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
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
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.)
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
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.)
