Part 121

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)

Geography ---------

Location: Central Africa, east of Zaire

Geographic coordinates: 3 30 S, 30 00 E

Map references: Africa

Area: total area: 27,830 sq km land area: 25,650 sq km comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland

Land boundaries: total: 974 km border countries: Rwanda 290 km, Tanzania 451 km, Zaire 233 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

International disputes: none

Climate: temperate; warm; occasional frost in uplands; dry season from June to September

Terrain: hilly and mountainous, dropping to a plateau in east, some plains lowest point: Lake Tanganyika 772 m highest point: Mount Heha 2,760 m

Natural resources: nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper, platinum (not yet exploited), vanadium

Land use: arable land: 43% permanent crops: 8% meadows and pastures: 35% forest and woodland: 2% other: 12%

Irrigated land: 720 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment: current issues: 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 natural hazards: flooding, landslides international agreements: party to - Endangered Species; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban

Geographic note: landlocked; straddles crest of the Nile-Congo watershed

People ------

Population: 5,943,057 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 47% (male 1,404,375; female 1,398,228) 15-64 years: 50% (male 1,454,545; female 1,527,644) 65 years and over: 3% (male 62,955; female 95,310) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.54% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 43.02 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 15.15 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: -12.47 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.) note: in a number of waves since October 1993, hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled the civil strife between the Hutu and Tutsi factions in Burundi and crossed into Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zaire; the refugee flows are continuing in 1996 as the ethnic violence persists

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.66 male(s)/female all ages: 0.97 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 102.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 49.33 years male: 48.28 years female: 50.42 years (1996 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.55 children born/woman (1996 est.)