Jamaica (2001) | Burundi (2002) | |
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Administrative divisions | 14 parishes; Clarendon, Hanover, Kingston, Manchester, Portland, Saint Andrew, Saint Ann, Saint Catherine, Saint Elizabeth, Saint James, Saint Mary, Saint Thomas, Trelawny, Westmoreland | 16 provinces; Bubanza, Bujumbura, Bururi, Cankuzo, Cibitoke, Gitega, Karuzi, Kayanza, Kirundo, Makamba, Muramvya, Muyinga, Mwaro, Ngozi, Rutana, Ruyigi |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
29.7% (male 405,189; female 386,555) 15-64 years: 63.52% (male 845,226; female 847,944) 65 years and over: 6.78% (male 80,667; female 100,055) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 46.5% (male 1,497,865; female 1,466,455)
15-64 years: 50.7% (male 1,592,253; female 1,640,254) 65 years and over: 2.8% (male 71,915; female 104,260) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, potatoes, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk | coffee, cotton, tea, corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc (tapioca); beef, milk, hides |
Airports | 35 (2000 est.) | 7 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
11 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 5 (2000 est.) |
total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
24 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 22 (2000 est.) |
total: 6 6
914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 3 (2002) |
Area | total:
10,990 sq km land: 10,830 sq km water: 160 sq km |
total: 27,830 sq km
land: 25,650 sq km water: 2,180 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Connecticut | slightly smaller than Maryland |
Background | Jamaica gained full independence within the British Commonwealth in 1962. Deteriorating economic conditions during the 1970s led to recurrent violence and a dropoff in tourism. Elections in 1980 saw the democratic socialists voted out of office. Subsequent governments have been open market oriented. Political violence marred elections during the 1990s. | Burundi's first democratically elected president was assassinated in October 1993 after only four months 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. Burundian troops, seeking to secure their borders, intervened in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1998. More recently, many of these troops have been redeployed back to Burundi to deal with periodic upsurges in rebel activity. A new transitional government, inaugurated on 1 November 2001, was to be the first step towards holding national elections in three years. However, the unwillingness of the Hutu rebels to enact a cease fire with Bujumbura continues to obstruct prospects for a sustainable peace. |
Birth rate | 18.12 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 39.87 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$2.23 billion expenditures: $2.56 billion, including capital expenditures of $232.5 million (FY99/00 est.) |
revenues: $125 million
expenditures: $176 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
Capital | Kingston | Bujumbura |
Climate | tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior | 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 |
Coastline | 1,022 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 6 August 1962 | 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 |
Country name | conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Jamaica |
conventional long form: Republic of Burundi
conventional short form: Burundi local long form: Republika y'u Burundi local short form: Burundi former: Urundi |
Currency | Jamaican dollar (JMD) | Burundi franc (BIF) |
Death rate | 5.48 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 16.3 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $4.7 billion (2000 est.) | $1.12 billion (2001 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Stanley Louis MCLELLAND embassy: Jamaica Mutual Life Center, 2 Oxford Road, 3rd floor, Kingston 5 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [1] (876) 929-4850 through 4859 FAX: [1] (876) 926-6743 |
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 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Richard Leighton BERNAL chancery: 1520 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 452-0660 FAX: [1] (202) 452-0081 consulate(s) general: Miami and New York |
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 |
Disputes - international | none | Tutsi, Hutu, and other conflicting 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 |
Economic aid - recipient | $102.7 million (1995) | $74 million (1999) |
Economy - overview | Key sectors in this island economy are bauxite (alumina and bauxite account for more than half of exports) and tourism. Since assuming office in 1992, Prime Minister PATTERSON has eliminated most price controls, streamlined tax schedules, and privatized government enterprises. Continued tight monetary and fiscal policies have helped slow inflation - although inflationary pressures are mounting - and stabilize the exchange rate, but have resulted in the slowdown of economic growth (moving from 1.5% in 1992 to 0.5% in 1995). In 1996, GDP showed negative growth (-1.4%) and remained negative through 1999. Serious problems include: high interest rates; increased foreign competition; the weak financial condition of business in general resulting in receiverships or closures and downsizings of companies; the shift in investment portfolios to non-productive, short-term high yield instruments; a pressured, sometimes sliding, exchange rate; a widening merchandise trade deficit; and a growing internal debt for government bailouts to various ailing sectors of the economy, particularly the financial sector. Depressed economic conditions in 1999-2000 led to increased civil unrest, including a mounting crime rate. Jamaica's medium-term prospects will depend upon encouraging investment in the productive sectors, maintaining a competitive exchange rate, stabilizing the labor environment, selling off reacquired firms, and implementing proper fiscal and monetary policies. | 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 more than 200,000 persons and the displacement of about 800,000 others. Only one in four children go to school, and more than one in ten adults has HIV/AIDS. Foods, medicines, and electricity remain in short supply. Doubts regarding the sustainability of peace continue to impede development. A Geneva donors' conference in November 2001 brought $800 million in pledges, and an IMF-staff-monitored program could lead to a further agreement in 2002. |
Electricity - consumption | 6.073 billion kWh (1999) | 166.64 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 29 million kWh
note: supplied by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2000) |
Electricity - production | 6.53 billion kWh (1999) | 148 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
92.28% hydro: 1.36% nuclear: 0% other: 6.36% (1999) |
fossil fuel: 1%
hydro: 99% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Blue Mountain Peak 2,256 m |
lowest point: Lake Tanganyika 772 m
highest point: Mount Heha 2,670 m |
Environment - current issues | heavy rates of deforestation; coastal waters polluted by industrial waste, sewage, and oil spills; damage to coral reefs; air pollution in Kingston results from vehicle emissions | 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 |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected 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, Nuclear Test Ban |
Ethnic groups | black 90.9%, East Indian 1.3%, white 0.2%, Chinese 0.2%, mixed 7.3%, other 0.1% | Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%, Europeans 3,000, South Asians 2,000 |
Exchange rates | Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 45.557 (January 2001), 42.701 (2000), 39.044 (1999), 36.550 (1998), 35.404 (1997), 37.120 (1996) | Burundi francs per US dollar - 865.14 (January 2002), 830.35 (2001), 720.67 (2000), 563.56 (1999), 477.77 (1998), 352.35 (1997) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Howard Felix COOKE (since 1 August 1991) head of government: Prime Minister Percival James PATTERSON (since 30 March 1992) and Deputy Prime Minister Seymour MULLINGS (since NA 1993) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general |
chief of state: President Pierre BUYOYA (a Tutsi, was sworn in as president of a transition government on 1 November 2001; he is scheduled to hold office for 18 months before transferring power to his vice president, a Hutu); Vice President Domitien NDAYIZEYE (since 1 November 2001)
head of government: President Pierre BUYOYA (a Tutsi, was sworn in as president of a transition government on 1 November 2001; he is scheduled to hold office for 18 months before transferring power to his vice president, a Hutu); Vice President Domitien NDAYIZEYE (since 1 November 2001) 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 |
Exports | $1.7 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $24 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Exports - commodities | alumina, bauxite; sugar, bananas, rum | coffee, tea, sugar, cotton, hides |
Exports - partners | US 35.7%, EU (excluding UK) 15.8%, UK 13%, Canada 10.5% (1999) | EU 52.5%, US 11.5%, Kenya 11.5%, Switzerland 4.9% (2000 est.) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | diagonal yellow cross divides the flag into four triangles - green (top and bottom) and black (hoist side and outer side) | 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) |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $9.7 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $3.7 billion (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
7.4% industry: 35.2% services: 57.4% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 50%
industry: 18% services: 32% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $3,700 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $600 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 0.2% (2000 est.) | 1.4% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 18 15 N, 77 30 W | 3 30 S, 30 00 E |
Geography - note | strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel, the main sea lanes for Panama Canal | landlocked; straddles crest of the Nile-Congo watershed; the Kagera, which drains into Lake Victoria, is the most remote headstream of the White Nile |
Highways | total:
19,000 km paved: 13,433 km unpaved: 5,567 km (1997) |
total: 14,480 km
paved: 1,028 km unpaved: 13,452 km (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
2.9% highest 10%: 28.9% (1996) |
lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 27% (1992) (1992) |
Illicit drugs | major transshipment point for cocaine from South America to North America and Europe; illicit cultivation of cannabis; government has an active manual cannabis eradication program; corruption is a major concern | - |
Imports | $3 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $125 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, fuel, food, chemicals, fertilizers | capital goods, petroleum products, foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | US 47.8%, Caricom countries 12.4%, Latin America 7.2%, EU (excluding UK) 4.7% (1999) | EU 37.6%, Tanzania 10.3%, Zambia 4.3%, India 3.4%, China 3.4% (2000 est.) |
Independence | 6 August 1962 (from UK) | 1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian administration) |
Industrial production growth rate | -2% (2000 est.) | 6.3% (1999 est.) |
Industries | tourism, bauxite, textiles, food processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products | light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imported components; public works construction; food processing |
Infant mortality rate | 14.16 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 69.97 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 8.8% (2000 est.) | 14% (2001 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, C, Caricom, CCC, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEEAC, CEPGL, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 21 (2000) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 350 sq km (1993 est.) | 740 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (judges appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister); Court of Appeal | 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) |
Labor force | 1.13 million (1998) | 1.9 million |
Labor force - by occupation | services 60%, agriculture 21%, industry 19% (1998) | NA |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 974 km
border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 233 km, Rwanda 290 km, Tanzania 451 km |
Land use | arable land:
14% permanent crops: 6% permanent pastures: 24% forests and woodland: 17% other: 39% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 29.98%
permanent crops: 12.85% other: 57.17% (1998 est.) |
Languages | English, Creole | Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area) |
Legal system | based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on German and Belgian civil codes and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (a 21-member body appointed by the governor general on the recommendations of the prime minister and the leader of the opposition; ruling party is allocated 13 seats, and the opposition is allocated eight seats) and the House of Representatives (60 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 18 December 1997 (next to be held by March 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PNP 50, JLP 10 |
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 were 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 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
75.42 years male: 73.45 years female: 77.49 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 45.94 years
male: 45.08 years female: 46.83 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over has ever attended school total population: 85% male: 80.8% female: 89.1% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 35.3% male: 49.3% female: 22.5% (1995 est.) |
Location | Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba | Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Africa |
Maritime claims | measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
contiguous zone: 24 NM continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total:
1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,930 GRT/3,065 DWT ships by type: petroleum tanker 1 (2000 est.) |
- |
Military branches | Jamaica Defense Force (includes Ground Forces, Coast Guard, and Air Wing), Jamaica Constabulary Force | Army (including naval and air units), Gendarmerie |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $30 million (FY95/96 est.) | $36.9 million (FY01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | 5.3% (FY01) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
736,627 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 1,439,032 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
517,077 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 752,584 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | 16 years of age (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
27,729 (2001 est.) |
males: 79,360 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, first Monday in August (1962) | Independence Day, 1 July (1962) |
Nationality | noun:
Jamaican(s) adjective: Jamaican |
noun: Burundian(s)
adjective: Burundi |
Natural hazards | hurricanes (especially July to November) | flooding, landslides, drought |
Natural resources | bauxite, gypsum, limestone | nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper, platinum (not yet exploited), vanadium, arable land, hydropower |
Net migration rate | -7.52 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Pipelines | petroleum products 10 km | - |
Political parties and leaders | Jamaica Labor Party or JLP [Edward SEAGA]; National Democratic Movement or NDM [Bruce GOLDING]; People's National Party or PNP [Percival James PATTERSON] | the 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] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | New Beginnings Movement or NBM; Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists) | Loosely organized Hutu and Tutsi militias, often affiliated with Hutu and Tutsi extremist parties or subordinate to government security forces |
Population | 2,665,636 (July 2001 est.) | 6,373,002
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.) |
Population below poverty line | 34.2% (1992 est.) | 70% (2001 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.51% (2001 est.) | 2.36% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Alligator Pond, Discovery Bay, Kingston, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, Rocky Point, Port Esquivel (Longswharf) | Bujumbura |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 10, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 0, FM 4, shortwave 1 (2001) |
Radios | 1.215 million (1997) | 440,000 (2001) |
Railways | total:
370 km standard gauge: 370 km 1.435-m gauge; note - 207 km belong to the Jamaica Railway Corporation in common carrier service, but are no longer operational; the remaining track is privately owned and used to transport bauxite |
0 km |
Religions | Protestant 61.3% (Church of God 21.2%, Baptist 8.8%, Anglican 5.5%, Seventh-Day Adventist 9%, Pentecostal 7.6%, Methodist 2.7%, United Church 2.7%, Brethren 1.1%, Jehovah's Witness 1.6%, Moravian 1.1%), Roman Catholic 4%, other, including some spiritual cults 34.7% | Christian 67% (Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 5%), indigenous beliefs 23%, Muslim 10% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
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: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | NA years of age; universal adult |
Telephone system | general assessment:
fully automatic domestic telephone network domestic: NA international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); 3 coaxial submarine cables |
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) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 353,000 (1996) | 20,000 (2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 54,640 (1996) | 16,300 (2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 7 (1997) | 1 (2001) |
Terrain | mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain | hilly and mountainous, dropping to a plateau in east, some plains |
Total fertility rate | 2.08 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 6.07 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 16% (2000 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | none | Lake Tanganyika |