The 1990 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

Country: Burundi

       - Geography

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

      Comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland

      Land boundaries: 974 km total; Rwanda 290 km, Tanzania 451 km,

       Zaire 233 km

      Coastline: none—landlocked

      Maritime claims: none—landlocked

      Climate: temperate; warm; occasional frost in uplands

      Terrain: mostly rolling to hilly highland; some plains

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

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

      Environment: soil exhaustion; soil erosion; deforestation

      Note: landlocked; straddles crest of the Nile-Congo watershed

      - People

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

      Birth rate: 47 births/1,000 population (1990)

      Death rate: 15 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

      Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

      Infant mortality rate: 111 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

      Life expectancy at birth: 50 years male, 54 years female (1990)

      Total fertility rate: 7.0 children born/woman (1990)

      Nationality: noun—Burundian(s); adjective—Burundi

      Ethnic divisions: 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

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

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

      Literacy: 33.8%

      Labor force: 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)

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

      - Government

       Long-form name: Republic of Burundi

      Type: republic

      Capital: Bujumbura

      Administrative divisions: 15 provinces; Bubanza, Bujumbura, Bururi,

       Cankuzo, Cibitoke, Gitega, Karuzi, Kayanza, Kirundo, Makamba, Muramvya,

       Muyinga, Ngozi, Rutana, Ruyigi

      Independence: 1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian administration)

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

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

      National holiday: Independence Day, 1 July (1962)

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

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

      Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)

      Leaders:

       Chief of State—President Pierre BUYOYA (since 9 September 1987);

      Head of Government Prime Minister Adrien SIBOMANA (since 26

       October 1988)

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

      Suffrage: universal adult at age NA

      Elections: National Assembly—dissolved after the coup of 3 September 1987; no elections are planned

      Communists: no Communist party

      Member of: 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

      Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Julien KAVAKURE; Chancery at

       Suite 212, 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington DC 20007;

       telephone [phone];

       US—Ambassador Cynthia Shepherd PERRY; Embassy at Avenue du Zaire,

       Bujumbura (mailing address is B. P. 1720, Bujumbura);

       telephone 234–54 through 56

      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)

      - Economy Overview: 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.

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

      Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.4% (1988 est.)

      Unemployment rate: NA%

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

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

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

      External debt: $795 million (December 1989 est.)

      Industrial production: real growth rate 5.1% (1986)

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

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

      Agriculture: 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: 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

      Currency: Burundi franc (plural—francs); 1 Burundi franc

       (FBu) = 100 centimes

      Exchange rates: 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)

      Fiscal year: