tainous with
altitude declining from west to east

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Rusizi River 950 m
highest point: Volcan Karisimbi 4,519 m

Natural resources: gold, cassiterite (tin ore), wolframite (tungsten
ore), methane, hydropower, arable land

Land use:
arable land: 35%
permanent crops: 13%
permanent pastures: 18%
forests and woodland: 22%
other: 12% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 40 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: periodic droughts; the volcanic Birunga 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;
widespread poaching

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

Geography - note: landlocked; predominantly rural population

@Rwanda:People

Population: 7,229,129
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 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 43% (male 1,558,730; female 1,548,175)
15-64 years: 54% (male 1,943,268; female 1,971,542)
65 years and over: 3% (male 83,699; female 123,715) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.14% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 34.78 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 20.95 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: -2.46 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:
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: 0.68 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 120.06 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 39.34 years
male: 38.58 years
female: 40.13 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.07 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Rwandan(s)
adjective: Rwandan

Ethnic groups: Hutu 84%, Tutsi 15%, Twa (Pygmoid) 1%

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

Languages: Kinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu ver