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Burundi

Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a small country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the south and east, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Although the country is landlocked, much of the southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika.

• conventional long form: Republic of Burundi
• conventional short form: Burundi
• local long form: Republique du Burundi/Republika y'u Burundi
• former: Urundi

• Burundian(s)
• Burundian

• Bujumbura
• 3 22 S, 29 21 E
• UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

• 1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian administration)

• 8,691,005

• 3.443% (2008 est.)

• 6% (2003 est.)

• Hutu 85%
• Tutsi 14%
• Twa 1%
• Europeans and Asians less than 1%

• Christian 67%
• Indigenous beliefs 23%
• Muslim 10%

• Kirundi (official)
• French (official)
• Swahili

• Ages 15 and over can read and write  
• Total literacy population 59.3%
• Males: 67.3%
• Females: 52.2% (2000 est.)

• Republic

• Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Slightly smaller than Maryland

• Total: 974 km
• Border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 233 km, Rwanda 290 km, Tanzania 451 km

• Equatorial; high plateau with considerable altitude variation (772 m to 2,670 m above sea level); average annual temperature varies with altitude from 23 to 17 degrees centigrade but is generally moderate as the average altitude is about 1,700 m; average annual rainfall is about 150 cm; two wet seasons (February to May and September to November), and two dry seasons (June to August and December to January)

• Nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper, platinum, vanadium, arable land, hydropower, niobium, tantalum, gold, tin, tungsten, kaolin, limestone

Burundi is a landlocked, resource-poor country with an underdeveloped manufacturing sector. The economy is predominantly agricultural with more than 90% of the population dependent on subsistence agriculture. Economic growth depends on coffee and tea exports, which account for 90% of foreign exchange earnings. The ability to pay for imports, therefore, rests primarily on weather conditions and international coffee and tea prices. The Tutsi minority, 14% of the population, dominates the government and the coffee trade at the expense of the Hutu majority, 85% of the population. An ethnic-based war that lasted for over a decade resulted in more than 200,000 deaths, forced more than 48,000 refugees into Tanzania, and displaced 140,000 others internally. Only one in two children go to school, and approximately one in 15 adults has HIV/AIDS. Food, medicine, and electricity remain in short supply. Burundi's GDP grew around 5% annually in 2006-07, before increasing to 6% in 2008. Political stability and the end of the civil war have improved aid flows and economic activity has increased, but underlying weaknesses - a high poverty rate, poor education rates, a weak legal system, and low administrative capacity - risk undermining planned economic reforms. Burundi will continue to remain heavily dependent on aid from bilateral and multilateral donors; the delay of funds after a corruption scandal cut off bilateral aid in 2007 reduced government's revenues and its ability to pay salaries.

• 6% (2008 est.)

• $400 (2008 est.)

Burundi's first democratically elected president was assassinated in October 1993 after only 100 days in office, triggering widespread ethnic violence between Hutu and Tutsi factions. More than 200,000 Burundians perished during the conflict that spanned almost a dozen years. Hundreds of thousands of Burundians were internally displaced or became refugees in neighboring countries. An internationally brokered power-sharing agreement between the Tutsi-dominated government and the Hutu rebels in 2003 paved the way for a transition process that led to an integrated defense force, established a new constitution in 2005, and elected a majority Hutu government in 2005. The new government, led by President Pierre NKURUNZIZA, signed a South African brokered ceasefire with the country's last rebel group in September of 2006 but still faces many challenges.

• Soil erosion as a result of overgrazing and the expansion of agriculture into marginal lands
• Deforestation (little forested land remains because of uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel)
• Habitat loss threatens wildlife populations

 

For more info please contact:
African Studies
(310) 825-3686
africa@international.ucla.edu