Jamaica (2008) | Burundi (2001) | |
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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
note: for local government purposes, Kingston and Saint Andrew were amalgamated in 1923 into the present single corporate body known as the Kingston and Saint Andrew Corporation |
16 provinces; Bubanza, Bujumbura, Bururi, Cankuzo, Cibitoke, Gitega, Karuzi, Kayanza, Kirundo, Makamba, Muramvya, Muyinga, Mwaro, Ngozi, Rutana, Ruyigi |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 32.5% (male 459,968/female 444,963)
15-64 years: 60.1% (male 822,486/female 848,310) 65 years and over: 7.4% (male 91,856/female 112,549) (2007 est.) |
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.) |
Agriculture - products | sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, ackees, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk; crustaceans, mollusks | coffee, cotton, tea, corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc (tapioca); beef, milk, hides |
Airports | 34 (2007) | 4 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 11
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 5 (2007) |
total:
1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 23
914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 21 (2007) |
total:
3 914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 10,991 sq km
land: 10,831 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 | The island - discovered by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1494 - was settled by the Spanish early in the 16th century. The native Taino Indians, who had inhabited Jamaica for centuries, were gradually exterminated and replaced by African slaves. England seized the island in 1655 and established a plantation economy based on sugar, cocoa, and coffee. The abolition of slavery in 1834 freed a quarter million slaves, many of whom became small farmers. Jamaica gradually obtained increasing independence from Britain, and in 1958 it joined other British Caribbean colonies in forming the Federation of the West Indies. Jamaica gained full independence when it withdrew from the Federation in 1962. Deteriorating economic conditions during the 1970s led to recurrent violence as rival gangs affiliated with the major political parties evolved into powerful organized crime networks involved in international drug smuggling and money laundering. Violent crime, drug trafficking, and poverty pose significant challenges to the government today. Nonetheless, many rural and resort areas remain relatively safe and contribute substantially to the economy. | 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. |
Birth rate | 20.44 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 40.13 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $3.441 billion
expenditures: $3.905 billion (2007 est.) |
revenues:
$125 million expenditures: $176 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
Capital | name: Kingston
geographic coordinates: 18 00 N, 76 48 W time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
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 | - | Burundi franc (BIF) |
Death rate | 6.59 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 16.36 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $7.138 billion (31 December 2007 est.) | $1.12 billion (1999 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Brenda LaGrange JOHNSON
embassy: 142 Old Hope Road, Kingston 6 mailing address: P.O. Box 541, Kingston 5 telephone: [1] (876) 702-6000 FAX: [1] (876) 702-6348 |
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 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Gordon SHIRLEY
chancery: 1520 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 452-0660 FAX: [1] (202) 452-0081 consulate(s) general: Miami, 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 | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $35.74 million (2005) | $1.344 billion (1999 est.) |
Economy - overview | The Jamaican economy is heavily dependent on services, which now account for more than 60% of GDP. The country continues to derive most of its foreign exchange from tourism, remittances, and bauxite/alumina. Remittances account for nearly 20% of GDP and are equivalent to tourism revenues. Jamaica's economy, already saddled with a record of sluggish growth, will suffer an economic setback from damages caused by Hurricane Dean in August 2007. The economy faces serious long-term problems: high but declining interest rates, increased foreign competition, exchange rate instability, a sizable merchandise trade deficit, large-scale unemployment and underemployment, and a debt-to-GDP ratio of 135%. Jamaica's onerous debt burden - the fourth highest per capita - is the result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy, most notably the financial sector in the mid-to-late 1990s. Inflation also has declined, standing at about 7% at the end of 2007. High unemployment exacerbates the serious crime problem, including gang violence that is fueled by the drug trade. The GOLDING administration faces the difficult prospect of having to achieve fiscal discipline in order to maintain debt payments while simultaneously attacking a serious and growing crime problem that is hampering economic growth. | 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. |
Electricity - consumption | 6.131 billion kWh (2005) | 160.1 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2005) | 29 million kWh
note: supplied by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1999) |
Electricity - production | 6.985 billion kWh (2005) | 141 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
0.71% hydro: 99.29% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
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, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected 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 |
Ethnic groups | black 91.2%, mixed 6.2%, other or unknown 2.6% (2001 census) | Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%, Europeans 3,000, South Asians 2,000 |
Exchange rates | Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 69.034 (2007), 65.768 (2006), 62.51 (2005), 61.197 (2004), 57.741 (2003) | Burundi francs per US dollar - 782.36 (January 2001), 720.67 (2000), 563.56 (1999), 477.77 (1998), 352.35 (1997), 302.75 (1996) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Kenneth O. HALL (since 15 February 2006)
head of government: Prime Minister Bruce GOLDING (since 11 September 2007) 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; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition in the House of Representatives is appointed prime minister by the governor general; the deputy prime minister is recommended by the prime minister |
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 |
Exports | 1,531 bbl/day (2004) | $32 million (f.o.b., 2000) |
Exports - commodities | alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels | coffee, tea, sugar, cotton, hides |
Exports - partners | US 30.2%, Canada 15.6%, China 15.2%, UK 10.3%, Netherlands 7%, Norway 4.6% (2006) | Germany 17%, Belgium 14%, US 8%, France 6%, Switzerland 4% (1999) |
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 - $4.4 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 5%
industry: 34% services: 61% (2007 est.) |
agriculture:
50% industry: 18% services: 32% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $720 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 1.5% (2007 est.) | 1.8% (2000 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 the Panama Canal | landlocked; straddles crest of the Nile-Congo watershed |
Highways | - | total:
14,480 km paved: 1,028 km unpaved: 13,452 km (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 35.8% (2004) |
lowest 10%:
3.4% highest 10%: 26.6% (1992) |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for cocaine from South America to North America and Europe; illicit cultivation and consumption of cannabis; government has an active manual cannabis eradication program; corruption is a major concern; substantial money-laundering activity; Colombian narcotics traffickers favor Jamaica for illicit financial transactions | - |
Imports | 71,420 bbl/day (2004) | $110 million (f.o.b., 2000) |
Imports - commodities | food and other consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts and accessories of capital goods, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials | capital goods, petroleum products, foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | US 39.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.6%, Venezuela 9.5% (2006) | Belgium 20%, Zambia 11%, Kenya 8%, South Africa 5%, France 4% (1999) |
Independence | 6 August 1962 (from UK) | 1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian administration) |
Industrial production growth rate | 2% (2007 est.) | 6.3% (1999 est.) |
Industries | tourism, bauxite/alumina, agro processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunications | light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imported components; public works construction; food processing |
Infant mortality rate | total: 15.73 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 16.4 deaths/1,000 live births female: 15.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
70.74 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 7.1% (2007 est.) | 22% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-15, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | 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 |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 250 sq km (2002) | 140 sq km (1993 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 | 1.255 million (2007 est.) | 1.9 million |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 17%
industry: 19% services: 64% (2006) |
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: 15.83%
permanent crops: 10.01% other: 74.16% (2005) |
arable land:
44% permanent crops: 9% permanent pastures: 36% forests and woodland: 3% other: 8% (1993 est.) |
Languages | English, English patois | 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 8 seats) and the House of Representatives (60 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 3 September 2007 (next to be held no later than October 2012) election results: percent of vote by party - JLP 50.1%, PNP 49.8%; seats by party - JLP 33, PNP 27 |
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 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 73.12 years
male: 71.43 years female: 74.9 years (2007 est.) |
total population:
46.06 years male: 45.15 years female: 46.99 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 87.9% male: 84.1% female: 91.6% (2003 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 straight baselines
territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to edge of the continental margin |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 13 ships (1000 GRT or over) 161,700 GRT/241,663 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 6, cargo 2, carrier 1, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 3 foreign-owned: 12 (Denmark 1, Germany 1, Greece 8, Latvia 2) registered in other countries: 1 (Panama 1) (2007) |
- |
Military branches | Jamaica Defense Force: Ground Forces, Coast Guard, Air Wing (2007) | Army (includes naval and air units), paramilitary Gendarmerie |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $57 million (FY97) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 0.6% (2006 est.) | 6.1% (FY97) |
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, 6 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 | -6.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | Jamaica Labor Party or JLP [Bruce GOLDING]; People's National Party or PNP [Portia SIMPSON-MILLER]; National Democratic Movement or NDM [Michael WILLIAMS] | 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 Tutsi militias, often affiliated with Tutsi extremist parties |
Population | 2,780,132 (July 2007 est.) | 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.) |
Population below poverty line | 14.8% (2003 est.) | 36.2% (1990 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.777% (2007 est.) | 2.38% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Bujumbura |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 10, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 2, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | - | 440,000 (1997) |
Railways | - | 0 km |
Religions | Protestant 62.5% (Seventh-Day Adventist 10.8%, Pentecostal 9.5%, Other Church of God 8.3%, Baptist 7.2%, New Testament Church of God 6.3%, Church of God in Jamaica 4.8%, Church of God of Prophecy 4.3%, Anglican 3.6%, other Christian 7.7%), Roman Catholic 2.6%, other or unspecified 14.2%, none 20.9%, (2001 census) | Christian 67% (Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 5%), indigenous beliefs 23%, Muslim 10% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.034 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.816 male(s)/female total population: 0.978 male(s)/female (2007 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: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | NA years of age; universal adult |
Telephone system | general assessment: fully automatic domestic telephone network
domestic: the 1999 agreement to open the market for telecommunications services resulted in rapid growth in mobile-cellular telephone usage; mobile-cellular teledensity now exceeds 100 per 100 persons; the number of fixed-lines in use has been declining international: country code - 1-876; the Fibralink submarine cable network provides enhanced delivery of business and broadband traffic and is linked to the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) submarine cable in the Dominican Republic; the link to ARCOS-1 provides seamless connectivity to US, parts of the Caribbean, Central America, and South America; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
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 | 319,000 (2005) | 16,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2.804 million (2005) | 619 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | 7 (1997) | 1 (1999) |
Terrain | mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain | hilly and mountainous, dropping to a plateau in east, some plains |
Total fertility rate | 2.36 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 6.16 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 10.2% (2007 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | - | Lake Tanganyika |