Airports [time series]

8 total, 7 usable; 1 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; none with runways 1,220 to 2,439 m

Civil air [time series]

1 major transport aircraft

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

5,900 km total; 400 km paved, 2,500 km gravel or laterite, 3,000 km improved or unimproved earth

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

Lake Tanganyika

Ports [time series]

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

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

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

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Army (includes naval and air units); paramilitary Gendarmerie

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

3.1% of GDP (1987)

Military manpower [time series]

males 15-49, 1,230,559; 642,927 fit for military service; 61,418 reach military age (16) annually

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

accounts for 60% 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

Aid [time series]

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $68 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $10 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $32 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $175 million

Budget [time series]

revenues $213 million; expenditures $292 million, including capital expenditures of $131 million (1988 est.)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

Burundi franc (plural--francs); 1 Burundi franc (FBu) = 100 centimes

Electricity [time series]

51,000 kW capacity; 105 million kWh produced, 19 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates [time series]

Burundi francs (FBu) per US$1--176.20 (January 1990), 158.67 (1989), 140.40 (1988), 123.56 (1987), 114.17 (1986), 120.69 (1985)

Exports [time series]

$128 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--coffee 88%, tea, hides and skins; partners--EC 83%, US 5%, Asia 2%

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$795 million (December 1989 est.)

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]

$1.3 billion, per capita $255; real growth rate 2.8% (1988)

Imports [time series]

$204 million (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--capital goods 31%, petroleum products 15%, foodstuffs, consumer goods; partners--EC 57%, Asia 23%, US 3%

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

real growth rate 5.1% (1986)

Industries [time series]

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

4.4% (1988 est.)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

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 is dependent on the coffee crop, which accounts for an average 90% of foreign exchange earnings each year. The ability to pay for imports therefore continues to rest largely on the vagaries of the climate and the international coffee market.

Unemployment rate [time series]

NA%

Climate [time series]

temperate; warm; occasional frost in uplands

Coastline [time series]

none--landlocked

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly larger than Maryland

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

soil exhaustion; soil erosion; deforestation

Land boundaries [time series]

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

Land use [time series]

43% arable land; 8% permanent crops; 35% meadows and pastures; 2% forest and woodland; 12% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Maritime claims [time series]

none--landlocked

Natural resources [time series]

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

Note [time series]

landlocked; straddles crest of the Nile-Congo watershed

Terrain [time series]

mostly rolling to hilly highland; some plains

Area (Total area) [time series]

27,830 km2; land area: 25,650 km2

Administrative divisions [time series]

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

Capital [time series]

Bujumbura

Political parties (Communists) [time series]

no Communist party

Constitution [time series]

20 November 1981; suspended following the coup of 3 September 1987

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

Ambassador Julien KAVAKURE; Chancery at Suite 212, 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington DC 20007; telephone (202) 342-2574; US--Ambassador Cynthia Shepherd PERRY; Embassy at Avenue du Zaire, Bujumbura (mailing address is B. P. 1720, Bujumbura); telephone 234-54 through 56

Executive branch [time series]

president, Military Committee for National Salvation, prime minister, Council of Ministers

Flag [time series]

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 [time series]

1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian administration)

Judicial branch [time series]

Supreme Court (Cour Supreme) Chief of State--President Pierre BUYOYA (since 9 September 1987); Head of Government Prime Minister Adrien SIBOMANA (since 26 October 1988)

Legal system [time series]

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

Legislative branch [time series]

unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale) was dissolved following the coup of 3 September 1987

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

Republic of Burundi

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

ACP, AfDB, CCC, EAMA, ECA, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday [time series]

Independence Day, 1 July (1962)

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

only party--National Party of Unity and Progress (UPRONA), a Tutsi-led party, Libere Bararunyeretse, coordinator of the National Permanent Secretariat

Suffrage [time series]

universal adult at age NA National Assembly--dissolved after the coup of 3 September 1987; no elections are planned

Government type (Type) [time series]

republic

Birth rate [time series]

47 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate [time series]

15 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

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

Infant mortality rate [time series]

111 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Labor force [time series]

1,900,000 (1983 est.); 93.0% agriculture, 4.0% government, 1.5% industry and commerce, 1.5% services; 52% of population of working age (1985)

Languages (Language) [time series]

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

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

50 years male, 54 years female (1990)

Literacy [time series]

33.8%

Nationality [time series]

noun--Burundian(s); adjective--Burundi

Net migration rate [time series]

0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Organized labor [time series]

sole group is the Union of Burundi Workers (UTB); by charter, membership is extended to all Burundi workers (informally); figures denoting active membership unobtainable

Population [time series]

5,645,997 (July 1990), growth rate 3.2% (1990)

Religions (Religion) [time series]

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

Total fertility rate [time series]

7.0 children born/woman (1990)