RWANDA                                                                          
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 26,340 km2; land area: 24,950 km2                                   
                                                                                
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Maryland                                
                                                                                
Land boundaries: 893 km total; Burundi 290 km, Tanzania 217 km,                 
Uganda 169 km, Zaire 217 km                                                     
                                                                                
Coastline: none--landlocked                                                     
                                                                                
Maritime claims: none--landlocked                                               
                                                                                
Climate: temperate; two rainy seasons (February to April, November              
to January); mild in mountains with frost and snow possible                     
                                                                                
Terrain: mostly grassy uplands and hills; mountains in west                     
                                                                                
Natural resources: gold, cassiterite (tin ore), wolframite                      
(tungsten ore), natural gas, hydropower                                         
                                                                                
Land use: arable land 29%; permanent crops 11%; meadows and                     
pastures 18%; forest and woodland 10%; other 32%; includes irrigated            
NEGL%                                                                           
                                                                                
Environment: deforestation; overgrazing; soil exhaustion; soil                  
erosion; periodic droughts                                                      
                                                                                
Note: landlocked                                                                
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 7,902,644 (July 1991), growth rate 3.8% (1991)                      
                                                                                
Birth rate: 52 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 15 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)                          
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 110 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                      
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 51 years male, 54 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 8.4 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun and adjective--Rwandan(s)                                     
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: Hutu 90%, Tutsi 9%, Twa (Pygmoid) 1%                          
                                                                                
Religion: Roman Catholic 65%, Protestant 9%, Muslim 1%,                         
indigenous beliefs and other 25%                                                
                                                                                
Language: Kinyarwanda, French (official); Kiswahili used in                     
commercial centers                                                              
                                                                                
Literacy: 50% (male 64%, female 37%) age 15 and over can                        
read and write (1990 est.)                                                      
                                                                                
Labor force: 3,600,000; agriculture 93%, government and services                
5%, industry and commerce 2%; 49% of population of working age (1985)           
                                                                                
Organized labor: NA                                                             
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: Republic of Rwanda                                              
                                                                                
Type: 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 charter will be           
voted upon in a national referendum to be held June 1991                        
                                                                                
Capital: Kigali                                                                 
                                                                                
Administrative divisions: 10 prefectures (prefectures,                          
singular--prefecture in French; plural--NA, singular--prefegitura in            
Kinyarwanda); Butare, Byumba, Cyangugu, Gikongoro, Gisenyi, Gitarama,           
Kibungo, Kibuye, Rigali, Ruhengeri                                              
                                                                                
Constitution: 17 December 1978                                                  
                                                                                
Independence: 1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian                    
administration)                                                                 
                                                                                
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                                    
                                                                                
National holiday: Independence Day, 1 July (1962)                               
                                                                                
Executive branch: president, Council of Ministers (cabinet)                     
                                                                                
Legislative branch: unicameral National Development Council                     
(Conseil National de Developpement)                                             
                                                                                
Judicial branch: Constitutional Court (consists of the Court of                 
Cassation and the Council of State in joint session)                            
                                                                                
Leaders:                                                                        
                                                                                
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Maj. Gen.                      
Juvenal HABYARIMANA (since 5 July 1973)                                         
                                                                                
Political parties and leaders: only party--National Revolutionary               
Movement for Development (MRND), Maj. Gen. Juvenal HABYARIMANA;                 
note--the MRND is officially a development movement, not a party                
                                                                                
Suffrage: universal adult, exact age NA                                         
                                                                                
Elections:                                                                      
                                                                                
President--last held 19 December 1988 (next to be held December                 
1993); results--President Maj. Gen. Juvenal HABYARIMANA reelected;              
                                                                                
National Development Council--last held 19 December 1988 (next                  
to be held December 1993);                                                      
results--MRND is the only party;                                                
seats--(70 total); MRND 70                                                      
                                                                                
Communists: no Communist party                                                  
                                                                                
Member of: 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                                                             
                                                                                
Diplomatic representation: 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 or 72126 through 72128                      
                                                                                
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                                           
                                                                                
ECONOMY                                                                         
Overview: 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           
16% to GDP. Manufacturing focuses mainly on the processing of                   
agricultural products. The Rwandan economy remains dependent on coffee          
exports and foreign aid, with no relief in sight. 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.                                
                                                                                
GDP: $2.2 billion, per capita $300; real growth rate - 2.2% (1989               
est.)                                                                           
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1% (1989)                                     
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: NA%                                                          
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $391 million; expenditures $491 million, including             
capital expenditures of $225 million (1989 est.)                                
                                                                                
Exports: $117 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.);                                      
                                                                                
commodities--coffee 85%, tea, tin, cassiterite, wolframite,                     
pyrethrum;                                                                      
                                                                                
partners--FRG, Belgium, Italy, Uganda, UK, France, US                           
                                                                                
Imports: $293 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.);                                      
                                                                                
commodities--textiles, foodstuffs, machines and equipment, capital              
goods, steel, petroleum products, cement and construction material;             
                                                                                
partners--US, Belgium, FRG, Kenya, Japan                                        
External debt: $689 million (December 1990 est.)                                
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate 1.2% (1988); accounts for                    
17% of GDP                                                                      
                                                                                
Electricity: 26,000 kW capacity; 112 million kWh produced,                      
15 kWh per capita (1989)                                                        
                                                                                
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                                                                      
                                                                                
Agriculture: 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                                                                   
                                                                                
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $128                   
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments          
(1970-88), $1.8 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $45 million;             
Communist countries (1970-89), $58 million                                      
                                                                                
Currency: Rwandan franc (plural--francs); 1 Rwandan franc (RF) =                
100 centimes                                                                    
                                                                                
Exchange rates: Rwandan francs (RF) per US$1--120.00 (December                  
1990), 82.60 (1990), 79.98 (1989), 76.45 (1988), 79.67 (1987), 87.64            
(1986), 101.26 (1985)                                                           
                                                                                
Fiscal year: calendar year                                                      
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Highways: 4,885 km total; 460 km paved, 1,725 km gravel and/or                  
improved earth, 2,700 km unimproved                                             
                                                                                
Inland waterways: Lac Kivu navigable by shallow-draft barges and                
native craft                                                                    
                                                                                
Civil air: 1 major transport aircraft                                           
                                                                                
Airports: 8 total, 8 usable; 3 with permanent-surface runways;                  
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;                   
2 with runways 1,220-2,439 m                                                    
                                                                                
Telecommunications: fair system with low-capacity radio relay                   
system centered on Kigali; 6,600 telephones; stations--2 AM, 5 FM, no TV;       
earth stations--1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1 SYMPHONIE                         
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: Army, Gendarmerie                                                     
                                                                                
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,651,224; 842,480 fit for                  
military service; no conscription                                               
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: $37 million, 1.6% of GDP (1988 est.)                      
                                                                                
