In its last issue, the International Review stated that 130 States were parties to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. This number has now risen to 131. The ICRC has recently been informed by the Federal Political Department in Berne that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Burundi has notified the Swiss Federal Council, in a letter which reached the latter on 27 December 1971, that Burundi considers itself a party to the four Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949, under the earlier ratification by Belgium.