Burundi

Branches

Army (includes naval and air units), paramilitary Gendarmerie

Defense expenditures

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

Manpower availability

males age 15-49: 1,312,458 males fit for military service: 683,073 males reach military age (16) annually: 67,990 (1996 est.)

Radio broadcast stations

AM 2, FM 2, shortwave 0

Radios

NA

Telephone system

primitive system domestic: sparse system of open wire, radiotelephone communications, and low-capacity microwave radio relay international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)

Telephones

7,200 (1987 est.)

Television broadcast stations

1

Televisions

4,500 (1993 est.) Defense

Agriculture

coffee, cotton, tea, corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc; meat, milk, hides

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: ODA, $NA

Economic overview

Burundi is a landlocked, resource-poor country in an early stage of economic development. The economy 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 rests 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. Since October 1993 the nation has suffered from massive ethnic-based violence which has resulted in the death of perhaps 100,000 persons and the displacement of a million others; production has fallen sharply, and an impoverished and disorganized government can hardly implement these needed reform programs.

Electricity

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

Exchange rates

Burundi francs (FBu) per US$1 - 268.13 (November 1995), 252.66 (1994), 242.78 (1993), 208.30 (1992), 181.51 (1991), 171.26 (1990)

Exports

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

External debt

$1.05 billion (1994 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

purchasing power parity - $4 billion (1995 est.)

GDP composition by sector

agriculture: 54.1% industry: 16.8% services: 29.1% (1993 est.)

GDP per capita

$600 (1995 est.)

GDP real growth rate

2.7% (1995 est.)

Imports

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

Industrial production growth rate

NA%

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

10% (1993 est.)

Labor force

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

Unemployment rate

NA%

Area

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

Climate

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

Coastline

0 km (landlocked)

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

Geographic coordinates

3 30 S, 30 00 E

Geographic note

landlocked; straddles crest of the Nile-Congo watershed

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

720 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

total: 974 km border countries: 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%

Location

Central Africa, east of Zaire

Map references

Africa

Maritime claims

none (landlocked)

Natural resources

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

Terrain

hilly and mountainous, dropping to a plateau in east, some plains lowest point: Lake Tanganyika 772 m highest point: Mount Heha 2,760 m

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

Data code

BY

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Severin NTAHOMVUKIYE chancery: Suite 212, 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 342-2574

Executive branch

chief of state: President Sylvestre NTIBANTUNGANYA (acting president from 8 April 1994 to 30 September 1994, president since 1 October 1994); note - NTIBANTUNGANYA, in his capacity as President of the National Assembly, became acting president upon the death of President Cyprien NTARYAMIRE in an airplane crash on 6 April 1994; NTIBANTUNGANYA was sworn in on 1 October 1994 as president by the "Convention on Government" to serve a four year transitional term head of government: Prime Minister Antoine NDUWAYO (since February 1995) cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed by prime minister

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)

Independence

1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian administration)

International organization participation

ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEEAC, CEPGL, ECA, FAO, G-77, 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, WToO, WTrO

Judicial branch

Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)

Legal system

based on German and Belgian civil codes and customary law; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

unicameral

Name of country

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)

election 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

National holiday

Independence Day, 1 July (1962)

Other political or pressure groups

NA

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)

Suffrage

NA years of age; universal adult

Type of government

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Charles YELLIN embassy: Avenue des Etats-Unis, Bujumbura mailing address: B. P. 1720, Bujumbura telephone: [257] (2) 23454

Africans

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

Age structure

0-14 years: 47% (male 1,404,375; female 1,398,228) 15-64 years: 50% (male 1,454,545; female 1,527,644) 65 years and over: 3% (male 62,955; female 95,310) (July 1996 est.)

Birth rate

43.02 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate

15.15 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate

102.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Languages

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

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 49.33 years male: 48.28 years female: 50.42 years (1996 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1995 est.) total population: 35.3% male: 49.3% female: 22.5%

Nationality

noun: Burundian(s) adjective: Burundi

Net migration rate

-12.47 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.) note: in a number of waves since October 1993, 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 1996 as the ethnic violence persists

Population

5,943,057 (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate

1.54% (1996 est.)

Religions

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

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.66 male(s)/female all ages: 0.97 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Total fertility rate

6.55 children born/woman (1996 est.)

Airports

total: 3 with paved runways over 3 047 m: 1 with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 2 (1995 est.)

Highways

total: 14,473 km paved: 1,028 km unpaved: 13,445 km (1992 est.)

Ports

Bujumbura

Railways

0 km

Waterways

Lake Tanganyika