Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, consumer goods, medicines, meat, sugar,
semifinished metal products
Imports - partners:
Germany 13.3%, China 12.2%, Ukraine 6.7%, Japan 6.4%, US 4.8%,
Belarus 4.4%, South Korea 4.4%, Italy 4.3% (2007)
Economic aid - recipient:
$982.7 million in FY06 from US, including $847 million in
non-proliferation subsidies
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$476.4 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external:
$356.5 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$271.6 billion (2006)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$209.6 billion (2006)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$1.322 trillion (2006)
Currency (code):
Russian ruble (RUB)
Currency code:
RUR
Exchange rates:
Russian rubles (RUB) per US dollar - 25.659 (2007), 27.19 (2006),
28.284 (2005), 28.814 (2004), 30.692 (2003)
Communications
Russia
Telephones - main lines in use:
43.9 million (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
170 million (2007)
Telephone system:
general assessment: the telephone system is experiencing significant
changes; there are more than 1,000 companies licensed to offer
communication services; access to digital lines has improved,
particularly in urban centers; Internet and e-mail services are
improving; Russia has made progress toward building the
telecommunications infrastructure necessary for a market economy;
the estimated number of mobile subscribers jumped from fewer than 1
million in 1998 to 170 million in 2007; a large demand for main line
service remains unsatisfied, but fixed-line operators continue to
grow their services
domestic: cross-country digital trunk lines run from Saint
Petersburg to Khabarovsk, and from Moscow to Novorossiysk; the
telephone systems in 60 regional capitals have modern digital
infrastructures; cellular services, both analog and digital, are
available in many areas; in rural areas, the telephone services are
still outdated, inadequate, and low density
international: country code - 7; Russia is connected internationally
by undersea fiber optic cables; digital switches in several cities
provide more than 50,000 lines for international calls; satellite
earth stations provide access to Intelsat, Intersputnik, Eutelsat,
Inmarsat, and Orbita systems
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 323, FM 1,500 est., shortwave 62 (2004)
Radios:
61.5 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
7,306 (1998)
Televisions:
60.5 million (1997)
Internet country code:
.ru; note - Russia also has responsibility for a legacy domain ".su"
that was allocated to the Soviet Union and is being phased out
Internet hosts:
4.822 million (2008)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
300 (June 2000)
Internet users:
30 million (2007)
Transportation
Russia
Airports:
1,260 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 601
over 3,047 m: 51
2,438 to 3,047 m: 197
1,524 to 2,437 m: 129
914 to 1,523 m: 102
under 914 m: 122 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 659
over 3,047 m: 4
2,438 to 3,047 m: 13
1,524 to 2,437 m: 69
914 to 1,523 m: 89
under 914 m: 484 (2007)
Heliports:
47 (2007)
Pipelines:
condensate 122 km; gas 158,699 km; oil 72,347 km; refined products
13,658 km (2007)
Railways:
total: 87,157 km
broad gauge: 86,200 km 1.520-m gauge (40,300 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 957 km 1.067-m gauge (on Sakhalin Island)
note: an additional 30,000 km of non-common carrier lines serve
industries (2006)
Roadways:
total: 933,000 km
paved: 754,984 km (includes 30,000 km of expressways)
unpaved: 178,016 km
note: includes public, local, and departmental roads (2006)
Waterways:
102,000 km (including 33,000 km with guaranteed depth)
note: 72,000 km system in European Russia links Baltic Sea, White
Sea, Caspian Sea, Sea of Azov, and Black Sea (2006)
Merchant marine:
total: 1,074
by type: bulk carrier 25, cargo 663, carrier 2, chemical tanker 27,
combination ore/oil 34, container 11, passenger 14, passenger/cargo
7, petroleum tanker 217, refrigerated cargo 59, roll on/roll off 10,
specialized tanker 5
foreign-owned: 112 (Belgium 4, Cyprus 2, Germany 1, Greece 1, Italy
4, South Korea 1, Latvia 2, Norway 2, Switzerland 3, Turkey 80,
Ukraine 11, US 1)
registered in other countries: 486 (Antigua and Barbuda 4, Bahamas
4, Belize 31, Bulgaria 1, Cambodia 83, Comoros 12, Cyprus 50,
Dominica 3, Georgia 12, Hong Kong 2, Jamaica 3, Liberia 94, Malaysia
2, Malta 58, Marshall Islands 9, Moldova 3, Mongolia 9, Panama 18,
Saint Kitts and Nevis 19, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 21,
Sierra Leone 11, Slovakia 1, Tuvalu 2, Ukraine 1, Vanuatu 2, unknown
31) (2008)
Ports and terminals:
Azov, Kaliningrad, Kavkaz, Nakhodka, Novorossiysk, Primorsk, Saint
Petersburg, Vostochnyy
Military
Russia
Military branches:
Ground Forces (SV), Navy (VMF), Air Forces (Voyenno-Vozdushniye
Sily, VVS); Airborne Troops (VDV), Strategic Rocket Troops
(Raketnyye Voyska Strategicheskogo Naznacheniya, RVSN), and Space
Troops (KV) are independent "combat arms," not subordinate to any of
the three branches; Russian Ground Forces include the following
combat arms: motorized-rifle troops, tank troops, missile and
artillery troops, air defense of ground troops (2008)
Military service age and obligation:
18-27 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service;
males are registered for the draft at 17 years of age; service
obligation - 1 year; reserve obligation to age 50; as of July 2008,
a draft military strategy called for the draft to continue up to the
year 2030 (2008)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 36,219,908
females age 16-49: 37,019,853 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 21,488,878
females age 16-49: 28,760,976 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 821,103
female: 781,570 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures:
3.9% of GDP (2005)
Transnational Issues
Russia
Disputes - international:
China and Russia have demarcated the once disputed islands at the
Amur and Ussuri confluence and in the Argun River in accordance with
the 2004 Agreement, ending their centuries-long border disputes; the
sovereignty dispute over the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri,
Shikotan, and the Habomai group, known in Japan as the "Northern
Territories" and in Russia as the "Southern Kurils," occupied by the
Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, and claimed by
Japan, remains the primary sticking point to signing a peace treaty
formally ending World War II hostilities; Russia and Georgia agree
on delimiting all but small, strategic segments of the land boundary
and the maritime boundary; OSCE observers monitor volatile areas
such as the Pankisi Gorge in the Akhmeti region and the Kodori Gorge
in Abkhazia; Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia signed equidistance
boundaries in the Caspian seabed but the littoral states have no
consensus on dividing the water column; Russia and Norway dispute
their maritime limits in the Barents Sea and Russia's fishing rights
beyond Svalbard's territorial limits within the Svalbard Treaty
zone; various groups in Finland advocate restoration of Karelia
(Kareliya) and other areas ceded to the Soviet Union following the
Second World War but the Finnish Government asserts no territorial
demands; in May 2005, Russia recalled its signatures to the 1996
border agreements with Estonia (1996) and Latvia (1997), when the
two Baltic states announced issuance of unilateral declarations
referencing Soviet occupation and ensuing territorial losses; Russia
demands better treatment of ethnic Russians in Estonia and Latvia;
Estonian citizen groups continue to press for realignment of the
boundary based on the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty that would bring the
now divided ethnic Setu people and parts of the Narva region within
Estonia; Lithuania and Russia committed to demarcating their
boundary in 2006 in accordance with the land and maritime treaty
ratified by Russia in May 2003 and by Lithuania in 1999; Lithuania
operates a simplified transit regime for Russian nationals traveling
from the Kaliningrad coastal exclave into Russia, while still
conforming, as an EU member state with an EU external border, where
strict Schengen border rules apply; preparations for the demarcation
delimitation of land boundary with Ukraine have commenced; the
dispute over the boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the
Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov remains unresolved despite a December
2003 framework agreement and on-going expert-level discussions;
Kazakhstan and Russia boundary delimitation was ratified on November
2005 and field demarcation should commence in 2007; Russian Duma has
not yet ratified 1990 Bering Sea Maritime Boundary Agreement with
the US
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
IDPs: 18,000-160,000 (displacement from Chechnya and North Ossetia)
(2007)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Russia is a source, transit, and destination
country for men, women, and children trafficked for various
purposes; it remains a significant source of women trafficked to
over 50 countries for commercial sexual exploitation; Russia is also
a transit and destination country for men and women trafficked from
Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and North Korea to Central and Western
Europe and the Middle East for purposes of forced labor and sexual
exploitation; internal trafficking remains a problem in Russia with
women trafficked from rural areas to urban centers for commercial
sexual exploitation, and men trafficked internally and from Central
Asia for forced labor in the construction and agricultural
industries; debt bondage is common among trafficking victims, and
child sex tourism remains a concern
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Russia is on the Tier 2 Watch List
for a fifth consecutive year for its failure to show evidence of
increasing efforts to combat trafficking over the previous year,
particularly in providing assistance to victims of trafficking;
comprehensive trafficking victim assistance legislation, which would
address key deficiencies, has been pending before the Duma since
2003 and was neither passed nor enacted in 2007 (2008)
Illicit drugs:
limited cultivation of illicit cannabis and opium poppy and producer
of methamphetamine, mostly for domestic consumption; government has
active illicit crop eradication program; used as transshipment point
for Asian opiates, cannabis, and Latin American cocaine bound for
growing domestic markets, to a lesser extent Western and Central
Europe, and occasionally to the US; major source of heroin precursor
chemicals; corruption and organized crime are key concerns; major
consumer of opiates
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008
======================================================================
@Rwanda
Introduction
Rwanda
Background:
In 1959, three years before independence from Belgium, the majority
ethnic group, the Hutus, overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. Over the
next several years, thousands of Tutsis were killed, and some
150,000 driven into exile in neighboring countries. The children of
these exiles later formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front
(RPF), and began a civil war in 1990. The war, along with several
political and economic upheavals, exacerbated ethnic tensions,
culminating in April 1994 in the genocide of roughly 800,000 Tutsis
and moderate Hutus. The Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and
ended the killing in July 1994, but approximately 2 million Hutu
refugees - many fearing Tutsi retribution - fled to neighboring
Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire. Since then, most of the
refugees have returned to Rwanda, but several thousand remained in
the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC; the former
Zaire) and formed an extremist insurgency bent on retaking Rwanda,
much as the RPF tried in 1990. Despite substantial international
assistance and political reforms - including Rwanda's first local
elections in March 1999 and its first post-genocide presidential and
legislative elections in August and September 2003 - the country
continues to struggle to boost investment and agricultural output,
and ethnic reconciliation is complicated by the real and perceived
Tutsi political dominance. Kigali's increasing centralization and
intolerance of dissent, the nagging Hutu extremist insurgency across
the border, and Rwandan involvement in two wars in recent years in
the neighboring DRC continue to hinder Rwanda's efforts to escape
its bloody legacy.
Geography
Rwanda
Location:
Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo
Geographic coordinates:
2 00 S, 30 00 E
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 26,338 sq km
land: 24,948 sq km
water: 1,390 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Maryland
Land boundaries:
total: 893 km
border countries: Burundi 290 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo
217 km, Tanzania 217 km, Uganda 169 km
Coastline:
0 km (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; relief is mountainous with altitude
declining from west to east
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Rusizi River 950 m
highest point: Volcan Karisimbi 4,519 m
Natural resources:
gold, cassiterite (tin ore), wolframite (tungsten ore), methane,
hydropower, arable land
Land use:
arable land: 45.56%
permanent crops: 10.25%
other: 44.19% (2005)
Irrigated land:
90 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources:
5.2 cu km (2003)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 0.15 cu km/yr (24%/8%/68%)
per capita: 17 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
periodic droughts; the volcanic Virunga mountains are in the
northwest along the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo
Environment - current issues:
deforestation results from uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel;
overgrazing; soil exhaustion; soil erosion; widespread poaching
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes,
Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Geography - note:
landlocked; most of the country is savanna grassland with the
population predominantly rural
People
Rwanda
Population:
10,186,063
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the
effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower
life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower
population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July
2008 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 41.9% (male 2,143,479/female 2,124,588)
15-64 years: 55.7% (male 2,826,557/female 2,842,020)
65 years and over: 2.4% (male 99,721/female 149,698) (2008 est.)
Median age:
total: 18.7 years
male: 18.5 years
female: 18.9 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.779% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
39.97 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate:
14.46 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
2.29 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2008 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 83.42 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 88.53 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 78.16 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 49.76 years
male: 48.56 years
female: 51 years (2008 est.)
Total fertility rate:
5.31 children born/woman (2008 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
5.1% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
250,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
22,000 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and
typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: malaria (2008)
Nationality:
noun: Rwandan(s)
adjective: Rwandan
Ethnic groups:
Hutu (Bantu) 84%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 15%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%
Religions:
Roman Catholic 56.5%, Protestant 26%, Adventist 11.1%, Muslim 4.6%,
indigenous beliefs 0.1%, none 1.7% (2001)
Languages:
Kinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu vernacular, French
(official), English (official), Kiswahili (Swahili) used in
commercial centers
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 70.4%
male: 76.3%
female: 64.7% (2003 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 9 years
male: 8 years
female: 9 years (2005)
Education expenditures:
3.8% of GDP (2005)
People - note:
Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa
Government
Rwanda
Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Rwanda
conventional short form: Rwanda
local long form: Republika y'u Rwanda
local short form: Rwanda
former: Ruanda, German East Africa
Government type:
republic; presidential, multiparty system
Capital:
name: Kigali
geographic coordinates: 1 57 S, 30 04 E
time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
4 provinces (in French - provinces, singular - province; in
Kinyarwanda - intara for singular and plural) and 1 city* (in French
- ville; in Kinyarwanda - umujyi); Est (Eastern), Kigali*, Nord
(Northern), Ouest (Western), Sud (Southern)
Independence:
1 July 1962 (from Belgium-administered UN trusteeship)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 1 July (1962)
Constitution:
new constitution passed by referendum 26 May 2003
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
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Paul KAGAME (since 22 April 2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Bernard MAKUZA (since 8 March
2000)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
elections: President elected by popular vote for a seven-year term
(eligible for a second term); elections last held 25 August 2003
(next to be held in 2010)
election results: Paul KAGAME elected president in first direct
popular vote; Paul KAGAME 95.05%, Faustin TWAGIRAMUNGU 3.62%,
Jean-Nepomuscene NAYINZIRA 1.33%
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament consists of Senate (26 seats; 12 members
elected by local councils, 8 appointed by the president, 4 by the
Political Organizations Forum, 2 represent institutions of higher
learning; to serve eight-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies (80
seats; 53 members elected by popular vote, 24 women elected by local
bodies, 3 selected by youth and disability organizations; to serve
five-year terms)
elections: Senate - members appointed as part of the transitional
government (next to be held in 2011); Chamber of Deputies - last
held 15 September 2008 (next to be held September 2013)
election results: percent of vote by party - RPF 78.8%, PSD 13.1%,
PL 7.5%; seats by party - RPF 42, PSD 7, PL 4, additional 27 members
indirectly elected
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court; High Courts of the Republic; Provincial Courts;
District Courts; mediation committees
Political parties and leaders:
Centrist Democratic Party or PDC [Alfred MUKEZAMFURA]; Democratic
Popular Union of Rwanda or UDPR [Adrien RANGIRA]; Democratic
Republican Movement or MDR [Celestin KABANDA] (officially banned);
Islamic Democratic Party or PDI [Andre BUMAYA]; Liberal Party or PL
[Protais MITALI]; Party for Democratic Renewal (officially banned);
Rwandan Patriotic Front or RPF [Paul KAGAME]; Social Democratic
Party or PSD [Vincent BIRUTA]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
IBUKA (association of genocide survivors)
International organization participation:
ACP, AfDB, AU, CEPGL, COMESA, EAC, EADB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO,
ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO
(correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURCAT, NAM, OIF, OPCW,
UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO,
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador James KOMONYO
chancery: 1714 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone: [1] (202) 232-2882
FAX: [1] (202) 232-4544
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador W. Stuart SYMINGTON
embassy: 2657 Avenue de la Gendarmerie, Kigali
mailing address: B. P. 28, Kigali
telephone: [250] 596-400
FAX: [250] 596-591
Flag description:
three horizontal bands of sky blue (top, double width), yellow, and
green, with a golden sun with 24 rays near the fly end of the blue
band
Economy
Rwanda
Economy - overview:
Rwanda is a poor rural country with about 90% of the population
engaged in (mainly subsistence) agriculture. It is the most densely
populated country in Africa and is landlocked with few natural
resources and minimal industry. Primary foreign exchange earners are
coffee and tea. The 1994 genocide decimated Rwanda's fragile
economic base, severely impoverished the population, particularly
women, and eroded the country's ability to attract private and
external investment. However, Rwanda has made substantial progress
in stabilizing and rehabilitating its economy to pre-1994 levels,
although poverty levels are higher now. GDP has rebounded and
inflation has been curbed. Despite Rwanda's fertile ecosystem, food
production often does not keep pace with population growth,
requiring food imports. Rwanda continues to receive substantial aid
money and obtained IMF-World Bank Heavily Indebted Poor Country
(HIPC) initiative debt relief in 2005-06. Rwanda also received
Millennium Challenge Account Threshold status in 2006. The
government has embraced an expansionary fiscal policy to reduce
poverty by improving education, infrastructure, and foreign and
domestic investment and pursuing market-oriented reforms, although
energy shortages, instability in neighboring states, and lack of
adequate transportation linkages to other countries continue to
handicap growth.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$8.057 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
$3.32 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
6% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$800 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 36.9%
industry: 21.7%
services: 41.4% (2007 est.)
Labor force:
4.6 million (2000)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 90%
industry and services: 10% (2000)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Population below poverty line:
60% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 38.2% (2000)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
46.8 (2000)
Investment (gross fixed):
22% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $801.8 million
expenditures: $878.3 million; including capital expenditures of $NA
(2007 est.)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
9.1% (2007 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
12.5% (31 December 2007)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
15.84% (31 December 2007)
Stock of money:
$233.6 million (31 December 2005)
Stock of quasi money:
$227.4 million (31 December 2005)
Stock of domestic credit:
$209.2 million (31 December 2005)
Agriculture - products:
coffee, tea, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums),
bananas, beans, sorghum, potatoes; livestock
Industries:
cement, agricultural products, small-scale beverages, soap,
furniture, shoes, plastic goods, textiles, cigarettes
Industrial production growth rate:
13.1% (2007 est.)