The 1994 CIA World Factbook

by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

@Russia, Economy

Overview: Russia, a vast country with a wealth of natural resources, a well-educated population, and a diverse industrial base, continues to experience severe difficulties in moving from its old centrally planned economy to a modern market economy. President YEL'TSIN's government has made some progress toward a market economy by freeing most prices, slashing defense spending, unifying foreign exchange rates, and launching an ambitious privatization program. Yet much of the old order persists and YEL'TSIN faces formidable opposition to further measures such as the reduction of subsidies to old-line industries. Output continues to fall although the mix is gradually becoming more responsive to Russia's needs. According to Russian official data, GDP declined by 12% in 1993 compared with 19% in 1992. Industrial output in 1993 fell 16% with all major sectors taking a hit. Agricultural production, meanwhile, was down 6%. The grain harvest totalled 99 million tons - some 8 million tons less than in 1992. Unemployment climbed in 1993 but remained low by Western standards. The official number of unemployed rose from 578,000 at the beginning of 1993 to about 1 million - or roughly 1.4% of the work force - by yearend. According to the Russian labor minister, the actual number of unemployed probably was closer to 4 million. Government fears of large-scale unemployment continued to hamper industrial restructuring efforts. According to official statistics, average real wages remained flat. Nonetheless, a substantial portion of the population, particularly the elderly and people in remote areas, finds its well-being steadily shrinking. The disparity in incomes between the rich and poor continued to rise in 1993, primarily reflecting the high earnings of enterprise managers and persons employed in the emerging private sector. The government tried to narrow the income gap by raising the wages of budget-funded workers - mainly teachers and health care specialists. Official data may overstate hardships, because many Russians supplement their income by moonlighting or by bartering goods and services, activities that often go unreported. Russia made good progress on privatization in 1993 despite active opposition from key cabinet members, hard-line legislators, and antireform regional leaders. By yearend, for example, roughly 35% of Russia's medium and large state enterprises had been auctioned, while the number of private farms in Russia increased by 86,000, reaching a total of 170,000. As a result, about 6% of agricultural land now has been privatized. Financial stabilization continued to remain a challenge for the government. Moscow tightened financial policies in early 1993 - including postponing planned budget spending - and succeeded in reducing monthly inflation from 27% in January to 20% in May and June. In the summer, however, the government relaxed austerity measures in the face of mounting pressure from industry and agriculture, sparking a new round of inflation; the monthly inflation rate jumped to 25% in August. In response, Moscow announced a package of measures designed to curb government spending and inflation. It included eliminating bread subsidies, delaying payment obligations, raising interest rates, and phasing out concessionary Central Bank credits to enterprises and regions. The measures met with some success; the monthly inflation rate declined to 13% in December. According to official statistics, Russia's 1993 trade with nations outside the former Soviet Union produced a $16 billion surplus, up from $6 billion in 1992. Moscow arrested the steep drop in exports that it had been suffering as a result of ruptured ties with former trading partners, output declines, and erratic efforts to move to world prices. Foreign sales - comprised largely of oil, natural gas, and other raw materials - grew slightly. Imports were down by 15% or so as a result of new import taxes and Moscow's reluctance to increase its debt burden by purchasing grain and other goods with foreign credits. Russian trade with other former Soviet republics continued to decline and yielded a surplus of some $5 billion. At the same time, Russia paid only a fraction of the roughly $20 billion in debt coming due in 1993, and by mid-year, Russia's foreign debt had amounted to $81.5 billion. While Moscow reached agreement to restructure debts with Paris Club official creditors in April 1993, Moscow's refusal to waive its right to sovereign immunity kept Russia and its bank creditors from agreeing to restructure Moscow's commercial loans. Capital flight continued to be a serious problem in 1993, with billions of dollars in assets owned by Russians being parked abroad at yearend. Russia's capital stock continues to deteriorate because of insufficient maintenance and new construction. The capital stock on average is twice the age of capital stock in the West. Many years will pass before Russia can take full advantage of its natural resources and its human assets. National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $775.4 billion (1993 estimate from the UN International Comparison Program, as extended to 1991 and published in the World Bank's World Development Report 1993; and as extrapolated to 1993 using official Russian statistics, which are very uncertain because of major economic changes since 1990) National product real growth rate: -12% (1993 est.) National product per capita: $5,190 (1993 est.) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 21% per month (average 1993); 13% per month (December 1993) Unemployment rate: 1.4% (1 January 1994; official data) Budget: revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA Exports: $43 billion (f.o.b., 1993) commodities: petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures partners: Europe, North America, Japan, Third World countries, Cuba Imports: $27 billion (f.o.b., 1993) commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, consumer goods, grain, meat, sugar, semifinished metal products partners: Europe, North America, Japan, Third World countries, Cuba External debt: $81.5 billion (mid-year 1993 est.) Industrial production: growth rate -16% (1993 est.) Electricity: capacity: 213,000,000 KW production: 956 billion kWh consumption per capita: 6,782 kWh (1 January 1992) Industries: complete range of mining and extractive industries producing coal, oil, gas, chemicals, and metals; all forms of machine building from rolling mills to high-performance aircraft and space vehicles; ship- building; road and rail transportation equipment; communications equipment; agricultural machinery, tractors, and construction equipment; electric power generating and transmitting equipment; medical and scientific instruments; consumer durables Agriculture: grain, sugar beet, sunflower seeds, meat, milk, vegetables, fruits; because of its northern location does not grow citrus, cotton, tea, and other warm climate products Illicit drugs: illicit cultivator of cannabis and opium poppy; mostly for domestic consumption; government has active eradication program; used as transshipment point for Asian and Latin American illicit drugs to Western Europe and Latin America Economic aid: recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (1990-93), $13 billion; other countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1988-93), $115 billion Currency: 1 ruble (R) = 100 kopeks Exchange rates: rubles per US$1 - 1,247 (27 December 1993), 415 (24 December 1992); nominal exchange rate still deteriorating but real exchange rate strengthening Fiscal year: calendar year

@Russia, Communications

Railroads:
158,100 km all 1.520-meter broad gauge; 86,800 km in common carrier
service, of which 48,900 km are diesel traction and 37,900 km are
electric traction; 71,300 km serves specific industry and is not
available for common carrier use (30 June 1993)
Highways:
total:
893,000 km
paved and gravel:
677,000 km
unpaved:
216,000 km
Inland waterways:
total navigable routes in general use 100,000 km; routes with
navigation guides serving the Russian River Fleet 95,900 km; of which
routes with night navigational aids 60,400 km; man-made navigable
routes 16,900 km (30 June 1993)
Pipelines:
crude oil 48,000 km; petroleum products 15,000 km; natural gas 140,000
km (30 June 1993)
Ports:
coastal - St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Murmansk, Petropavlovsk,
Arkhangel'sk, Novorossiysk, Vladivostok, Nakhodka, Kholmsk, Korsakov,
Magadan, Tiksi, Tuapse, Vanino, Vostochnyy, Vyborg; inland -
Astrakhan', Nizhniy Novgorod, Kazan', Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Samara,
Moscow, Rostov, Volgograd
Merchant marine:
867 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 8,084,988 GRT/11,124,929 DWT,
barge carrier 2, bulk cargo 26, cargo 454, chemical tanker 9,
combination bulk 28, combination ore/oil 16, container 82,
multi-function large load carrier 3, oil tanker 125, passenger 6,
passenger cargo 5, refrigerated cargo 17, roll-on/roll-off cargo 74,
short-sea passenger 18, specialized tanker 2
Airports:
total:
2,550
usable:
964
with permanent-surface runways:
565
with runways over 3,659 m:
19
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
275
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
426
Telecommunications:
Russia is enlisting foreign help, by means of joint ventures, to speed
up the modernization of its telecommunications system; NMT-450 analog
cellular telephone networks are operational and growing in Moscow and
St. Petersburg; expanded access to international E-mail service
available via Sprint network; intercity fiberoptic cable installation
remains limited; the inadequacy of Russian telecommunications is a
severe handicap to the economy, especially with respect to
international connections; total installed telephones 24,400,000, of
which in urban areas 20,900,000 and in rural areas 3,500,000; of
these, total installed in homes 15,400,000; total pay phones for long
distant calls 34,100; telephone density is about 164 telephones per
1,000 persons (in 1992, only 661,000 new telephones were installed
compared with 855,000 in 1991 and in 1992 the number of unsatisfied
applications for telephones reached 11,000,000); international traffic
is handled by an inadequate system of satellites, land lines,
microwave radio relay and outdated submarine cables; this traffic
passes through the international gateway switch in Moscow which
carries most of the international traffic for the other countries of
the Commonwealth of Independent States; a new Russian Raduga satellite
will link Moscow and St. Petersburg with Rome from whence calls will
be relayed to destinations in Europe and overseas; satellite ground
stations - INTELSAT, Intersputnik, Eutelsat (Moscow), INMARSAT,
Orbita; broadcast stations - 1,050 AM/FM/SW (reach 98.6% of
population), 7,183 TV; receiving sets - 54,200,000 TVs, 48,800,000
radio receivers, 74,300,000 radio receivers with multiple speaker
systems for program diffusion

@Russia, Defense Forces

Branches:
Ground Forces, Navy, Air Forces, Air Defense Forces, Strategic Rocket
Forces, Command and General Support, Security Forces
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 37,706,825; fit for military service 29,623,429; reach
military age (18) annually 1,098,307 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
$NA, NA% of GDP

@Rwanda, Geography

Location:
Central Africa, between Tanzania and Zaire
Map references:
Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
26,340 sq km
land area:
24,950 sq km
comparative area:
slightly smaller than Maryland
Land boundaries:
total 893 km, Burundi 290 km, Tanzania 217 km, Uganda 169 km, Zaire
217 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none; landlocked
International disputes:
none
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; mountains in west
Natural resources:
gold, cassiterite (tin ore), wolframite (tungsten ore), natural gas,
hydropower
Land use:
arable land:
29%
permanent crops:
11%
meadows and pastures:
18%
forest and woodland:
10%
other:
32%
Irrigated land:
40 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues:
deforestation; overgrazing; soil exhaustion; soil erosion
natural hazards:
periodic droughts
international agreements:
party to - Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban; signed, but not
ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea
Note:
landlocked; predominantly rural population

@Rwanda, People

Population:
8,373,963 (July 1994 est.)
note:
the demographic estimates were prepared before civil strife, starting
in April 1994, set in motion substantial and continuing population
changes
Population growth rate:
2.78% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
49.17 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
21.35 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
118.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
40.25 years
male:
39.33 years
female:
41.21 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
8.19 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Rwandan(s)
adjective:
Rwandan
Ethnic divisions:
Hutu 90%, Tutsi 9%, Twa (Pygmoid) 1%
Religions:
Roman Catholic 65%, Protestant 9%, Muslim 1%, indigenous beliefs and
other 25%
Languages:
Kinyarwanda (official), French (official), Kiswahili used in
commercial centers
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population:
50%
male:
64%
female:
37%
Labor force:
3.6 million
by occupation:
agriculture 93%, government and services 5%, industry and commerce 2%
note:
49% of population of working age (1985)