Burundi

Airports

total: 5 usable: 3 with permanent-surface runways: 1 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 0

Highways

total: 6,285 km paved: 1,099 km unpaved: gravel, crushed stone 2,500 km; improved, unimproved earth 2,686 km (1990)

Inland waterways

Lake Tanganyika

Ports

Bujumbura (lake port) connects to transportation systems of Tanzania and Zaire

Telecommunications

sparse system of wire, radiocommunications, and low-capacity microwave radio relay links; 8,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 2 AM, 2 FM, 1 TV; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station

Branches

Army (includes naval and air units), paramilitary Gendarmerie

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $28 million, 3.7% of GDP (1989)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 1,315,660; fit for military service 687,474; reach military age (16) annually 67,949 (1994 est.)

Agriculture

accounts for 50% of GDP; 90% of population dependent on subsistence farming; marginally self-sufficient in food production; cash crops - coffee, cotton, tea; food crops - corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc; livestock - meat, milk, hides and skins

Budget

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

Currency

1 Burundi franc (FBu) = 100 centimes

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

Electricity

capacity: 55,000 kW production: 105 million kWh consumption per capita: 20 kWh (1991)

Exchange rates

Burundi francs (FBu) per US$1 - 247.94 (November 1993), 208.30 (1992), 181.51 (1991), 171.26 (1990), 158.67 (1989), 140.40 (1988)

Exports

$40.8 million (f.o.b., 1992 est.) commodities: coffee 81%, tea, cotton, hides, and skins partners: EC 57%, US 19%, Asia 1%

External debt

$970 million (1991)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Imports

$188 million (c.i.f., 1992 est.) commodities: capital goods 31%, petroleum products 15%, foodstuffs, consumer goods partners: EC 45%, Asia 29%, US 2%

Industrial production

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

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

4.7% (1992 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $4.4 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$700 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

-3.8% (1991)

Overview

A landlocked, resource-poor country in an early stage of economic development, Burundi is predominately agricultural with only a few basic industries. 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 and attract foreign investment in industry. Several state-owned coffee companies were privatized via public auction in September 1991.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Africans

Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1% (other Africans include about 70,000 refugees, mostly Rwandans and Zairians) non-Africans: Europeans 3,000, South Asians 2,000

Area

total area: 27,830 sq km land area: 25,650 sq km comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland

Birth rate

44.02 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Climate

temperate; warm; occasional frost in uplands

Coastline

0 km (landlocked)

Death rate

21.38 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Environment

current issues: soil exhaustion and erosion; deforestation; habitat loss threatening wildlife populations natural hazards: NA international agreements: party to - Endangered Species; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban

Infant mortality rate

113.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

720 sq km (1989 est.)

Labor force

1.9 million (1983 est.) by occupation: agriculture 93.0%, government 4.0%, industry and commerce 1.5%, services 1.5% note: 52% of population of working age (1985)

Land boundaries

total 974 km, Rwanda 290 km, Tanzania 451 km, Zaire 233 km

Land use

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

Languages

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

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 40.3 years male: 38.31 years female: 42.35 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

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

Location

Central Africa, between Tanzania and Zaire

Map references

Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

none; landlocked

Nationality

noun: Burundian(s) adjective: Burundi

Natural resources

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

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Note

landlocked; straddles crest of the Nile-Congo watershed

Population

6,124,747 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

2.26% (1994 est.)

Religions

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

Terrain

mostly rolling to hilly highland; some plains

Total fertility rate

6.69 children born/woman (1994 est.)

Administrative divisions

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

Capital

Bujumbura

Constitution

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

Digraph

BY

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Jacques BACAMURWANKO, designated (January 1994) chancery: Suite 212, 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: (202) 342-2574

Executive branch

chief of state: Interim President Sylvestre NTIBANTUNGANYA, Speaker of the National Assembly, succeeded deceased President NTARYAMIRA in early April 1994 with a mandate for at least 90 days; on 11 July 1994 the mandate was extended by the Constitutional Court for three more months at the request of 12 political parties locked in negotiations on a new broad-based government; elections will be held later in 1994 note: President Melchior NDADAYE 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 Anatole KANYENKIKO (since 7 February 1994); chosen by the president cabinet: Council of Ministers ; appointed by prime minister

FAX

[257] (222) 926

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)

Independence

1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian administration)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)

Legal system

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

Legislative branch

unicameral

Member of

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

Names

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

National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale)

elections last held 29 June 1993 (next to be held NA): results - FRODEBU 71%, UPRONA 21.4%; seats - (81 total) FRODIBU 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

National holiday

Independence Day, 1 July (1962)

Other political or pressure groups

opposition parties legalized in March 1992; Burundi African Alliance for the Salvation (ABASA); Rally for Democracy and Economic and Social Development (RADDES)

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)

Suffrage

universal adult at age NA

Type

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Leonard J. LANGE embassy: Avenue des Etats-Unis, Bujumbura mailing address: B. P. 34, 1720, Bujumbura telephone: [257] (223) 454