and Cooperation commits Russia and China to seek peaceable unanimity
over disputed alluvial islands at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri
rivers and a small island on the Argun; Russia hastens to delimit and
demarcate boundary with Kazakhstan to limit illegal border activities;
in 2002, Russia is the first state to submit data to the UN Commission
on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to extend its continental shelf
by claiming two undersea ridges in the Arctic; Russia signed bilateral
agreements with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan delimiting the Caspian seabed,
but littoral states are far from multilateral agreement on dividing
the waters and seabed regimes - Iran insists on division of Caspian
Sea into five equal sectors while Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and
Turkmenistan have generally agreed upon equidistant seabed boundaries;
despite recent discussions, 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; Russia continues
to reject signing and ratifying the joint December 1996 technical
border agreement with Estonia; the Russian Duma refuses to ratify
boundary treaties signed with Latvia and Lithuania; Russia and Ukraine
have successfully delimited land boundary in 2001, but disagree on
delimitation of maritime boundary in the Sea of Azov and Black Sea;
boundary with Georgia has been largely delimited, but not demarcated;
several small, strategic segments remain in dispute; islands of Etorofu,
Kunashiri, and Shikotan, and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet
Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, claimed by Japan
Illicit drugs: limited cultivation of illicit cannabis and opium poppy
and producer of amphetamine, mostly for domestic consumption; government
has active eradication program; increasingly used as transshipment
point for Southwest and Southeast Asian opiates and cannabis and Latin
American cocaine to Western Europe, possibly to the US, and growing
domestic market; major source of heroin precursor chemicals; corruption
and organized crime are major concerns; heroin an increasing threat in
domestic drug market
This page was last updated on 1 January 2002
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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 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. Despite substantial
international assistance and political reforms - including Rwanda's first
local elections in March 1999 - the country continues to struggle to
boost investment and agricultural output and to foster reconciliation. A
series of massive population displacements, a nagging Hutu extremist
insurgency, and Rwandan involvement in two wars over the past four years
in the neighboring DROC continue to hinder Rwanda's efforts.
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 water: 1,390 sq km land: 24,948 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: 32% permanent crops: 10% other: 58% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: 40 sq km (1998 est.)
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, Desertification, Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone
Layer Protection 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: 7,398,074 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 and death rates, lower
population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population
by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 41.7% (male 1,550,141; female 1,539,375)
15-64 years: 55.4% (male 2,039,573; female 2,057,059) 65 years and over:
2.9% (male 84,030; female 127,896) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.16% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 33.28 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 21.39 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.32 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01
male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over:
0.66 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 117.79 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: 39.2 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility
rate: 4.72 children born/woman (2002 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 11.21% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 400,000 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 40,000 (1999 est.)
Nationality: noun: Rwandan(s) adjective: Rwandan
Ethnic groups: Hutu 84%, Tutsi 15%, Twa (Pygmoid) 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: 48% male: 52% female: 45% (1995 est.)
Government Rwanda
Country name: Rwandese Republic conventional short form: y'u Rwanda
Government type: republic; presidential, multiparty system
Capital: Kigali
Administrative divisions: 12 prefectures (in French - prefectures,
singular - prefecture; in Kinyarwanda - plural - NA, singular -
prefegitura); Butare, Byumba, Cyangugu, Gikongoro, Gisenyi, Gitarama,
Kibungo, Kibuye, Kigali Rurale, Kigali-ville, Umutara, Ruhengeri
Independence: 1 July 1962 (from Belgium-administered UN trusteeship)
National holiday: Independence Day, 1 July (1962)
Constitution: on 5 May 1995, the Transitional National Assembly
adopted as Fundamental Law the constitution of 18 June 1991, provisions
of the 1993 Arusha peace accord, the July 1994 Declaration by the
Rwanda Patriotic Front, and the November 1994 multiparty protocol of
understanding
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 adult
Executive branch: chief of state: President Maj. Gen. Paul KAGAME (FPR)
(since 22 April 2000) head of government: Prime Minister Bernard MAKUZA
(since 8 March
Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: special
election for new president by deputies of the National Assembly
and governmental ministers held 17 April 2000 (next national election
to be held NA 2003); prime minister is appointed by the president
election results: Paul KAGAME (FPR) elected president in a special
parliamentary/ministerial ballot receiving 81 of a possible 86 votes
Legislative branch: unicameral Transitional National Assembly or
Assemblee Nationale de Transition (a power-sharing body with 70 seats
established on 12 December 1994 following a multiparty protocol of
understanding; members were named by their parties, number of seats per
party predetermined by the Arusha peace accord) note: four additional
seats, two for women and two for youth, added in 2001 election results:
seats by party under the Arusha peace accord - FPR 13, MDR 13, PSD 13,
PL 13, PDC 6, RPA 6, PSR 2, PDI 2, UDPR 2; note - the distribution of
seats was predetermined, four additional seats (two for women and two for
youth) added in 2001 elections: the last national legislative elections
were held 16 December 1988 for the National Development Council (the
legislature prior to the advent of the Transitional National Assembly);
no elections have been held for the Transitional National Assembly as
the distribution of seats was predetermined by the Arusha peace accord
Judicial branch: Supreme Court; communal courts; appeals courts
Political parties and leaders: Centrist Democratic Party or PDC
[Jean-Nipomuscene NAYINZIRA]; Democratic Socialist Party or PSD [leader
NA]; Democratic Popular Union of Rwanda or UDPR [leader NA]; Democratic
Republican Movement or MDR [Celestin KABANDA]; Islamic Democratic Party or
PDI [Andre BUMAYA]; Liberal Party or PL [Pie MUGABO]; Party for Democratic
Renewal (officially banned) [Pasteur BIZIMURGI and Charilg NTAKIROTINKA];
Rwanda Patriotic Army or RPA [Maj. Gen. Paul KAGAME, commander]; Rwanda
Patriotic Front or FPR [Maj. Gen. Paul KAGAME]; Rwandan Socialist Party
or PSR [leader NA]
Political pressure groups and leaders: IBUKA - association of genocide
survivors
International organization participation: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEEAC,
CEPGL, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS,
ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM,
OAU, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WToO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Richard
SEZIBERA chancery: 1714 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20009 FAX:
[1] (202) 232-4544 telephone: [1] (202) 232-2882
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Margaret K. McMILLION since 13 December
#337 Boulevard de la Revolution, Kigali mailing address:
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 rural country with about 90% of
the population engaged in (mainly subsistence) agriculture. It is
the most densely populated country in Africa; landlocked with few
natural resources and minimal industry. Primary exports 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 significant progress in stabilizing and rehabilitating
its economy. GDP has rebounded, and inflation has been curbed. Rwanda
received approval for debt relief from the IMF in late 2000 and continued
to make progress on inflation, privatization, and GDP growth in 2001.
However, export earnings were hindered by low global coffee prices,
depriving the country of much needed hard currency. President KAGAME
is encouraging investors to take advantage of export opportunities in
Rwanda based on its membership in the COMESA free trade area and its
access to the US and the EU markets through preferential trade agreements.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $7.2 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 5% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 46% industry: 20% services:
34% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line: 70% (2000 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 4.2%
highest 10%: 24.2% (1983-85)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 28.9 (1983-85)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 3.6 million
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 90%
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues: $199.3 million expenditures: $445 million, including
capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)
Industries: cement, agricultural products, small-scale beverages, soap,
furniture, shoes, plastic goods, textiles, cigarettes
Industrial production growth rate: 7% (2001 est.)
Electricity - production: 113 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 2.65% hydro: 97.35%
other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption: 174.09 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 1 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 70 million kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: coffee, tea, pyrethrum (insecticide made from
chrysanthemums), bananas, beans, sorghum, potatoes; livestock
Exports: $61 million (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Exports - commodities: coffee, tea, hides, tin ore
Exports - partners: EU 56.9%, Pakistan 12.3%, US 9.2%, China 4.4%
Malaysia 4.4% (2000 est.)
Imports: $248 million (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Imports - commodities: foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, steel,
petroleum products, cement and construction material
Imports - partners: Kenya 29.4%, EU 28%, US 10%, India 4.4%, Tanzania
2.2% (2000 est.)
Debt - external: $1.3 billion (2000 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $372.9 million (1999)
Currency: Rwandan franc (RWF)
Currency code: RWF
Exchange rates: Rwandan francs per US dollar - 456.81 (January 2002),
442.99 (2001), 389.70 (2000), 333.94 (1999) 312.31 (1998), 301.53 (1997)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Rwanda
Telephones - main lines in use: 11,000 (1999)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 11,000 (1999) note: Rwanda has mobile
cellular service between Kigali and several prefecture capitals (2002)
Telephone system: general assessment: telephone system primarily serves
business and government domestic: the capital, Kigali, is connected to
the centers of the prefectures by microwave radio relay and, recently,
by cellular telephone service; much of the network depends on wire and HF
radiotelephone international: international connections employ microwave
radio relay to neighboring countries and satellite communications to more
distant countries; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)
in Kigali (includes telex and telefax service)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 0, FM 3 (two main FM programs are broadcast
through a system of repeaters and the third FM program is a 24 hour BBC
program), shortwave 1 (2002)
Radios: 601,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: NA
Televisions: NA; probably less than 1,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .rw
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)
Internet users: 5,000 (2001)
Transportation Rwanda
Railways: 0 km
Highways: total: 12,000 km paved: 1,000 km unpaved: 11,000 km (1997 est.)
Waterways: note: Lac Kivu navigable by shallow-draft barges and native
craft
Ports and harbors: Cyangugu, Gisenyi, Kibuye
Airports: 8 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 4 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m:
2 under 914 m: 1 (2001)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m:
3 (2001)
Military Rwanda
Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Gendarmerie
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 1,858,443 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 946,990
(2002 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $58 million (FY01)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 3.1% (FY01)
Transnational Issues Rwanda
Disputes - international: Tutsi, Hutu and other ethnic groups, political
rebels, and various government forces continue fighting in Great Lakes
region, transcending the boundaries of Burundi, Democratic Republic of
the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda
This page was last updated on 1 January 2002
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Saudi Arabia
Introduction Saudi Arabia
Background: In 1902 Abd al-Aziz Ibn SAUD captured Riyadh and set out
on a 30-year campaign to unify the Arabian Peninsula. In the 1930s,
the discovery of oil transformed the country. Following Iraq's invasion
of Kuwait in 1990, Saudi Arabia accepted the Kuwaiti royal family and
400,000 refugees while allowing Western and Arab troops to deploy on
its soil for the liberation of Kuwait the following year. A burgeoning
population, aquifer depletion, and an economy largely dependent on
petroleum output and prices are all major governmental concerns.
Geography Saudi Arabia
Location: Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea,
north of Yemen
Geographic coordinates: 25 00 N, 45 00 E
Map references: Middle East
Area: total: 1,960,582 sq km water: 0 sq km land: 1,960,582 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly more than one-fifth the size of the US
Land boundaries: total: 4,431 km border countries: Iraq 814 km,
Jordan 744 km, Kuwait 222 km, Oman 676 km, Qatar 60 km, UAE 457 km,
Yemen 1,458 km
Coastline: 2,640 km
Maritime claims: not specified territorial sea: Climate: harsh,
dry desert with great temperature extremes
Terrain: mostly uninhabited, sandy desert
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m highest point:
Jabal Sawda' 3,133 m
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, copper
Land use: arable land: 2% permanent crops: 0% other: 98% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: 16,200 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: frequent sand and dust storms
Environment - current issues: desertification; depletion of underground
water resources; the lack of perennial rivers or permanent water
bodies has prompted the development of extensive seawater desalination
facilities; coastal pollution from oil spills
Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of
the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the
selected agreements
Geography - note: extensive coastlines on Persian Gulf and Red Sea
provide great leverage on shipping (especially crude oil) through Persian
Gulf and Suez Canal
People Saudi Arabia
Population: 23,513,330 note: includes 5,360,526 non-nationals (July
2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 42.4% (male 5,086,541; female 4,883,942)
15-64 years: 54.8% (male 7,493,304; female 5,396,985) 65 years and over:
2.8% (male 362,780; female 289,778) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 3.27% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 37.25 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 5.86 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: 1.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04
male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.39 male(s)/female 65 years and over:
1.25 male(s)/female total population: 1.22 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 49.59 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: 70.2 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility
rate: 6.21 children born/woman (2002 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.01% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA
Nationality: noun: Saudi(s) adjective: Saudi or Saudi Arabian
Ethnic groups: Arab 90%, Afro-Asian 10%
Religions: Muslim 100%
Languages: Arabic
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total
population: 78% male: 84.2% female: 69.5% (2002 est.)
Government Saudi Arabia
Country name: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia conventional short form: short
form: Al Arabiyah as Suudiyah
Government type: monarchy
Capital: Riyadh
Administrative divisions: 13 provinces (mintaqat, singular - mintaqah);
Al Bahah, Al Hudud ash Shamaliyah, Al Jawf, Al Madinah, Al Qasim, Ar
Riyad, Ash Sharqiyah (Eastern Province), 'Asir, Ha'il, Jizan, Makkah,
Najran, Tabuk
Independence: 23 September 1932 (Unification of the Kingdom)
National holiday: Unification of the Kingdom, 23 September (1932)
Constitution: governed according to Shari'a (Islamic law); the Basic
Law that articulates the government's rights and responsibilities was
introduced in 1993
Legal system: based on Islamic law, several secular codes have been
introduced; commercial disputes handled by special committees; has not
accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: none
Executive branch: chief of state: King and Prime Minister FAHD bin Abd
al-Aziz Al Saud (since 13 June 1982); Crown Prince and First Deputy Prime
Minister ABDALLAH bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud (half-brother to the monarch,
heir to the throne since 13 June 1982, regent from 1 January to 22
February 1996); note - the monarch is both the chief of state and head of
government elections: none; the monarch is hereditary head of government:
King and Prime Minister FAHD bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud (since 13 June 1982);
Crown Prince and First Deputy Prime Minister ABDALLAH bin Abd al-Aziz Al
Saud (half-brother to the monarch, heir to the throne since 13 June 1982,
regent from 1 January to 22 February 1996); note - the monarch is both
the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Council of Ministers
is appointed by the monarch and includes many royal family members
Legislative branch: a consultative council (90 members and a chairman
appointed by the monarch for four-year terms)
Judicial branch: Supreme Council of Justice
Political parties and leaders: none allowed
Political pressure groups and leaders: none
International organization participation: ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF,
BIS, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-19, G-77, GCC, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM,
IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM,
OAPEC, OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO,
UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador BANDAR
bin Sultan bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud chancery: 601 New Hampshire Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20037 consulate(s) general: Houston, Los Angeles,
and New York telephone: [1] (202) 342-3800
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Robert W. JORDAN (since 3 October 2001)
Collector Road M, Diplomatic Quarter, Riyadh mailing address: [966]
(1) 488-3800 FAX:
Flag description: green with large white Arabic script (that may be
translated as There is no God but God; Muhammad is the Messenger of
God) above a white horizontal saber (the tip points to the hoist side);
green is the traditional color of Islam
Economy Saudi Arabia