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RWANDA

@Rwanda:Geography

 Location: Central Africa, east of Zaire

 Map references: Africa
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RWANDA - MAJOR CITIES 
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                                        Latitude,      Internat'l     Time   
                        Population      Longitude      Phone Code     Zone   
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KIGALI                     157,000     1.56S, 30.04E     250-        GMT+2   
Butare                      22,000     2.35S, 29.44E     250-        GMT+2   
Ruhengeri                   16,000     1.30S, 29.37E     250-        GMT+2   
Gisenyi                     12,000     1.41S, 29.15E     250-        GMT+2   
Nyabisindu                  10,000     2.20S, 29.43E     250-        GMT+2   
Cyangugu                     8,000     2.30S, 28.54E     250-        GMT+2   
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 Area:
 total area: 26,340 sq km
 land area: 24,950 sq km
 comparative area: slightly smaller than Maryland

 Land boundaries: total 893 km, Burundi 290 km, Tanzania 217 km, Uganda
 169 km, Zaire 217 km

 Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

 Maritime claims: none; landlocked

 International disputes: none

 Climate: temperate; two rainy seasons (February to April, November to
 January); mild in mountains with frost and snow possible

 Terrain: mostly grassy uplands and hills; relief is mountainous with
 altitude declining from west to east

 Natural resources: gold, cassiterite (tin ore), wolframite (tungsten
 ore), natural gas, hydropower

 Land use:
 arable land: 29%
 permanent crops: 11%
 meadows and pastures: 18%
 forest and woodland: 10%
 other: 32%

 Irrigated land: 40 sq km (1989 est.)

 Environment:
 current issues: deforestation results from uncontrolled cutting of
 trees for fuel; overgrazing; soil exhaustion; soil erosion
 natural hazards: periodic droughts; the volcanic Virunga mountains are
 in the northwest along the border with Zaire
 international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Nuclear Test
 Ban; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of
 the Sea

 Note: landlocked; predominantly rural population

@Rwanda:People

 Population: 8,605,307 (July 1995 est.)
 note: the demographic estimates were prepared before civil strife,
 starting in April 1994, set in motion substantial and continuing
 population changes

 Age structure:
 0-14 years: 51% (female 2,184,549; male 2,201,049)
 15-64 years: 47% (female 2,034,278; male 1,968,298)
 65 years and over: 2% (female 126,255; male 90,878) (July 1995 est.)

 Population growth rate: 2.67% (1995 est.)

 Birth rate: 48.52 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Death rate: 21.82 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Net migration rate: NA migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
 note: since April 1994, more than one million refugees have fled the
 civil strife between the Hutu and Tutsi factions in Rwanda and crossed
 into Zaire, Burundi, and Tanzania; close to 350,000 Rwandan Tutsis who
 fled civil strife in earlier years are returning to Rwanda and a few
 of the recent Hutu refugees are going home despite the danger of doing
 so; the ethnic violence continues and in 1995 could produce further
 refugee flows as well as deter returns

 Infant mortality rate: 118.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

 Life expectancy at birth:
 total population: 39.33 years
 male: 38.5 years
 female: 40.19 years (1995 est.)

 Total fertility rate: 8.12 children born/woman (1995 est.)

 Nationality:
 noun: Rwandan(s)
 adjective: Rwandan

 Ethnic divisions: Hutu 90%, Tutsi 9%, Twa (Pygmoid) 1%

 Religions: Roman Catholic 65%, Protestant 9%, Muslim 1%, indigenous
 beliefs and other 25%

 Languages: Kinyarwanda (official), French (official), Kiswahili used
 in commercial centers

 Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
 total population: 50%
 male: 64%
 female: 37%

 Labor force: 3.6 million
 by occupation: agriculture 93%, government and services 5%, industry
 and commerce 2%

@Rwanda:Government

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

 Digraph: RW

 Type: republic; presidential system
 note: after genocide and civil war in April 1994, the Tutsi Rwandan
 Patriotic Front, in July 1994, took power and formed a new government

 Capital: Kigali

 Administrative divisions: 10 prefectures (prefectures, singular -
 prefecture in French; plural - NA, singular - prefegitura in
 Kinyarwanda); Butare, Byumba, Cyangugu, Gikongoro, Gisenyi, Gitarama,
 Kibungo, Kibuye, Kigali, Ruhengeri

 Independence: 1 July 1962 (from Belgium-administered UN trusteeship)

 National holiday: Independence Day, 1 July (1962)

 Constitution: 18 June 1991

 Legal system: based on German and Belgian civil law systems and
 customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme
 Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

 Suffrage: NA years of age; universal adult

 Executive branch:
 chief of state: President Pasteur BIZIMUNGU (since 19 July 1994); took
 office following the siezure of the government by the Tutsi Rwandan
 Patriotic Front and the exiling of interim President Dr. Theodore
 SINDIKUBWABO; no future election dates have been set
 head of government: Prime Minister Faustin TWAGIRAMUNGU (since the
 siezure of power by the Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front in July 1994)
 cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed by the president

 Legislative branch: unicameral
 National Development Council: (Conseil National de Developpement)
 elections last held 19 December 1988 (next to be held NA 1995);
 results - MRND was the only party; seats - (70 total) MRND 70

 Judicial branch: Constitutional Court consists of the Court of
 Cassation and the Council of State in joint session

 Political parties and leaders: Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), Alexis
 KANYARENGWE, Chairman; National Revolutionary Movement for Democracy
 and Development (MRND); significant independent parties include:
 Democratic Republican Movement (MDR); Liberal Party (PL); Democratic
 and Socialist Party (PSD); Coalition for the Defense of the Republic
 (CDR); Party for Democracy in Rwanda (PADER); Christian Democratic
 Party (PDL)
 note: formerly a one-party state, Rwanda legalized independent parties
 in mid-1991

 Other political or pressure groups: Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA), the
 RPF military wing, Maj. Gen. Paul KAGAME, commander;

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

 Diplomatic representation in US:
 chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d'Affaires ad interim Joseph W.
 MUTABOBA
 chancery: 1714 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
 telephone: [1] (202) 232-2882
 FAX: [1] (202) 232-4544

 US diplomatic representation:
 note: US Embassy closed indefinitely
 chief of mission: Ambassador David P. RAWSON
 embassy: Boulevard de la Revolution, Kigali
 mailing address: B. P. 28, Kigali
 telephone: [250] 756 01 through 03
 FAX: [250] 721 28

 Flag: three equal vertical bands of red (hoist side), yellow, and
 green with a large black letter R centered in the yellow band; uses
 the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia; similar to the flag of
 Guinea, which has a plain yellow band

Economy

 Overview: Rwanda is a poor African nation suffering bitterly from
 ethnic-based civil war. Almost 50% of GDP comes from the agricultural
 sector; coffee and tea make up 80%-90% of total exports. The amount of
 fertile land is limited, however, and deforestation and soil erosion
 continue to create problems. The industrial sector in Rwanda is small,
 contributing only 17% to GDP. Manufacturing focuses mainly on the
 processing of agricultural products. The Rwandan economy remains
 dependent on coffee/tea exports and foreign aid. Weak international
 prices since 1986 have caused the economy to contract and per capita
 GDP to decline. A structural adjustment program with the World Bank
 began in October 1990. Ethnic-based insurgency since 1990 has
 devastated wide areas, especially in the north, and displaced hundreds
 of thousands of people. A peace accord in mid-1993 temporarily ended
 most of the fighting, but massive resumption of civil warfare in April
 1994 in the capital city Kigali and elsewhere has been taking
 thousands of lives and severely affecting short-term economic
 prospects. The economy suffers massively from failure to maintain the
 infrastructure, looting, neglect of important cash crops, and lack of
 health care facilities.

 National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $7.9 billion (1993
 est.)

 National product real growth rate: -8% (1993 est.)

 National product per capita: $950 (1993 est.)

 Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%

 Unemployment rate: NA%

 Budget:
 revenues: $350 million
 expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992 est.)

 Exports: $44 million (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
 commodities: coffee 63%, tea, cassiterite, wolframite, pyrethrum
 partners: Germany, Belgium, Italy, Uganda, UK, France, US

 Imports: $250 million (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
 commodities: textiles, foodstuffs, machines and equipment, capital
 goods, steel, petroleum products, cement and construction material
 partners: US, Belgium, Germany, Kenya, Japan

 External debt: $873 million (1993 est.)

 Industrial production: growth rate -2.2% (1991); accounts for 17% of
 GDP

 Electricity:
 capacity: 60,000 kW
 production: 190 million kWh
 consumption per capita: 23 kWh (1993)

 Industries: mining of cassiterite (tin ore) and wolframite (tungsten
 ore), tin, cement, agricultural processing, small-scale beverage
 production, soap, furniture, shoes, plastic goods, textiles,
 cigarettes

 Agriculture: cash crops - coffee, tea, pyrethrum (insecticide made
 from chrysanthemums); main food crops - bananas, beans, sorghum,
 potatoes; stock raising

 Economic aid:
 recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $128 million;
 Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
 (1970-89), $2 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $45 million;
 Communist countries (1970-89), $58 million
 note: in October 1990 Rwanda launched a Structural Adjustment Program
 with the IMF; since September 1991, the EC has given $46 million and
 the US $25 million in support of this program (1993)

 Currency: 1 Rwandan franc (RF) = 100 centimes

 Exchange rates: Rwandan francs (RF) per US$1 - 144.3 (3rd quarter
 1994), 144.25 (1993), 133.35 (1992), 125.14 (1991), 82.60 (1990)

 Fiscal year: calendar year

@Rwanda:Transportation

 Railroads: 0 km

 Highways:
 total: 4,885 km
 paved: 880 km
 unpaved: gravel, sand and gravel 1,305 km; unimproved earth 2,700 km

 Inland waterways: Lac Kivu navigable by shallow-draft barges and
 native craft

 Ports: Cyangugu, Gisenyi, Kibuye

 Airports:
 total: 7
 with paved runways over 3,047 m: 1
 with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 2
 with paved runways under 914 m: 3
 with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 1

@Rwanda:Communications

 Telephone system: NA telephones; telephone system does not provide
 service to the general public but is intended for business and
 government use
 local: NA
 intercity: the capital, Kigali, is connected to the centers of the
 prefectures by microwave radio relay; the remainder of the network
 depends on wire and high frequency radio
 international: international connections employ microwave radio relay
 to neighboring countries and satellite communications to more distant
 countries; 1 INTELSAT (Indian Ocean) and 1 SYMPHONIE earth station in
 Kigali (includes telex and telefax service)

 Radio:
 broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0
 radios: NA

 Television:
 broadcast stations: 1
 televisions: NA

@Rwanda:Defense Forces

 Branches: Army, Gendarmerie

 Manpower availability: males age 15-49 1,792,326; males fit for
 military service 913,711 (1995 est.)

 Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $112.5 million, 7% of
 GDP (1992)


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