ng period, after which
either party can refer dispute to the ICJ

Illicit drugs: important transshipment point for Southwest Asian
heroin transiting the Balkan route and small amounts of Latin American
cocaine bound for Western Europe

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RUSSIA COUNTRY FLAG OF RUSSIA

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RWANDA

@Rwanda:Introduction

Background: 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 a genocide in which roughly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus
were killed. The Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and ended the
genocide 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. Despite
substantial international assistance and political reforms - including
Rwanda's first ever local elections held 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.

@Rwanda:Geography

Location: Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo

Geographic coordinates: 2 00 S, 30 00 E

Map references: Africa

Area:
total: 26,338 sq km
land: 24,948 sq km
water: 1,390 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Maryland

Land boundaries:
total: 893 km
border countries: Burundi 290 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 217
km, Tanzania 217 km, Uganda 169 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: temperate; two rainy seasons (February to April, November to
January); mild in mountains with frost and snow possible

Terrain: mostly grassy uplands and hills; relief is moun