The 2001 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency
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
Legislative branch: 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
Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Cour Supreme; Constitutional
Court; Courts of Appeal (there are three in separate locations);
Tribunals of First Instance (17 at the province level and 123 small
local tribunals)
Political parties and leaders: 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: Loosely organized Tutsi militias, often affiliated with Tutsi extremist parties
International organization participation: 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
Diplomatic representation in the US: 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
Diplomatic representation from the US: 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
Flag description: divided by a white diagonal cross into red panels (top and bottom) and green panels (hoist side and outer side) with a white disk superimposed at the center bearing three red six-pointed stars outlined in green arranged in a triangular design (one star above, two stars below)
Burundi Economy
Economy - overview: Burundi is a landlocked, resource-poor country with an underdeveloped manufacturing sector. The economy is predominantly agricultural with roughly 90% of the population dependent on subsistence agriculture. 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.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $4.4 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 1.8% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $720 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 50%
industry: 18%
services: 32% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line: 36.2% (1990 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.4%
highest 10%: 26.6% (1992)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 22% (2000 est.)
Labor force: 1.9 million
Labor force - by occupation: NA
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues: $125 million
expenditures: $176 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)
Industries: light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imported components; public works construction; food processing
Industrial production growth rate: 6.3% (1999 est.)
Electricity - production: 141 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 0.71%
hydro: 99.29%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption: 160.1 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports: 29 million kWh
note: supplied by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1999)
Agriculture - products: coffee, cotton, tea, corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc (tapioca); beef, milk, hides
Exports: $32 million (f.o.b., 2000)
Exports - commodities: coffee, tea, sugar, cotton, hides
Exports - partners: Germany 17%, Belgium 14%, US 8%, France 6%,
Switzerland 4% (1999)
Imports: $110 million (f.o.b., 2000)
Imports - commodities: capital goods, petroleum products, foodstuffs
Imports - partners: Belgium 20%, Zambia 11%, Kenya 8%, South Africa 5%, France 4% (1999)
Debt - external: $1.12 billion (1999 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $1.344 billion (1999 est.)
Currency: Burundi franc (BIF)
Currency code: BIF
Exchange rates: Burundi francs per US dollar - 782.36 (January 2001), 720.67 (2000), 563.56 (1999), 477.77 (1998), 352.35 (1997), 302.75 (1996)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Burundi Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 16,000 (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 619 (1997)
Telephone system: 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)
Radio