Saint Lucia (2008) | Rwanda (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | 11 quarters; Anse-la-Raye, Castries, Choiseul, Dauphin, Dennery, Gros-Islet, Laborie, Micoud, Praslin, Soufriere, Vieux-Fort | 12 prefectures (in French - prefectures, singular - prefecture; in Kinyarwanda - plural - NA, singular - prefegitura); Butare, Byumba, Cyangugu, Gikongoro, Gisenyi, Gitarama, Kibungo, Kibuye, Kigali Rurale, Kigali-ville, Umutara, Ruhengeri |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 29.4% (male 25,869/female 24,248)
15-64 years: 65.5% (male 55,115/female 56,641) 65 years and over: 5.1% (male 3,200/female 5,576) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years:
42.4% (male 1,555,878; female 1,544,942) 15-64 years: 54.73% (male 1,989,501; female 2,013,012) 65 years and over: 2.87% (male 83,769; female 125,654) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | bananas, coconuts, vegetables, citrus, root crops, cocoa | coffee, tea, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums), bananas, beans, sorghum, potatoes; livestock |
Airports | 2 (2007) | 8 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007) |
total:
4 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total:
4 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 616 sq km
land: 606 sq km water: 10 sq km |
total:
26,338 sq km land: 24,948 sq km water: 1,390 sq km |
Area - comparative | 3.5 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than Maryland |
Background | The island, with its fine natural harbor at Castries, was contested between England and France throughout the 17th and early 18th centuries (changing possession 14 times); it was finally ceded to the UK in 1814. Even after the abolition of slavery on its plantations in 1834, Saint Lucia remained an agricultural island, dedicated to producing tropical commodity crops. Self-government was granted in 1967 and independence in 1979. | In 1959, three years before independence, 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 Zaire, now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DROC). Since then most of the refugees have returned to Rwanda. Despite substantial international assistance and political reforms - including Rwanda's first local elections in March 1999 - the country continues to struggle to boost investment and agricultural output and to foster reconciliation. A series of massive population displacements, a nagging Hutu extremist insurgency, and Rwandan involvement in two wars over the past four years in the neighboring DROC continue to hinder Rwanda's efforts. |
Birth rate | 19.28 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 33.97 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $141.2 million
expenditures: $146.7 million (2000 est.) |
revenues:
$198 million expenditures: $411 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
Capital | name: Castries
geographic coordinates: 14 01 N, 61 00 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Kigali |
Climate | tropical, moderated by northeast trade winds; dry season January to April, rainy season May to August | temperate; two rainy seasons (February to April, November to January); mild in mountains with frost and snow possible |
Coastline | 158 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 22 February 1979 | on 5 May 1995, the Transitional National Assembly adopted as Fundamental Law the constitution of 18 June 1991, provisions of the 1993 Arusha peace accord, the July 1994 Declaration by the Rwanda Patriotic Front, and the November 1994 multiparty protocol of understanding |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Saint Lucia |
conventional long form:
Rwandese Republic conventional short form: Rwanda local long form: Republika y'u Rwanda local short form: Rwanda former: Ruanda |
Currency | - | Rwandan franc (RWF) |
Death rate | 5.03 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 21.13 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $257 million (2004) | $1.3 billion (1999) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | the US does not have an embassy in Saint Lucia; the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Saint Lucia | chief of mission:
Ambassador George M. STAPLES embassy: Boulevard de la Revolution, Kigali mailing address: B. P. 28, Kigali telephone: [250] 756 01 through 03, 721 26, 771 47 FAX: [250] 721 28 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Sonia Merlyn JOHNNY
chancery: 3216 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016 telephone: [1] (202) 364-6792 through 6795 FAX: [1] (202) 364-6723 consulate(s) general: Miami, New York |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Richard SEZIBERA chancery: 1714 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 232-2882 FAX: [1] (202) 232-4544 |
Disputes - international | joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a criterion under UNCLOS, which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea | Rwandan military forces are supporting the rebel forces in the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Economic aid - recipient | $11.06 million (2005) | $591.5 million (1997); note - in summer 1998, Rwanda presented its policy objectives and development priorities to donor governments resulting in multiyear pledges in the amount of $250 million |
Economy - overview | The island nation has been able to attract foreign business and investment, especially in its offshore banking and tourism industries, with a surge in foreign direct investment in 2006, attributed to the construction of several tourism projects. Tourism is the main source of foreign exchange, with more than 700,000 arrivals in 2005. The manufacturing sector is the most diverse in the Eastern Caribbean area, and the government is trying to revitalize the banana industry. Saint Lucia is vulnerable to a variety of external shocks including declines in European Union banana preferences, volatile tourism receipts, natural disasters, and dependence on foreign oil. High debt servicing obligations constrain the KING administration's ability to respond to adverse external shocks. Economic fundamentals remain solid, even though unemployment needs to be reduced. | Rwanda is a rural country with about 90% of the population engaged in (mainly subsistence) agriculture. It is the most densely populated country in Africa; is landlocked; and has few natural resources and minimal industry. Primary exports 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 significant progress in stabilizing and rehabilitating its economy. GDP has rebounded, and inflation has been curbed. In June 1998, Rwanda signed an Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) with the IMF. Rwanda has also embarked upon an ambitious privatization program with the World Bank. Continued growth in 2001 depends on the maintenance of international aid levels and the strengthening of world prices of coffee and tea. |
Electricity - consumption | 282.9 million kWh (2005) | 191.8 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2005) | 1 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2005) | 70 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 304.2 million kWh (2005) | 132 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
3.03% hydro: 96.97% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Gimie 950 m |
lowest point:
Rusizi River 950 m highest point: Volcan Karisimbi 4,519 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; soil erosion, particularly in the northern region | 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, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | black 82.5%, mixed 11.9%, East Indian 2.4%, other or unspecified 3.1% (2001 census) | Hutu 84%, Tutsi 15%, Twa (Pygmoid) 1% |
Exchange rates | East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - NA (2007), 2.7 (2006), 2.7 (2005), 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003) | Rwandan francs per US dollar - 432.24 (January 2001), 389.70 (2000), 333.94 (1999) 312.31 (1998), 301.53 (1997), 306.82 (1996) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Dame Pearlette LOUISY (since September 1997)
head of government: Prime Minister Stephenson KING (since 9 September 2007); note - Sir John COMPTON died in office Friday, 7 September 2007 cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the governor general is appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general |
chief of state:
President Maj. Gen. Paul KAGAME (FPR) (since 22 April 2000) head of government: Prime Minister Bernard MAKUZA (since 8 March 2000) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: normally the president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term; special election for new president by deputies of the National Assembly and governmental ministers held 17 April 2000 (next national election to be held NA 2003); prime minister is appointed by the president election results: Paul KAGAME (FPR) elected president in a special parliamentary/ministerial ballot receiving 81 of a possible 86 votes |
Exports | 0 bbl/day (2004) | $68.4 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | bananas 41%, clothing, cocoa, vegetables, fruits, coconut oil | coffee, tea, hides, tin ore |
Exports - partners | France 69.7%, US 10.2%, UK 8.8% (2006) | Germany, Belgium, Pakistan, Italy, Kenya |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | blue, with a gold isosceles triangle below a black arrowhead; the upper edges of the arrowhead have a white border | three equal vertical bands of red (hoist side), yellow, and green with a large black letter R centered in the yellow band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia; similar to the flag of Guinea, which has a plain yellow band |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $6.4 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 5%
industry: 15% services: 80% (2005 est.) |
agriculture:
40% industry: 20% services: 40% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $900 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 5.1% (2005 est.) | 5.8% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 13 53 N, 60 58 W | 2 00 S, 30 00 E |
Geography - note | the twin Pitons (Gros Piton and Petit Piton), striking cone-shaped peaks south of Soufriere, are one of the scenic natural highlights of the Caribbean | landlocked; predominantly rural population |
Highways | - | total:
12,000 km paved: 1,000 km unpaved: 11,000 km (1997 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%:
4.2% highest 10%: 24.2% (1983-85) |
Illicit drugs | transit point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe | - |
Imports | 2,678 bbl/day (2004) | $245.9 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | food 23%, manufactured goods 21%, machinery and transportation equipment 19%, chemicals, fuels | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, steel, petroleum products, cement and construction material |
Imports - partners | US 21.1%, Trinidad and Tobago 14.9%, Italy 12.3%, France 11.8%, Venezuela 7.2%, UK 6.9%, Netherlands 5.8% (2006) | Kenya, Tanzania, US, Benelux, France, India |
Independence | 22 February 1979 (from UK) | 1 July 1962 (from Belgium-administered UN trusteeship) |
Industrial production growth rate | -8.9% (1997 est.) | 8.7% (1998 est.) |
Industries | clothing, assembly of electronic components, beverages, corrugated cardboard boxes, tourism; lime processing, coconut processing | cement, agricultural products, small-scale beverages, soap, furniture, shoes, plastic goods, textiles, cigarettes |
Infant mortality rate | total: 12.81 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 13.93 deaths/1,000 live births female: 11.62 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
118.92 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.9% (2005 est.) | 4% (2000) |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OECS, OIF, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEEAC, CEPGL, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 30 sq km (2003) | 40 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (jurisdiction extends to Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) | Supreme Court; communal courts; appeals courts |
Labor force | 43,800 (2001 est.) | 3.6 million |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 21.7%
industry: 24.7% services: 53.6% (2002 est.) |
agriculture 90% |
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: 6.45%
permanent crops: 22.58% other: 70.97% (2005) |
arable land:
35% permanent crops: 13% permanent pastures: 18% forests and woodland: 22% other: 12% (1993 est.) |
Languages | English (official), French patois | Kinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu vernacular, French (official), English (official), Kiswahili (Swahili) used in commercial centers |
Legal system | based on English common law | 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 Parliament consists of the Senate (11 seats; six members appointed on the advice of the prime minister, three on the advice of the leader of the opposition, and two after consultation with religious, economic, and social groups) and the House of Assembly (17 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Assembly - last held 11 December 2006 (next to be held in December 2011) election results: House of Assembly - percent of vote by party - UWP 50%, SLP 46.9%, other 3.1%; seats by party - UWP 11, SLP 6 |
unicameral Transitional National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale de Transition (a power-sharing body with 70 seats established on 12 December 1994 following a multiparty protocol of understanding; members were named by their parties, number of seats per party predetermined by the Arusha peace accord)
note: four additional seats, two for women and two for youth, added in 2001 elections: the last national legislative elections were held 16 December 1988 for the National Development Council (the legislature prior to the advent of the Transitional National Assembly); no elections have been held for the Transitional National Assembly as the distribution of seats was predetermined by the Arusha peace accord election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - FPR 13, MDR 13, PSD 13, PL 13, PDC 6, RPA 6, PSR 2, PDI 2, UDPR 2; note - the distribution of seats was predetermined, four additional seats (two for women and two for youth) added in 2001 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 74.08 years
male: 70.53 years female: 77.88 years (2007 est.) |
total population:
38.99 years male: 38.35 years female: 39.65 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 90.1% male: 89.5% female: 90.6% (2001 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 48% male: 52% female: 45% (1995 est.) |
Location | Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago | Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Africa |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
none (landlocked) |
Military branches | no regular military forces; Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (includes Special Service Unit, Coast Guard) (2007) | Army, Navy, Air Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $58 million (FY01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA | 3.2% (FY01) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
1,815,633 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
924,544 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 22 February (1979) | Independence Day, 1 July (1962) |
Nationality | noun: Saint Lucian(s)
adjective: Saint Lucian |
noun:
Rwandan(s) adjective: Rwandan |
Natural hazards | hurricanes and volcanic activity | periodic droughts; the volcanic Virunga mountains are in the northwest along the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Natural resources | forests, sandy beaches, minerals (pumice), mineral springs, geothermal potential | gold, cassiterite (tin ore), wolframite (tungsten ore), methane, hydropower, arable land |
Net migration rate | -1.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | -1.21 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | National Alliance or NA [George ODLUM]; Saint Lucia Freedom Party or SFP [Martinus FRANCOIS]; Saint Lucia Labor Party or SLP [Kenneth ANTHONY]; Sou Tout Apwe Fete Fini or STAFF [Christopher HUNTE]; United Workers Party or UWP [Sir John COMPTON] | Centrist Democratic Party or PDC [Jean-Nipomuscene NAYINZIRA]; Democratic Socialist Party or PSD [Charles NTAKIRUTINKA, Vincent BIRUTA, Augusin IYAMUREMYE]; Democratic Popular Union of Rwanda or UDPR [Adrien RANGIRA]; Democratic Republican Movement or MDR [Celestin KABANDA, Emile NTWARABAKIGA, Christian MARARA]; Islamic Democratic Party or PDI [Andre BUMAYA]; Liberal Party or PL [Pie MUGABO, Enock KABERA, Prosper MUGIRANEZA]; Rwanda Patriotic Army or RPA [Maj. Gen. Paul KAGAME, commander]; Rwanda Patriotic Front or FPR [Maj. Gen. Paul KAGAME]; Rwandan Socialist Party or PSR [Medard RUTIJANWA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | IBUKA - association of genocide survivors |
Population | 170,649 (July 2007 est.) | 7,312,756
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 | NA% | 70% (2000 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.297% (2007 est.) | 1.16% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Cyangugu, Gisenyi, Kibuye |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 7, shortwave 0 (2003) | AM 0, FM 3, shortwave 1 (1998) |
Radios | - | 601,000 (1997) |
Railways | - | 0 km |
Religions | Roman Catholic 67.5%, Seventh Day Adventist 8.5%, Pentecostal 5.7%, Rastafarian 2.1%, Anglican 2%, Evangelical 2%, other Christian 5.1%, other 1.1%, unspecified 1.5%, none 4.5% (2001 census) | Roman Catholic 52.7%, Protestant 24%, Adventist 10.4%, Muslim 1.9%, indigenous beliefs and other 6.5%, none 4.5% (1996) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.067 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.973 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.574 male(s)/female total population: 0.974 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal adult |
Telephone system | general assessment: adequate system
domestic: system is automatically switched international: country code - 1-758; the East Caribbean Fiber Optic System (ECFS) and Southern Caribbean fiber optic system (SCF) submarine cables, along with Intelsat from Martinique, carry calls internationally; direct microwave radio relay link with Martinique and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; tropospheric scatter to Barbados |
general assessment:
telephone system primarily serves business and government domestic: the capital, Kigali, is connected to the centers of the prefectures by microwave radio relay; the remainder of the network depends on wire and HF radiotelephone international: 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 | 51,100 (2002) | 15,000 (1995) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 105,700 (2005) | NA
note: however, Rwanda has mobile cellular service between Kigali and several prefecture capitals (2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 2 (1 commercial broadcast station and 1 community antenna television or CATV channel) (2003) | 2 (1997) |
Terrain | volcanic and mountainous with some broad, fertile valleys | mostly grassy uplands and hills; relief is mountainous with altitude declining from west to east |
Total fertility rate | 2.15 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 4.89 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 20% (2003 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | - | note:
Lac Kivu navigable by shallow-draft barges and native craft |