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Communications

Airports [time series]

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

Civil air [time series]

2 major transport aircraft

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

4,885 km total; 460 km paved, 1,725 km gravel and/or improved earth, 2,700 km unimproved

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

Lac Kivu navigable by shallow-draft barges and native craft

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

fair system with low-capacity radio relay system centered on Kigali; broadcast stations - 2 AM, 1 (7 repeaters) FM, no TV; satellite earth stations - 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1 SYMPHONIE

Defense Forces

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Army (including Air Wing), Gendarmerie

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

exchange rate conversion - $37 million, 1.6% of GDP (1988 est.)

Manpower availability [time series]

males 15-49, 1,719,936; 876,659 fit for military service; no conscription

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

accounts for almost 50% of GDP and about 90% of the labor force; cash crops - coffee, tea, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums); main food crops - bananas, beans, sorghum, potatoes; stock raising; self-sufficiency declining; country imports foodstuffs as farm production fails to keep up with a 3.8% annual growth in population

Budget [time series]

revenues $391 million; expenditures $491 million, including capital expenditures of $225 million (1989 est.)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

Rwandan franc (plural - francs); 1 Rwandan franc (RF) = 100 centimes

Economic aid [time series]

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $128 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $2.0 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

Electricity [time series]

30,000 kW capacity; 130 million kWh produced, 15 kWh per capita (1991)

Exchange rates [time series]

Rwandan francs (RF) per US$1 - 121.40 (January 1992), 125.14 (1991), 82.60 (1990), 79.98 (1989), 76.45 (1988), 79.67 (1987)

Exports [time series]

$111.7 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.) commodities: coffee 85%, tea, tin, cassiterite, wolframite, pyrethrum partners: Germany, Belgium, Italy, Uganda, UK, France, US

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$911 million (1990 est.)

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

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

exchange rate conversion - $2.1 billion, per capita $300; real growth rate -6.8% (1990 est.)

Imports [time series]

$279.2 million (f.o.b., 1990 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 (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate 1.2% (1988); accounts for 17% of GDP

Industries [time series]

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) [time series]

4.2% (1990)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

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 have created 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 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. An outbreak of insurgency, also in October, has dampened any prospects for economic improvement.

Unemployment rate [time series]

NA%

Geography

Climate [time series]

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

Coastline [time series]

none - landlocked

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly smaller than Maryland

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

none

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

deforestation; overgrazing; soil exhaustion; soil erosion; periodic droughts

Area (Land area) [time series]

24,950 km2

Land boundaries [time series]

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

Land use [time series]

arable land 29%; permanent crops 11%; meadows and pastures 18%; forest and woodland 10%; other 32%; includes irrigated NEGL%

Maritime claims [time series]

none - landlocked

Natural resources [time series]

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

Note [time series]

landlocked

Terrain [time series]

mostly grassy uplands and hills; mountains in west

Area (Total area) [time series]

26,340 km2

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

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

Capital [time series]

Kigali

Constitution [time series]

18 June 1991

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

Ambassador Aloys UWIMANA; Chancery at 1714 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009; telephone (202) 232-2882 US: Ambassador Robert A. FLATEN; Embassy at Boulevard de la Revolution, Kigali (mailing address is B. P. 28, Kigali); telephone [250] 75601 through 75603; FAX [250] 72128

Executive branch (Elections) [time series]

President: last held 19 December 1988 (next to be held NA December 1993); results - President Maj. Gen. Juvenal HABYARIMANA reelected National Development Council: last held 19 December 1988 (next to be held NA December 1993); results - MRND is the only party; seats - (70 total) MRND 70

Executive branch [time series]

president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Flag [time series]

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 [time series]

1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian administration)

Judicial branch [time series]

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

Executive branch (Leaders) [time series]

Chief of State: President Maj. Gen. Juvenal HABYARIMANA (since 5 July 1973) Head of Government: Prime Minister Sylvestre NSANZIMANA (since NA October 1991)

Legal system [time series]

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 [time series]

unicameral National Development Council (Conseil National de Developpement)

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

Republic of Rwanda

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

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

National holiday [time series]

Independence Day, 1 July (1962)

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

Republican Revolutionary Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND), Maj. Gen. Juvenal HABYARIMANA; formerly a one-party state, Rwanda legalized independent parties in mid-1991; since then, at least 10 new political parties have registered; President HABYARIMANA's political movement - the National Revolutionary Movement for Development (MRND) - reorganized itself as a political party and changed its name to the Republican National Movement for Democracy and Development (but kept the same initials - MRND); significant independent parties include: Democratic Republican Movement (MDR), leader NA; Liberal Party (PL), leader NA; Democratic and Socialist Party (PSD), leader NA; note - since October 1990, Rwanda has been involved in a low-intensity conflict with the Rwandan Patriotic Front/Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPF/RPA); the RPF/RPA is primarily an ethnically based organization

Suffrage [time series]

universal adult, exact age NA

Government type (Type) [time series]

republic; presidential system in which military leaders hold key offices; on 31 December 1990, the government announced a National Political Charter to serve as a basis for transition to a presidential/parliamentary political system; the 1978 constitution was replaced in June 1991 via popular referendum by a new constitution creating a multiparty system with a president and prime minister

People

Birth rate [time series]

52 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate [time series]

14 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

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

Infant mortality rate [time series]

108 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Labor force [time series]

3,600,000; agriculture 93%, government and services 5%, industry and commerce 2%; 49% of population of working age (1985)

Languages [time series]

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

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

51 years male, 55 years female (1992)

Literacy [time series]

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

Nationality [time series]

noun - Rwandan(s); adjective - Rwandan

Net migration rate [time series]

0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)

Organized labor [time series]

Population [time series]

8,206,446 (July 1992), growth rate 3.8% (1992)

Religions [time series]

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

Total fertility rate [time series]

8.3 children born/woman (1992)