Northern Mariana Islands (2001) | Rwanda (2008) | |
Administrative divisions | none (commonwealth in political union with the US); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are four municipalities at the second order; Northern Islands, Rota, Saipan, Tinian | 4 provinces (in French - provinces, singular - province; in Kinyarwanda - intara for singular and plural) and 1 city* (in French - ville; in Kinyarwanda - umujyi); Est (Eastern), Kigali*, Nord (Northern), Ouest (Western), Sud (Southern) |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
23.55% (male 8,929; female 8,639) 15-64 years: 74.72% (male 26,242; female 29,509) 65 years and over: 1.73% (male 639; female 654) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 41.9% (male 2,082,474/female 2,065,251)
15-64 years: 55.7% (male 2,748,189/female 2,765,767) 65 years and over: 2.5% (male 98,796/female 147,032) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coconuts, fruits, vegetables; cattle | coffee, tea, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums), bananas, beans, sorghum, potatoes; livestock |
Airports | 6 (2000 est.) | 9 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
total: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 3 (2007) |
Area | total:
477 sq km land: 477 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes 14 islands including Saipan, Rota, and Tinian |
total: 26,338 sq km
land: 24,948 sq km water: 1,390 sq km |
Area - comparative | 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than Maryland |
Background | Under US administration as part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific, the people of the Northern Mariana Islands decided in the 1970s not to seek independence but instead to forge closer links with the US. Negotiations for territorial status began in 1972. A covenant to establish a commonwealth in political union with the US was approved in 1975. A new government and constitution went into effect in 1978. | In 1959, three years before independence from Belgium, the majority ethnic group, the Hutus, overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. Over the next several years, thousands of Tutsis were killed, and some 150,000 driven into exile in neighboring countries. The children of these exiles later formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), and began a civil war in 1990. The war, along with several political and economic upheavals, exacerbated ethnic tensions, culminating in April 1994 in the genocide of roughly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and ended the killing in July 1994, but approximately 2 million Hutu refugees - many fearing Tutsi retribution - fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and the former Zaire. Since then, most of the refugees have returned to Rwanda, but several thousand remained in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (the former Zaire) and formed an extremist insurgency bent on retaking Rwanda, much as the RPF tried in 1990. Despite substantial international assistance and political reforms - including Rwanda's first local elections in March 1999 and its first post-genocide presidential and legislative elections in August and September 2003 - the country continues to struggle to boost investment and agricultural output, and ethnic reconciliation is complicated by the real and perceived Tutsi political dominance. Kigali's increasing centralization and intolerance of dissent, the nagging Hutu extremist insurgency across the border, and Rwandan involvement in two wars in recent years in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to hinder Rwanda's efforts to escape its bloody legacy. |
Birth rate | 20.6 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 40.16 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$221 million expenditures: $213 million, including capital expenditures of $17.7 million (1996) |
revenues: $702.6 million
expenditures: $779.6 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2007 est.) |
Capital | Saipan | name: Kigali
geographic coordinates: 1 57 S, 30 04 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | tropical marine; moderated by northeast trade winds, little seasonal temperature variation; dry season December to June, rainy season July to October | temperate; two rainy seasons (February to April, November to January); mild in mountains with frost and snow possible |
Coastline | 1,482 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | Covenant Agreement effective 4 November 1986 and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands effective 1 January 1978 | new constitution passed by referendum 26 May 2003 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands conventional short form: Northern Mariana Islands former: Mariana Islands District (Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands) |
conventional long form: Republic of Rwanda
conventional short form: Rwanda local long form: Republika y'u Rwanda local short form: Rwanda former: Ruanda, German East Africa |
Currency | US dollar (USD) | - |
Death rate | 2.4 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 14.91 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $NA | $1.4 billion (2004 est.) |
Dependency status | commonwealth in political union with the US; federal funds to the Commonwealth administered by the US Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | - | chief of mission: Ambassador Michael ARIETTI
embassy: 337 Boulevard de la Revolution, Kigali mailing address: B. P. 28, Kigali telephone: [250] 50 56 01 through 03 FAX: [250] 57 2128 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | - | chief of mission: Ambassador James KOMONYO
chancery: 1714 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 232-2882 FAX: [1] (202) 232-4544 |
Disputes - international | none | fighting among ethnic groups - loosely associated political rebels, armed gangs, and various government forces in Great Lakes region transcending the boundaries of Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda - abated substantially from a decade ago due largely to UN peacekeeping, international mediation, and efforts by local governments to create civil societies; nonetheless, 57,000 Rwandan refugees still reside in 21 African states, including Zambia, Gabon, and 20,000 who fled to Burundi in 2005 and 2006 to escape drought and recriminations from traditional courts investigating the 1994 massacres; the 2005 DROC and Rwanda border verification mechanism to stem rebel actions on both sides of the border remains in place |
Economic aid - recipient | extensive funding from US | $576 million (2005) |
Economy - overview | The economy benefits substantially from financial assistance from the US. The rate of funding has declined as locally generated government revenues have grown. The key tourist industry employs about 50% of the work force and accounts for roughly one-fourth of GDP. Japanese tourists predominate. Annual tourist entries have exceeded one-half million in recent years, but financial difficulties in Japan have caused a temporary slowdown. The agricultural sector is made up of cattle ranches and small farms producing coconuts, breadfruit, tomatoes, and melons. Garment production is by far the most important industry with employment of 12,000 mostly Chinese workers and sizable shipments to the US under duty and quota exemptions. | Rwanda is a poor rural country with about 90% of the population engaged in (mainly subsistence) agriculture. It is the most densely populated country in Africa and is landlocked with few natural resources and minimal industry. Primary foreign exchange earners are coffee and tea. The 1994 genocide decimated Rwanda's fragile economic base, severely impoverished the population, particularly women, and eroded the country's ability to attract private and external investment. However, Rwanda has made substantial progress in stabilizing and rehabilitating its economy to pre-1994 levels, although poverty levels are higher now. GDP has rebounded and inflation has been curbed. Despite Rwanda's fertile ecosystem, food production often does not keep pace with population growth, requiring food imports. Rwanda continues to receive substantial aid money and obtained IMF-World Bank Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative debt relief in 2005-06. Rwanda also received Millennium Challenge Account Threshold status in 2006. The government has embraced an expansionary fiscal policy to reduce poverty by improving education, infrastructure, and foreign and domestic investment and pursuing market-oriented reforms, although energy shortages, instability in neighboring states, and lack of adequate transportation linkages to other countries continue to handicap growth. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | 198.4 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | - | 10 million kWh (2005 est.) |
Electricity - imports | - | 120 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | NA kWh | 95 million kWh (2005) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Agrihan 965 m |
lowest point: Rusizi River 950 m
highest point: Volcan Karisimbi 4,519 m |
Environment - current issues | contamination of groundwater on Saipan may contribute to disease; clean-up of landfill; protection of endangered species conflicts with development | deforestation results from uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel; overgrazing; soil exhaustion; soil erosion; widespread poaching |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | Chamorro, Carolinians and other Micronesians, Caucasian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean | Hutu (Bantu) 84%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 15%, Twa (Pygmy) 1% |
Exchange rates | the US dollar is used | Rwandan francs per US dollar - 585 (2007), 560 (2006), 610 (2005), 574.62 (2004), 537.66 (2003) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President George W. BUSH of the US (since 20 January 2001); Vice President Richard B. CHENEY (since 20 January 2001) head of government: Governor Pedro P. TENORIO (since NA January 1998) and Lieutenant Governor Jesus R. SABLAN (since NA January 1998) cabinet: NA elections: US president and vice president elected on the same ticket for four-year terms; governor and lieutenant governor elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held in NA November 1997 (next to be held NA November 2001) election results: Pedro P. TENORIO elected governor in a three-way race; percent of vote - Pedro P. TENORIO (Republican Party) 47% |
chief of state: President Paul KAGAME (since 22 April 2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Bernard MAKUZA (since 8 March 2000) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: President elected by popular vote for a seven-year term (eligible for a second term); elections last held 25 August 2003 (next to be held in 2010) election results: Paul KAGAME elected president in first direct popular vote; Paul KAGAME 95.05%, Faustin TWAGIRAMUNGU 3.62%, Jean-Nepomuscene NAYINZIRA 1.33% |
Exports | $NA | 0 bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | garments | coffee, tea, hides, tin ore |
Exports - partners | US | China 10.3%, Germany 9.7%, US 4.3% (2006) |
Fiscal year | 1 October - 30 September | calendar year |
Flag description | blue, with a white, five-pointed star superimposed on the gray silhouette of a latte stone (a traditional foundation stone used in building) in the center, surrounded by a wreath | three horizontal bands of sky blue (top, double width), yellow, and green, with a golden sun with 24 rays near the fly end of the blue band |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $900 million (2000 est.)
note: GDP numbers reflect US spending |
- |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
NA% industry: NA% services: NA% |
agriculture: 38.2%
industry: 20.1% services: 41.7% (2007 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $12,500 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | NA% | 6% (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 15 12 N, 145 45 E | 2 00 S, 30 00 E |
Geography - note | strategic location in the North Pacific Ocean | landlocked; most of the country is savanna grassland with the population predominantly rural |
Heliports | 1 (2000 est.) | - |
Highways | total:
362 km paved: NA km unpaved: NA km (1991) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 38.2% (2000) |
Imports | $NA | 5,165 bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | food, construction equipment and materials, petroleum products | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, steel, petroleum products, cement and construction material |
Imports - partners | US, Japan | Kenya 19.6%, Germany 7.9%, Uganda 6.8%, Belgium 5.1% (2006) |
Independence | none (commonwealth in political union with the US) | 1 July 1962 (from Belgium-administered UN trusteeship) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 4.8% (2007 est.) |
Industries | tourism, construction, garments, handicrafts | cement, agricultural products, small-scale beverages, soap, furniture, shoes, plastic goods, textiles, cigarettes |
Infant mortality rate | 5.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 85.27 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 90.41 deaths/1,000 live births female: 79.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1.2% (1997 est.) | 8% (2007 est.) |
International organization participation | ESCAP (associate), Interpol (subbureau), SPC | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, CEPGL, COMESA, EAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 90 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Commonwealth Supreme Court; Superior Court; Federal District Court | Supreme Court; High Courts of the Republic; Provincial Courts; District Courts; mediation committees |
Labor force | 6,006 total indigenous labor force; 2,699 unemployed; 28,717 foreign workers (1995) | 4.6 million (2000) |
Labor force - by occupation | NA | agriculture: 90%
industry and services: 10% (2000) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 893 km
border countries: Burundi 290 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 217 km, Tanzania 217 km, Uganda 169 km |
Land use | arable land:
21% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 19% forests and woodland: 0% other: 60% |
arable land: 45.56%
permanent crops: 10.25% other: 44.19% (2005) |
Languages | English, Chamorro, Carolinian
note: 86% of population speaks a language other than English at home |
Kinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu vernacular, French (official), English (official), Kiswahili (Swahili) used in commercial centers |
Legal system | based on US system, except for customs, wages, immigration laws, and taxation | based on German and Belgian civil law systems and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | bicameral Legislature consists of the Senate (9 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year staggered terms) and the House of Representatives (18 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve two-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 9 November 1999 (next to be held NA November 2001); House of Representatives - last held 9 November 1999 (next to be held NA November 2001) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Republican Party 6, Democratic Party 2, Reform Party 1; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Republican Party 10, Democratic Party 8 note: the Commonwealth does not have a nonvoting delegate in the US Congress; instead, it has an elected official or "resident representative" located in Washington, DC; seats by party - Republican Party 1 (Juan N. BABAUTA) |
bicameral Parliament consists of Senate (26 seats; 12 members elected by local councils, 8 appointed by the president, 4 by the Political Organizations Forum, 2 represent institutions of higher learning; to serve eight-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies (80 seats; 53 members elected by popular vote, 24 women elected by local bodies, 3 selected by youth and disability organizations; to serve five-year terms)
elections: Senate - members appointed as part of the transitional government (next to be held in 2011); Chamber of Deputies - last held 29 September 2003 (next to be held in 2008) election results: seats by party under the 2003 Constitution - RPF 40, PSD 7, PL 6, additional 27 members indirectly elected |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
75.74 years male: 72.65 years female: 79.02 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 48.99 years
male: 47.87 years female: 50.16 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97% male: 97% female: 96% (1980 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 70.4% male: 76.3% female: 64.7% (2003 est.) |
Location | Oceania, islands in the North Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines | Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Map references | Oceania | Africa |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | none (2000 est.) | - |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the US | - |
Military branches | - | Rwandan Defense Forces: Army, Air Force |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 2.9% (2006 est.) |
National holiday | Commonwealth Day, 8 January (1978) | Independence Day, 1 July (1962) |
Nationality | noun:
NA adjective: NA |
noun: Rwandan(s)
adjective: Rwandan |
Natural hazards | active volcanoes on Pagan and Agrihan; typhoons (especially August to November) | periodic droughts; the volcanic Virunga mountains are in the northwest along the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Natural resources | arable land, fish | gold, cassiterite (tin ore), wolframite (tungsten ore), methane, hydropower, arable land |
Net migration rate | 18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 2.41 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
People - note | - | Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa |
Political parties and leaders | Democratic Party [Dr. Carlos S. CAMACHO]; Republican Party [Benigno R. FITIAL] | Centrist Democratic Party or PDC [Alfred MUKEZAMFURA]; Democratic Popular Union of Rwanda or UDPR [Adrien RANGIRA]; Democratic Republican Movement or MDR [Celestin KABANDA] (officially banned); Islamic Democratic Party or PDI [Andre BUMAYA]; Liberal Party or PL [Protais MITALI]; Party for Democratic Renewal (officially banned); Rwandan Patriotic Front or RPF [Paul KAGAME]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Vincent BIRUTA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | IBUKA - association of genocide survivors |
Population | 74,612 (July 2001 est.) | 9,907,509
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 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 60% (2001 est.) |
Population growth rate | 3.62% (2001 est.) | 2.766% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Saipan, Tinian | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 3, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 0, FM 8 (two main FM programs are broadcast through a system of repeaters, three international FM programs include the BBC, VOA, and Deutchewelle), shortwave 1 (2005) |
Radios | NA | - |
Railways | 0 km | - |
Religions | Christian (Roman Catholic majority, although traditional beliefs and taboos may still be found) | Roman Catholic 56.5%, Protestant 26%, Adventist 11.1%, Muslim 4.6%, indigenous beliefs 0.1%, none 1.7% (2001) |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.89 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.98 male(s)/female total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.008 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.994 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.672 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal; indigenous inhabitants are US citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
NA domestic: NA international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) |
general assessment: small, inadequate telephone system primarily serves business and government
domestic: the capital, Kigali, is connected to the centers of the provinces by microwave radio relay and, recently, by cellular telephone service; much of the network depends on wire and HF radiotelephone; combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular telephone density is only about 4 telephones per 100 persons international: country code - 250; international connections employ microwave radio relay to neighboring countries and satellite communications to more distant countries; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) in Kigali (includes telex and telefax service) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 21,000 (1996) | 22,000 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 1,200 (1995) | 290,000 (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (on Saipan and one station planned for Rota; in addition, two cable services on Saipan provide varied programming from satellite networks) (1997) | 2 (2004) |
Terrain | southern islands are limestone with level terraces and fringing coral reefs; northern islands are volcanic | mostly grassy uplands and hills; relief is mountainous with altitude declining from west to east |
Total fertility rate | 1.76 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 5.37 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | NA% |
Waterways | none | Lac Kivu navigable by shallow-draft barges and native craft (2006) |