Burundi (2004) | Martinique (2006) | |
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Administrative divisions | 16 provinces; Bubanza, Bujumbura, Bururi, Cankuzo, Cibitoke, Gitega, Karuzi, Kayanza, Kirundo, Makamba, Muramvya, Muyinga, Mwaro, Ngozi, Rutana, Ruyigi | none (overseas department of France) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 46.4% (male 1,459,251; female 1,430,332)
15-64 years: 50.9% (male 1,566,274; female 1,607,705) 65 years and over: 2.7% (male 66,306; female 101,353) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years: 22.1% (male 48,988/female 47,525)
15-64 years: 67.3% (male 147,082/female 146,470) 65 years and over: 10.6% (male 20,791/female 25,275) (2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, cotton, tea, corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc (tapioca); beef, milk, hides | pineapples, avocados, bananas, flowers, vegetables, sugarcane |
Airports | 8 (2003 est.) | 2 (2006) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2006) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2006) |
Area | total: 27,830 sq km
land: 25,650 sq km water: 2,180 sq km |
total: 1,100 sq km
land: 1,060 sq km water: 40 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | slightly more than six times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | Burundi's first democratically elected president was assassinated in October 1993 after only one hundred days in office. Since then, some 200,000 Burundians have perished in widespread, often intense ethnic violence between Hutu and Tutsi factions. Hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced or have become refugees in neighboring countries. Burundi troops, seeking to secure their borders, briefly intervened in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1998. A new transitional government, inaugurated on 1 November 2001, signed a power-sharing agreement with the largest rebel faction in December 2003 and set in place a provisional constitution in October 2004. Implementation of the agreement has been problematic, however, as one remaining rebel group refuses to sign on and elections have been repeatedly delayed, clouding prospects for a sustainable peace. | The French began to settle this island in 1635, overcoming resistance from the local Carib inhabitants. In 1660, the suviving natives were rounded up and permanently expelled. The island has subsequently remained a French possession except for three brief periods of foreign occupation. |
Birth rate | 39.68 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 13.74 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $179.4 million
expenditures: $209 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2003) |
revenues: $317.5 million
expenditures: $317.5 million; including capital expenditures of $140 million (1996) |
Capital | Bujumbura | name: Fort-de-France
geographic coordinates: 14 36 N, 61 05 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
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 | tropical; moderated by trade winds; rainy season (June to October); vulnerable to devastating cyclones (hurricanes) every eight years on average; average temperature 17.3 degrees C; humid |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 350 km |
Constitution | 13 March 1992; provided for establishment of a plural political system; supplanted on 20 October 2004 by a provisional constitution approved by the parliament, which extended the transition, set ethnic quotas for government positions, and tentatively scheduled elections for February-April 2005 | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution) |
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: Department of Martinique
conventional short form: Martinique local long form: Departement de la Martinique local short form: Martinique |
Currency | Burundi franc (BIF) | - |
Death rate | 17.61 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 6.48 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Debt - external | $1.133 billion (2002) | $180 million (1994) |
Dependency status | - | overseas department of France |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador James Howard YELLIN
embassy: Avenue des Etats-Unis, Bujumbura mailing address: B. P. 1720, Bujumbura telephone: [257] 223454 FAX: [257] 222926 |
none (overseas department of France) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Antoine NTAMOBWA
chancery: Suite 212, 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 342-2574 FAX: [1] (202) 342-2578 |
none (overseas department of France) |
Disputes - international | Tutsi, Hutu, and other conflicting ethnic groups, associated political rebels, armed gangs, and various government forces continue fighting in the Great Lakes region, transcending the boundaries of Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda to gain control over populated and natural resource areas; government heads pledge to end conflict, but localized violence continues despite UN peacekeeping efforts | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $92.7 million (2000) | $NA; note - substantial annual aid from France (1998) |
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. Economic growth depends on coffee and tea exports, which account for 90% of foreign exchange earnings. The ability to pay for imports, therefore, rests primarily on weather conditions and international coffee and tea prices. The Tutsi minority, 14% of the population, dominates the government and the coffee trade at the expense of the Hutu majority, 85% of the population. Since October 1993 an ethnic-based war has resulted in more than 200,000 deaths, forced 800,000 refugees into Tanzania, and displaced 525,000 others internally. Doubts about the prospects for sustainable peace continue to impede development. Only one in two children go to school, and approximately one in ten adults has HIV/AIDS. Food, medicine, and electricity remain in short supply. | The economy is based on sugarcane, bananas, tourism, and light industry. Agriculture accounts for about 6% of GDP and the small industrial sector for 11%. Sugar production has declined, with most of the sugarcane now used for the production of rum. Banana exports are increasing, going mostly to France. The bulk of meat, vegetable, and grain requirements must be imported, contributing to a chronic trade deficit that requires large annual transfers of aid from France. Tourism, which employs more than 11,000 people, has become more important than agricultural exports as a source of foreign exchange. |
Electricity - consumption | 177.5 million kWh (2001) | 1.12 billion kWh (2003) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (2003) |
Electricity - imports | 33 million kWh; note - supplied by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2001) | 0 kWh (2003) |
Electricity - production | 155.4 million kWh (2001) | 1.205 billion kWh (2003) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Lake Tanganyika 772 m
highest point: Mount Heha 2,670 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Montagne Pelee 1,397 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 | NA |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
- |
Ethnic groups | Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%, Europeans 3,000, South Asians 2,000 | African and African-white-Indian mixture 90%, white 5%, East Indian and Chinese less than 5% |
Exchange rates | Burundi francs per US dollar - 1,082.62 (2003), 930.75 (2002), 830.35 (2001), 720.67 (2000), 563.56 (1999) | euros per US dollar - 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Domitien NDAYIZEYE (since 30 April 2003); note - NDAYIZEYE, a Hutu, was sworn in as president for the second half of the three-year transitional government inaugurated on 1 November 2001; Vice President Frederic NGENZEBUHORO (since 11 November 2004)
head of government: President Domitien NDAYIZEYE (since 30 April 2003); note - NDAYIZEYE, a Hutu, was sworn in as president for the second half of the three-year transitional government inaugurated on 1 November 2001; Vice President Frederic NGENZEBUHORO (since 11 November 2004) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by president elections: NA; current president assumed power on 30 April 2003 as part of the transitional government established by the 2000 Arusha Accord |
chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995); Prefect Yves DASSONVILLE (since 14 January 2004); note - took office 8 February 2004
head of government: President of the General Council Claude LISE (since 22 March 1992); President of the Regional Council Alfred MARIE-JEANNE (since NA March 1998) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; the presidents of the General and Regional Councils are elected by the members of those councils for six-year terms |
Exports | NA (2001) | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | coffee, tea, sugar, cotton, hides | refined petroleum products, bananas, rum, pineapples |
Exports - partners | Switzerland 31.6%, UK 15.8%, Netherlands 5.3%, Rwanda 5.3% (2003) | France 45%, Guadeloupe 28% (2004) |
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) | unofficial flag, derives from the civil ensign flown by French merchant ships and dates to 1766; a blue field quartered by a white cross; in the center of each rectangle is a white, coiled snake representing the venomous Fer-de-lance; the flag of France is used for official occasions |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $3.78 billion (2003 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 47.4%
industry: 19.3% services: 33.3% (2003 est.) |
agriculture: 6%
industry: 11% services: 83% (1997 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $600 (2003 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | -1.3% (2003 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 3 30 S, 30 00 E | 14 40 N, 61 00 W |
Geography - note | landlocked; straddles crest of the Nile-Congo watershed; the Kagera, which drains into Lake Victoria, is the most remote headstream of the White Nile | the island is dominated by Mount Pelee, which on 8 May 1902 erupted and completely destroyed the city of Saint Pierre, killing 30,000 inhabitants |
Highways | total: 14,480 km
paved: 1,028 km unpaved: 13,452 km (1999 est.) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.8%
highest 10%: 32.9% (1998) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | - | transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for the US and Europe |
Imports | NA (2001) | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | capital goods, petroleum products, foodstuffs | petroleum products, crude oil, foodstuffs, construction materials, vehicles, clothing and other consumer goods |
Imports - partners | Kenya 14.6%, Tanzania 11.5%, Uganda 5.7%, France 5.1%, Zambia 5.1%, China 4.5%, India 4.5%, Japan 4.5% (2003) | France 62%, Venezuela 6%, Germany 4%, Italy 4%, US 3% (2004) |
Independence | 1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian administration) | none (overseas department of France) |
Industrial production growth rate | 18% (2001) | NA% |
Industries | light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imported components; public works construction; food processing | construction, rum, cement, oil refining, sugar, tourism |
Infant mortality rate | total: 70.4 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 77.15 deaths/1,000 live births female: 63.45 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
total: 6.95 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 4.68 deaths/1,000 live births female: 9.27 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 10.7% (2003 est.) | NA |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, CEPGL, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO | UPU, WCL, WFTU |
Irrigated land | 740 sq km (1998 est.) | 70 sq km (2003) |
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) | Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel |
Labor force | 2.99 million (2002) | 165,900 (1998) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 93.6%, industry 2.3%, services 4.1% (2002 est.) | agriculture: 10%
industry: 17% services: 73% (1997) |
Land boundaries | total: 974 km
border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 233 km, Rwanda 290 km, Tanzania 451 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 35.05%
permanent crops: 14.02% other: 50.93% (2001) |
arable land: 9.09%
permanent crops: 10% other: 80.91% (2005) |
Languages | Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area) | French, Creole patois |
Legal system | based on German and Belgian civil codes and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | French legal system |
Legislative branch | bicameral, consists of a National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (expanded from 121 to approximately 140 seats under the transitional government inaugurated 1 November 2001; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and a Senate (54 seats; term length is undefined, the current senators will likely serve out the three-year transition period)
elections: last held 29 June 1993 (next was scheduled to be held in 1998, but was suspended by presidential decree in 1996; elections are planned to follow the completion of the three-year transitional government) election results: percent of vote by party - FRODEBU 71.04%, UPRONA 21.4%, other 7.56%; seats by party - FRODEBU 65, UPRONA 16, civilians 27, other parties 13 |
unicameral General Council or Conseil General (45 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council or Conseil Regional (41 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held March 2000 (next to be held in 2006); Regional Council - last held on 28 March 2004 (next to be held by March 2010) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - left-wing candidates 13, PPM 11, RPR 6, right-wing candidates 5, PCM 3, UDF 3, PMS 2, independents 2; note - the PPM won a plurality; Regional Council (second round) - percent of vote by party - MIM 53.8%, PPM 30.6%; seats by party - MIM 28, PPM 9, other 4 note: Martinique elects 2 seats to the French Senate; elections last held September 2004 (next to be held September 2008); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PPM 1, left-wing candidate 1; Martinique also elects 4 seats to the French National Assembly; elections last held, first round - 9 June 2002, second round - 16 June 2002 (next to be held not later than June 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP-RPR 1, PMS 1, MIM 1, left-wing candidate 1 (candidacy of the left-wing candidate was found invalid by the Constitutional Council; new elections will be called) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 43.36 years
male: 42.73 years female: 44 years (2004 est.) |
total population: 79.18 years
male: 79.5 years female: 78.85 years (2006 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 51.6% male: 58.5% female: 45.2% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.7% male: 97.4% female: 98.1% (2003 est.) |
Location | Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo | Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago |
Map references | Africa | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of France |
Military branches | Army (including Naval Detachment and Air Wing), National Gendarmerie | no regular military forces; Gendarmerie |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $33.3 million (2003) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 6% (2003) | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 1,419,755 (2004 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 747,400 (2004 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 81,862 (2004 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 1 July (1962) | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) |
Nationality | noun: Burundian(s)
adjective: Burundian |
noun: Martiniquais (singular and plural)
adjective: Martiniquais |
Natural hazards | flooding, landslides, drought | hurricanes, flooding, and volcanic activity (an average of one major natural disaster every five years) |
Natural resources | nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper, platinum (not yet exploited), vanadium, arable land, hydropower | coastal scenery and beaches, cultivable land |
Net migration rate | -0.06 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | -0.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | the two national, mainstream, governing parties are: Unity for National Progress or UPRONA [Alphonse KADEGE, 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 NZEYIMANA]; Party for National Redress or PARENA [Jean-Baptiste BAGAZA]; People's Reconciliation Party or PRP [Mathias HITIMANA] |
Martinique Communist Party or PCM [Georges ERICHOT]; Martinique Independence Movement or MIM [Alfred MARIE-JEANNE]; Martinique Progressive Party or PPM [Pierre SUEDILE]; Martinique Socialist Party or PMS [Ernest WAN-AJOUHU]; Movement of Democrats and Ecologists for a Sovereign Martinique or Modemas [Garcin MALSA]; Rally for the Republic or RPR [Michel CHARLONE]; Socialist Revolution Group or GRS [Philippe PIERRE-CHARLES]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Jean MAREN] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | loosely organized Hutu and Tutsi militias, often affiliated with Hutu and Tutsi extremist parties or subordinate to government security forces | Caribbean Revolutionary Alliance or ARC; Central Union for Martinique Workers or CSTM [Marc PULVAR]; Frantz Fanon Circle; League of Workers and Peasants; Proletarian Action Group or GAP |
Population | 6,231,221
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 2004 est.) |
436,131 (July 2006 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 68% (2002 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 2.2% (2004 est.) | 0.72% (2006 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Bujumbura | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 0, FM 4, shortwave 1 (2001) | AM 0, FM 14, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Religions | Christian 67% (Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 5%), indigenous beliefs 23%, Muslim 10% | Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant 10.5%, Muslim 0.5%, Hindu 0.5%, other 3.5% (1997) |
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: 0.65 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2006 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: country code - 257; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
general assessment: domestic facilities are adequate
domestic: NA international: country code - 596; microwave radio relay to Guadeloupe, Dominica, and Saint Lucia; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 23,900 (2003) | 172,000 (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 64,000 (2003) | 319,900 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2001) | 11 (plus nine repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | hilly and mountainous, dropping to a plateau in east, some plains | mountainous with indented coastline; dormant volcano |
Total fertility rate | 5.9 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 1.79 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA | 27.2% (1998) |
Waterways | mainly on Lake Tanganyika (2004) | - |