Rwanda

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: 24,668 sq km water: 1,670 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 mountainous 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: 45.56% permanent crops: 10.25% other: 44.19% (2005)
Irrigated land	90 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources	5.2 cu km (2003)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)	total: 0.15 cu km/yr (24%/8%/68%) per capita: 17 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards	periodic droughts; the volcanic Virunga mountains are in the northwest along the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo volcanism: Visoke (elev. 3,711 m), located on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is the country's only historically active volcano
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, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Geography - note	landlocked; most of the country is savanna grassland with the population predominantly rural