Burundi (2001) | Eritrea (2002) | |
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Administrative divisions | 16 provinces; Bubanza, Bujumbura, Bururi, Cankuzo, Cibitoke, Gitega, Karuzi, Kayanza, Kirundo, Makamba, Muramvya, Muyinga, Mwaro, Ngozi, Rutana, Ruyigi | 6 regions (regions, singular - region); Central, Anelba, Southern Red Sea, Northern Red Sea, Southern, Gash-Barka |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
46.82% (male 1,472,618; female 1,441,548) 15-64 years: 50.37% (male 1,541,131; female 1,593,743) 65 years and over: 2.81% (male 71,984; female 102,873) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 42.9% (male 958,564; female 955,625)
15-64 years: 53.9% (male 1,192,454; female 1,213,313) 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 73,017; female 72,678) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, cotton, tea, corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc (tapioca); beef, milk, hides | sorghum, lentils, vegetables, corn, cotton, tobacco, coffee, sisal; livestock, goats; fish |
Airports | 4 (2000 est.) | 21 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 4
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
3 914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
total: 14
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 2 (2002) |
Area | total:
27,830 sq km land: 25,650 sq km water: 2,180 sq km |
total: 121,320 sq km
land: 121,320 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | slightly larger than Pennsylvania |
Background | Between 1993 and 2000, wide-spread, often intense ethnic violence between Hutu and Tutsi factions in Burundi created hundreds of thousands of refugees and left tens of thousands dead. Although some refugees have returned from neighboring countries, continued ethnic strife has forced many others to flee. Burundian troops, seeking to secure their borders, have intervened in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. | Eritrea was awarded to Ethiopia in 1952 as part of a federation. Ethiopia's annexation of Eritrea as a province 10 years later sparked a 30-year struggle for independence that ended in 1991 with Eritrean rebels defeating governmental forces; independence was overwhelmingly approved in a 1993 referendum. A two and a half year border war with Ethiopia that erupted in 1998 ended under UN auspices on 12 December 2000. Eritrea currently hosts a UN peacekeeping operation that will monitor the border region until an international commission determines and demarcates the boundary between the two countries. |
Birth rate | 40.13 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 42.25 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$125 million expenditures: $176 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
revenues: $206.4 million
expenditures: $615.7 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
Capital | Bujumbura | Asmara (formerly Asmera) |
Climate | equatorial; high plateau with considerable altitude variation (772 m to 2,670 m above sea level); average annual temperature varies with altitude from 23 to 17 degrees centigrade but is generally moderate as the average altitude is about 1,700 m; average annual rainfall is about 150 cm; wet seasons from February to May and September to November, and dry seasons from June to August and December to January | hot, dry desert strip along Red Sea coast; cooler and wetter in the central highlands (up to 61 cm of rainfall annually); semiarid in western hills and lowlands; rainfall heaviest during June-September except in coastal desert |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 2,234 km total; mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km, islands in Red Sea 1,083 km |
Constitution | 13 March 1992; provided for establishment of a plural political system; supplanted on 6 June 1998 by a Transitional Constitution which enlarged the National Assembly and created two vice presidents | the transitional constitution, decreed on 19 May 1993, was replaced by a new constitution adopted on 23 May 1997, but not yet implemented |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Burundi conventional short form: Burundi local long form: Republika y'u Burundi local short form: Burundi former: Urundi |
conventional long form: State of Eritrea
conventional short form: Eritrea local long form: Hagere Ertra local short form: Ertra former: Eritrea Autonomous Region in Ethiopia |
Currency | Burundi franc (BIF) | nakfa (ERN) |
Death rate | 16.36 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 11.82 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $1.12 billion (1999 est.) | $281 million (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Mary Carlin YATES embassy: Avenue des Etats-Unis, Bujumbura mailing address: B. P. 1720, Bujumbura telephone: [257] 223454 FAX: [257] 222926 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Donald J. McCONNELL
embassy: Franklin D. Roosevelt Street, Asmara mailing address: P. O. Box 211, Asmara telephone: [291] (1) 120004 FAX: [291] (1) 127584 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Thomas NDIKUMANA chancery: Suite 212, 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 342-2574 FAX: [1] (202) 342-2578 |
chief of mission: Ambassador GIRMA Asmerom
chancery: 1708 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 319-1991 FAX: [1] (202) 319-1304 consulate(s) general: Oakland (California) |
Disputes - international | none | Eritrea and Ethiopia have expressed general approval of the April 2002 arbitration commission ruling re-delimiting the boundary, the focus of their 1998-2000 war; United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) will monitor activities within the 25-km wide temporary security zone in Eritrea until demarcation and de-mining are complete; Yemen has asserted traditional fishing rights to islands ceded to Eritrea in ICJ ruling |
Economic aid - recipient | $1.344 billion (1999 est.) | $77 million (1999) (1999) |
Economy - overview | Burundi is a landlocked, resource-poor country with an underdeveloped manufacturing sector. The economy is predominantly agricultural with roughly 90% of the population dependent on subsistence agriculture. Its economic health depends on the coffee crop, which accounts for 80% of foreign exchange earnings. The ability to pay for imports therefore rests largely on the vagaries of the climate and the international coffee market. Since October 1993 the nation has suffered from massive ethnic-based violence which has resulted in the death of perhaps 250,000 persons and the displacement of about 800,000 others. Only one in four children go to school, and one in nine adults has HIV/AIDS. Foods, medicines, and electricity remain in short supply. | Since independence from Ethiopia on 24 May 1993, Eritrea has faced the economic problems of a small, desperately poor country. Like the economies of many African nations, the economy is largely based on subsistence agriculture, with 80% of the population involved in farming and herding. The Ethiopian-Eritrea war in 1998-2000 severely hurt Eritrea's economy. GDP growth in 1999 fell to less than 1%, and GDP decreased by 8.2% in 2000. The May 2000 Ethiopian offensive into northern Eritrea caused some $600 million in property damage and loss, including losses of $225 million in livestock and 55,000 homes. The attack prevented planting of crops in Eritrea's most productive region, causing food production to drop by 62%. Even during the war, Eritrea developed its transportation infrastructure, asphalting new roads, improving its ports, and repairing war damaged roads and bridges. Eritrea's economic future remains mixed. The cessation of Ethiopian trade, which mainly used Eritrean ports before the war, leaves Eritrea with a large economic hole to fill. Eritrea's economic future depends upon its ability to master fundamental social problems like illiteracy, unemployment, and low skills, and to convert the diaspora's money and expertise into economic growth. |
Electricity - consumption | 160.1 million kWh (1999) | 195.3 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh NA kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 29 million kWh
note: supplied by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1999) |
0 kWh NA kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 141 million kWh (1999) | 210 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
0.71% hydro: 99.29% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Lake Tanganyika 772 m highest point: Mount Heha 2,670 m |
lowest point: near Kulul within the Denakil depression -75 m
highest point: Soira 3,018 m |
Environment - current issues | soil erosion as a result of overgrazing and the expansion of agriculture into marginal lands; deforestation (little forested land remains because of uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel); habitat loss threatens wildlife populations | deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%, Europeans 3,000, South Asians 2,000 | ethnic Tigrinya 50%, Tigre and Kunama 40%, Afar 4%, Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3%, other 3% |
Exchange rates | Burundi francs per US dollar - 782.36 (January 2001), 720.67 (2000), 563.56 (1999), 477.77 (1998), 352.35 (1997), 302.75 (1996) | nakfa (ERN) per US dollar - 9.5 (January 2000), 7.6 (January 1999), 7.2 (March 1998 est.) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Pierre BUYOYA (interim president since 27 September 1996, officially sworn in 11 June 1998), First Vice President Frederic BAMVUGINYUMVIRA (since NA June 1998), Second Vice President Mathias SINAMENYE (since NA June 1998); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government head of government: President Pierre BUYOYA (interim president since 27 September 1996, officially sworn in 11 June 1998), First Vice President Frederic BAMVUGINYUMVIRA (since NA June 1998), Second Vice President Mathias SINAMENYE (since NA June 1998); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by president elections: NA; current president assumed power following a coup on 25 July 1996 in which former President NTIBANTUNGANYA was overthrown |
chief of state: President Afworki ISAIAS (since 8 June 1993); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government and is head of the State Council and National Assembly
head of government: President Afworki ISAIAS (since 8 June 1993); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government and is head of the State Council and National Assembly cabinet: State Council is the collective executive authority; members appointed by the president elections: president elected by the National Assembly; election last held 8 June 1993 (next election date uncertain as the National Assembly did not hold a presidential election in December 2001 as anticipated) election results: ISAIAS Afworki elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - ISAIAS Afworki 95% |
Exports | $32 million (f.o.b., 2000) | $34.8 million f.o.b. (2000) |
Exports - commodities | coffee, tea, sugar, cotton, hides | livestock, sorghum, textiles, food, small manufactures |
Exports - partners | Germany 17%, Belgium 14%, US 8%, France 6%, Switzerland 4% (1999) | Sudan 27.2%, Ethiopia 26.5%, Japan 13.2%, UAE 7.3%, Italy 5.3% (1998) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | 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) | red isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) dividing the flag into two right triangles; the upper triangle is green, the lower one is blue; a gold wreath encircling a gold olive branch is centered on the hoist side of the red triangle |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $4.4 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $3.2 billion (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
50% industry: 18% services: 32% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 17%
industry: 29% services: 54% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $720 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $740 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 1.8% (2000 est.) | 7% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 3 30 S, 30 00 E | 15 00 N, 39 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; straddles crest of the Nile-Congo watershed | strategic geopolitical position along world's busiest shipping lanes; Eritrea retained the entire coastline of Ethiopia along the Red Sea upon de jure independence from Ethiopia on 24 May 1993 |
Highways | total:
14,480 km paved: 1,028 km unpaved: 13,452 km (1996) |
total: 3,850 km
paved: 810 km unpaved: 3,040 km (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
3.4% highest 10%: 26.6% (1992) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $110 million (f.o.b., 2000) | $470.5 million c.i.f. (2000) |
Imports - commodities | capital goods, petroleum products, foodstuffs | machinery, petroleum products, food, manufactured goods |
Imports - partners | Belgium 20%, Zambia 11%, Kenya 8%, South Africa 5%, France 4% (1999) | Italy 17.4%, UAE 16.2%, Germany 5.7%, UK 4.5%, Korea 4.4% (1998) |
Independence | 1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian administration) | 24 May 1993 (from Ethiopia) |
Industrial production growth rate | 6.3% (1999 est.) | NA% |
Industries | light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imported components; public works construction; food processing | food processing, beverages, clothing and textiles |
Infant mortality rate | 70.74 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 73.62 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 22% (2000 est.) | 15% (2001 est.) |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEEAC, CEPGL, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS (associate), IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 5 (2001) |
Irrigated land | 140 sq km (1993 est.) | 220 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme; Constitutional Court; Courts of Appeal (there are three in separate locations); Tribunals of First Instance (17 at the province level and 123 small local tribunals) | High court, regional, subregional, and village courts; also have military and special courts |
Labor force | 1.9 million | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | NA | agriculture 80%, industry and services 20% |
Land boundaries | total:
974 km border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 233 km, Rwanda 290 km, Tanzania 451 km |
total: 1,626 km
border countries: Djibouti 109 km, Ethiopia 912 km, Sudan 605 km |
Land use | arable land:
44% permanent crops: 9% permanent pastures: 36% forests and woodland: 3% other: 8% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 3.87%
permanent crops: 0.02% other: 96.11% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area) | Afar, Amharic, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages |
Legal system | based on German and Belgian civil codes and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | primary basis is the Ethiopian legal code of 1957, with revisions; new civil, commercial, and penal codes have not yet been promulgated; also relies on customary and post-independence-enacted laws and, for civil cases involving Muslims, Sharia law |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (121 seats; note - new Transitional Constitution expanded the number of seats from 81 to 121 in 1998; members are elected by popular vote on a proportional basis to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 29 June 1993 (next was scheduled to be held in 1998, but suspended by presidential decree in 1996) election results: percent of vote by party - FRODEBU 71.04%, UPRONA 21.4%, other 7.56%; seats by party - FRODEBU 65, UPRONA 16, various other parties 40 |
unicameral National Assembly (150 seats; term limits not established)
elections: in May 1997, following the adoption of the new constitution, 75 members of the PFDJ Central Committee (the old Central Committee of the EPLF), 60 members of the 527-member Constituent Assembly which had been established in 1997 to discuss and ratify the new constitution, and 15 representatives of Eritreans living abroad were formed into a Transitional National Assembly to serve as the country's legislative body until countrywide elections to a National Assembly were held; although only 75 of 150 members of the Transitional National Assembly were elected, the constitution stipulates that once past the transition stage, all members of the National Assembly will be elected by secret ballot of all eligible voters; National Assembly elections scheduled for December 2001 were postponed indefinately |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
46.06 years male: 45.15 years female: 46.99 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 56.57 years
male: 54.09 years female: 59.13 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 35.3% male: 49.3% female: 22.5% (1995 est.) |
definition: NA
total population: 25% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo | Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan |
Map references | Africa | Africa |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | total: 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 19,100 GRT/23,399 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 2, liquefied gas 1, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1 (2002 est.) |
Military branches | Army (includes naval and air units), paramilitary Gendarmerie | Army, Navy, Air Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $57 million (FY97) | $138.3 million (FY01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 6.1% (FY97) | 19.8% (FY01) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
1,394,273 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
728,326 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - military age | 16 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
79,360 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 1 July (1962) | Independence Day, 24 May (1993) |
Nationality | noun:
Burundian(s) adjective: Burundi |
noun: Eritrean(s)
adjective: Eritrean |
Natural hazards | flooding, landslides, drought | frequent droughts; locust swarms |
Natural resources | nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper, platinum (not yet exploited), vanadium, arable land, hydropower | gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 7.61 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: UNHCR began repatriating about 150,000 Eritrean refugees from Sudan in 2001 following the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2000 (2002 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | Two national, mainstream governing parties are: Unity for National Progress or UPRONA [Luc RUKINGAMA, president]; Burundi Democratic Front or FRODEBU [Jean MINANI, president]
note: A multiparty system was introduced after 1998, included are: Burundi African Alliance for the Salvation or ABASA [Terrence NSANZE]; Rally for Democracy and Economic and Social Development or RADDES [Joseph NZENZIMANA]; Party for National Redress or PARENA [Jean-Baptiste BAGAZA]; People's Reconciliation Party or PRP [Mathias HITIMANA] |
People's Front for Democracy and Justice or PFDJ, the only party recognized by the government [Afworki ISAIAS]; note - a National Assembly committee drafted a law on political parties in January 2001, but the full National Assembly had not yet debated or voted on it as of December 2001 |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Loosely organized Tutsi militias, often affiliated with Tutsi extremist parties | Eritrean Islamic Jihad or EIJ; Eritrean Liberation Front or ELF [ABDULLAH Muhammed]; Eritrean Liberation Front-Revolutionary Council or ELF-RC [Ahmed NASSER]; Eritrean Liberation Front-United Organization or ELF-UO [Mohammed Said NAWD]; Eritrean Public Forum or EPF [ARADOM Iyob] |
Population | 6,223,897
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 2001 est.) |
4,465,651 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 36.2% (1990 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 2.38% (2001 est.) | 3.8% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Bujumbura | Assab (Aseb), Massawa (Mits'iwa) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 2, FM NA, shortwave 2 (2000) |
Radios | 440,000 (1997) | 345,000 (1997) |
Railways | 0 km | total: 317 km
narrow gauge: 317 km 0.950-m gauge note: links Ak'ordat and Asmara with the port of Massawa; nonoperational since 1978 except for about a 5 km stretch that was reopened in Massawa in 1994; rehabilitation of the remainder and of the rolling stock is under way (2001 est.) |
Religions | Christian 67% (Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 5%), indigenous beliefs 23%, Muslim 10% | Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | NA years of age; universal adult | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
primitive system domestic: sparse system of open wire, radiotelephone communications, and low-capacity microwave radio relay international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
general assessment: inadequate
domestic: very inadequate; most telephones are in Asmara; government is seeking international tenders to improve the system (2002) international: NA; note - international connections exist |
Telephones - main lines in use | 16,000 (1997) | 30,000 (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 619 (1997) | NA; note - mobile cellular service was introduced in May 2001 |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (1999) | 1 (2000) |
Terrain | hilly and mountainous, dropping to a plateau in east, some plains | dominated by extension of Ethiopian north-south trending highlands, descending on the east to a coastal desert plain, on the northwest to hilly terrain and on the southwest to flat-to-rolling plains |
Total fertility rate | 6.16 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 5.8 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | NA% |
Waterways | Lake Tanganyika | none |