Part 699

Irrigated land: 40 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: periodic droughts; the volcanic Virunga mountains are in the northwest along the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo

Environment - current issues: deforestation results from uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel; overgrazing; soil exhaustion; soil erosion

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban signed, but not ratified : Climate Change, Desertification, Law of the Sea

Geography - note: landlocked; predominantly rural population

@Rwanda:People

Population: 7,737,537 (July 1997 est.) note : genocide and civil war in 1994 killed more than 1 million Rwandans and forced more than 2 million to flee to neighboring countries

Age structure: 0-14 years: 45% (male 1,769,247; female 1,757,957) 15-64 years: 52% (male 1,978,076; female 2,018,141) 65 years and over: 3% (male 88,556; female 125,560) (July 1997 est.)

Population growth rate: 8.24% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 38.73 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 21.06 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: 64.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.) note: following the outbreak of genocidal strife in Rwanda in April 1994 between Tutsi and Hutu factions, more than 2 million refugees fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire; according to the UN High Commission on Refugees, in 1996 and early 1997 nearly 1,300,000 Hutus returned to Rwanda; of these 720,000 returned from Democratic Republic of the Congo, 480,000 from Tanzania, 88,000 from Burundi, and 10,000 from Uganda

Sex ratio: at birth : 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 118.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 39.11 years male : 38.64 years female: 39.6 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.93 children born/woman (1997 est.)

Nationality: noun : Rwandan(s) adjective: Rwandan

Ethnic groups: Hutu 80%, Tutsi 19%, Twa (Pygmoid) 1%

Religions: Roman Catholic 65%, Protestant 9%, Muslim 1%, indigenous beliefs and other 25%

Languages: Kinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu vernacular, French (official), English (official), Kiswahili (Swahili) used in commercial centers

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population : 60.5% male: 69.8% female: 51.6% (1995 est.)

@Rwanda:Government

Country name: conventional long form: Rwandese Republic conventional short form : Rwanda local long form: Republika y'u Rwanda local short form: Rwanda

Data code: RW

Government type: republic; presidential, multiparty system

National capital: Kigali

Administrative divisions: 10 prefectures (prefectures, singular - prefecture in French; plural - NA, singular - prefegitura in Kinyarwanda); Butare, Byumba, Cyangugu, Gikongoro, Gisenyi, Gitarama, Kibungo, Kibuye, Kigali, Ruhengeri

Independence: 1 July 1962 (from Belgium-administered UN trusteeship)