Rwanda

Radio

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

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)

Television

broadcast stations: 1 televisions: NA

Branches

Army, Gendarmerie

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $112.5 million, 7% of GDP (1992) SAINT HELENA (dependent territory of the UK)

Manpower availability

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

Agriculture

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

Budget

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

Currency

1 Rwandan franc (RF) = 100 centimes

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)

Electricity

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

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)

Exports

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

External debt

$873 million (1993 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

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

Industrial production

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

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

NA%

National product

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

National product per capita

$950 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

-8% (1993 est.)

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.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Area

total area: 26,340 sq km land area: 24,950 sq km comparative area: slightly smaller than Maryland

Climate

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

Coastline

0 km (landlocked)

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

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

40 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

total 893 km, Burundi 290 km, Tanzania 217 km, Uganda 169 km, Zaire 217 km

Land use

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

Location

Central Africa, east of Zaire

Map references

Africa

Maritime claims

none; landlocked

Natural resources

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

Note

landlocked; predominantly rural population

Terrain

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

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

Capital

Kigali

Constitution

18 June 1991

Digraph

RW

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

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

FAX

[1] (202) 232-4544

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

Independence

1 July 1962 (from Belgium-administered UN trusteeship)

Judicial branch

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

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

Legislative branch

unicameral

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

Names

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

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

National holiday

Independence Day, 1 July (1962)

Other political or pressure groups

Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA), the RPF military wing, Maj. Gen. Paul KAGAME, commander;

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

Suffrage

NA years of age; universal adult

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

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

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.)

Birth rate

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

Death rate

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

Ethnic divisions

Hutu 90%, Tutsi 9%, Twa (Pygmoid) 1%

Infant mortality rate

118.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Labor force

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

Languages

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

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 39.33 years male: 38.5 years female: 40.19 years (1995 est.)

Literacy

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

Nationality

noun: Rwandan(s) adjective: Rwandan

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

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

Population growth rate

2.67% (1995 est.)

Religions

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

Total fertility rate

8.12 children born/woman (1995 est.)

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

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

Railroads

0 km