAYO (since February
 1995); selected by President NTIBANTUNGANYA following the resignation
 of Anatole KANYENKIKO on 15 February 1995
 cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed by prime minister

 Legislative branch: unicameral
 National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale): elections last held 29 June
 1993 (next to be held NA); results - FRODEBU 71%, UPRONA 21.4%; seats
 - (81 total) FRODEBU 65, UPRONA 16; other parties won too small shares
 of the vote to win seats in the assembly
 note: The National Unity Charter outlining the principles for
 constitutional government was adopted by a national referendum on 5
 February 1991

 Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)

 Political parties and leaders: Unity for National Progress (UPRONA);
 Burundi Democratic Front (FRODEBU); Organization of the People of
 Burundi (RBP); Socialist Party of Burundi (PSB); People's
 Reconciliation Party (PRP); opposition parties, legalized in March
 1992, include Burundi African Alliance for the Salvation (ABASA);
 Rally for Democracy and Economic and Social Development (RADDES); and
 Party for National Redress (PARENA)

 Other political or pressure groups: NA;

 Member of: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEEAC, CEPGL, ECA, FAO, G-77, GATT,
 IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT
 (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, NAM, OAU,
 UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

 Diplomatic representation in US:
 chief of mission: post vacant since recall of Ambassador Jacques
 BACAMURWANKO in November 1994
 chancery: Suite 212, 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007
 telephone: [1] (202) 342-2574

 US diplomatic representation:
 chief of mission: Ambassador Robert C. KRUEGER
 embassy: Avenue des Etats-Unis, Bujumbura
 mailing address: B. P. 1720, Bujumbura
 telephone: [257] (2) 23454
 FAX: [257] (2) 22926

 Flag: divided by a white diagonal cross into red panels (top and
 bottom) and green panels (hoist side and outer side) with a white disk
 superimposed at the center bearing three red six-pointed stars
 outlined in green arranged in a triangular design (one star above, two
 stars below)

Economy

 Overview: A landlocked, resource-poor country in an early stage of
 economic development, Burundi since October 1993 has suffered from
 massive ethnic-based violence that has displaced an estimated million
 people, disrupted production, and set back needed reform programs.
 Burundi is predominately agricultural with roughly 90% of the
 population dependent on subsistence agriculture. Its economic health
 depends on the coffee crop, which accounts for 80% of foreign exchange
 earnings. The ability to pay for imports therefore continues to rest
 largely on the vagaries of the climate and the international coffee
 market. As part of its economic reform agenda, launched in February
 1991 with IMF and World Bank support, Burundi is trying to diversify
 its agricultural exports, attract foreign investment in industry, and
 modernize government budgetary practices. Although the government
 remains committed to reforms, it fears new austerity measures would
 add to ethnic tensions.

 National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $3.7 billion (1994
 est.)

 National product real growth rate: -13.5% (1994 est.)

 National product per capita: $600 (1994 est.)

 Inflation rate (consumer prices): 10% (1993 est.)

 Unemployment rate: NA%

 Budget:
 revenues: $318 million
 expenditures: $326 million, including capital expenditures of $150
 million (1991 est.)

 Exports: $68 million (f.o.b., 1993)
 commodities: coffee 81%, tea, cotton, hides, and skins
 partners: EC 57%, US 19%, Asia 1%

 Imports: $203 million (c.i.f., 1993)
 commodities: capital goods 31%, petroleum products 15%, foodstuffs,
 consumer goods
 partners: EC 45%, Asia 29%, US 2%

 External debt: $1.05 billion (1994 est.)

 Industrial production: growth rate 11% (1991 est.); accounts for about
 15% of GDP

 Electricity:
 capacity: 55,000 kW
 production: 100 million kWh
 consumption per capita: 20 kWh (1993)

 Industries: light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap;
 assembly of imported components; public works construction; food
 processing

 Agriculture: accounts for 50% of GDP; cash crops - coffee, cotton,
 tea; food crops - corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc;
 livestock - meat, milk, hides and skins

 Economic aid:
 recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $71 million;
 Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
 (1970-89), $10.2 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $32 million;
 Communist countries (1970-89), $175 million

 Currency: 1 Burundi franc (FBu) = 100 centimes

 Exchange rates: Burundi francs (FBu) per US$1 - 248.51 (December
 1994), 252.66 (1994), 242.78 (1993), 208.30 (1992), 181.51 (1991),
 171.26 (1990), 158.67 (1989), 140.40 (1988)

 Fiscal year: calendar year

@Burundi:Transportation

 Railroads: 0 km

 Highways:
 total: 5,900 km
 paved: 640 km
 unpaved: gravel, crushed stone 2,260 km; improved, unimproved earth
 3,000 km (1990)

 Inland waterways: Lake Tanganyika

 Ports: Bujumbura

 Airports:
 total: 4
 with paved runways over 3,047 m: 1
 with paved runways under 914 m: 1
 with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 2

@Burundi:Communications

 Telephone system: 8,000 telephones; primative system; telephone
 density - 1.3 telephones/1,000 persons
 local: NA
 intercity: sparse system of wire, radiocommunications, and
 low-capacity microwave radio relay links
 international: 1 INTELSAT (Indian Ocean) earth station

 Radio:
 broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 2, shortwave 0
 radios: NA

 Television:
 broadcast stations: 1
 televisions: NA

@Burundi:Defense Forces

 Branches: Army (includes naval and air units), paramilitary
 Gendarmerie

 Manpower availability: males age 15-49 1,350,042; males fit for
 military service 705,864; males reach military age (16) annually
 73,308 (1995 est.)

 Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $25 million, 2.6% of
 GDP (1993)


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