Burundi
Burundi (), officially the
Republic of Burundi, is a country in the
Great Lakes region of
Africa. The former name was
Urundi. Urundi is the shortened form of "Urundi Rwanda" ("The other Rwanda"), as the Belgian colonial powers formerly referred to the territory. It is bordered by
Rwanda on the north,
Tanzania on the south and east, and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west. Although the country is
landlocked, much of its western border is adjacent to
Lake Tanganyika. The country's modern name is derived from its
Bantu language,
Kirundi.
Geographically isolated, facing population pressures and having sparse resources, Burundi is one of the poorest and most conflict-ridden countries in Africa and in the world. Its small size belies the magnitude of the problems it faces in reconciling the claims of the
Tutsi minority with the
Hutu majority.
The earliest inhabitants of the area were
Pygmy peoples. They were largely replaced and absorbed by Bantu tribes during
Bantu migrations.Burundi existed as an independent
kingdom from the
16th century. In
1903, it became a
German colony and passed to
Belgium in
World War I. It was part of the Belgian
League of Nations mandate of
Ruanda-Urundi in
1923, later a
United Nations Trust Territory under Belgian administrative authority following
World War II.The origins of Burundi monarchy are veiled in myth. According to some legends, Ntare Rushatsi, founder of the original dynasty, came to Burundi from Rwanda in 17th century; other, more reliable sources, suggest that Ntare came from Buha, in the south-east, and laid the foundation for his kingdom in the Nkoma region.
Until the downfall of the monarchy in 1966, kingship remained one of last links that bound Burundi with its past.
From independence in
1962, until the elections of 1993, Burundi was controlled by a series of military dictators, all from the Tutsi minority. These years saw extensive ethnic violence including major incidents in
1964 and the late 1980s, and the
Burundian genocide in
1972. In 1993, Burundi held its first
democratic elections, which were won by the Hutu-dominated
Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU). FRODEBU leader
Melchior Ndadaye became Burundi's first Hutu President, but a few months later he was assassinated by a group of Tutsi army officers. The killing plunged Burundi into a vicious
civil war.
In retaliation for Ndadaye's killing, Hutu extremists massacred thousands of Tutsi civilians. The Tutsi-dominated army responded by massacring hundreds of thousands of Hutus. Years of instability followed until 1996, when former president
Pierre Buyoya took power in a coup. In August 2000, a peace-deal agreed by all but two of Burundi's political groups laid out a timetable for the restoration of democracy. After several more years of violence, a cease-fire was signed in 2003 between Buyoya's government and the largest Hutu rebel group, CNDD-FDD. Later that year, FRODEBU leader
Domitien Ndayizeye replaced Buyoya as President. Yet the most extreme Hutu group, Palipehutu-FNL (commonly known as "FNL"), continued to refuse negotiations. In August 2004, the group massacred 152 Congolese Tutsi refugees at the
Gatumba refugee camp in western Burundi. In response to the attack, the Burundian government issued arrest warrants for the FNL leaders Agathon Rwasa and Pasteur Habimana, and declared the group a terrorist organisation.
In May 2005 a cease-fire was finally agreed between the FNL and the Burundian government, but fighting continued. Renewed negotiations are now under way, amid fears that the FNL will demand a blanket amnesty in exchange for laying down their arms. A series of
elections, held in mid-2005 were won by the former Hutu rebel
National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD).
Politics of Burundi takes place in a framework of a transitional
presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the
President of Burundi is both
head of state and
head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system.
Executive power is exercised by the government.
Legislative power is vested in both the
government and the two chambers of parliament, the
Senate and the
National Assembly.
Main articles: Provinces of Burundi, Communes of Burundi, Collines of BurundiBurundi is divided into 17
provinces, 117
communes, and 2,638
collines. The
capital city,
Bujumbura, has by far the largest population. Smaller
cities of Burundi include
Gitega,
Muyinga,
Ngozi and
Ruyigi.
The
provinces include:
Bubanza,
Bujumbura Mairie,
Bujumbura Rural,
Bururi,
Cankuzo,
Cibitoke,
Gitega,
Karuzi,
Kayanza,
Kirundo,
Makamba,
Muramvya,
Muyinga,
Mwaro,
Ngozi,
Rutana, and
RuyigiCommunes: See
Communes of Burundi Collines: See
Collines of Burundi |
Map of Burundi |
|
Satellite image of Burundi & the surrounding region |
Burundi is a
landlocked country with an
equatorial climate.Called
"The heart of Africa" it lies on a rolling
plateau, with
Lake Tanganyika in its south west corner. The average elevation of the central plateau is 5,600
feet, with lower elevations at the borders. The highest peak,
Mount Karonje, at 8,809 feet (2,685
m), lies to the southeast of the capital, Bujumbura. The southeastern and southern borders are at roughtly 4,500 feet (1,370 m). A strip of land along the
Ruzizi River, north of Lake Tanganyika, is the only area below 3,000 feet (915 m): this area forms part of the
Albertine Rift, the western extension of the
Great Rift Valley.
The land is mostly
agricultural or
pasture, the creation of which has led to
deforestation,
soil erosion and
habitat loss. There are two
national parks,
Kibira National Park to the northwest (a region of
montane rainforest, adjacent to
Nyungwe Forest National Park in Rwanda),
Rurubu National Park to the north east (along the
Rurubu River, also known as Ruvubu or Ruvuvu).
The farthest headstream of the
Nile is in Burundi. Although
Lake Victoria is commonly considered to be the source of the Nile, the
Kagera River flows for 429
miles (690 km) before reaching Lake Victoria. The source of the
Ruvyironza River, an upper branch of the Kagera River, is at
Mount Kikizi in Burundi.
Burundi's largest industry is
agriculture, which accounted for 58% of GDP in 1997.
Coffee is the nation's biggest revenue earner with 78% of all exported goods. Other agriculture products include
cotton,
tea,
maize,
sorghum,
sweet potatoes,
bananas,
manioc (tapioca); beef, milk, and hides. Besides agriculture, other industries include light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imported components; public works construction; food processing. The currency is the
Burundian franc (BIF).
Burundi is the poorest country in the world, in terms of GDP per capita:
US$106 as of
2005. The economy is supported by foreign aid from Western Europe and other parts of the world. In 2000 this amount reached
US$92.7 million. 68% of the population lived below the poverty line in 2002. The country's estimated gross domestic product (GDP) was US$700 million in 2001.
As of July 2006, Burundi is projected to have an estimated population of 8,090,068, approximately half of whom are aged 14 or less. This estimate explicitly takes into account the effects of
AIDS, which has a significant effect on the demographics of the country. Roughly 85% of the population are of
Hutu ethnic origin; most of the remaining population are
Tutsi, with a minority of
Twa (
Pygmy), and a few thousand Europeans and South Asians. The population density of around 315 persons per square kilometre (753/sq. mi) is the second highest in
Sub-Saharan Africa, behind only Rwanda. The Twa are thought to be the original inhabitants of the area, with Hutu and then Tutsi settlers arriving in the
1300s and
1400s respectively.
The largest religion is
Roman Catholicism (62%), followed by indigenous beliefs (23%) and a minority of
Protestants (5%) and
Muslims (10%). The official languages are
Kirundi and
French, although
Swahili is spoken along the western border.
Recent reports indicate the Christian population may be as high as 90% with most of the remainder being Muslim. [
1]
The culture of Burundi is related to that of neighbouring countries and its prominence has been limited by the
civil war. The
Master Drummers of Burundi are the most famous performing group from the nation, and
football (soccer) is the most popular sport.
*
Football in Burundi*
List of writers from Burundi*
Music of Burundi*
Communications in Burundi*
Foreign relations of Burundi*
Military of Burundi*
Transport in Burundi*
Association des Scouts du BurundiMuch of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.* [
2]
*
Burundi: Ethnic Conflict and Genocide Reni Lemarchand and Lee H. Hamilton
Government
*
Official government website (in French)
News
*
allAfrica - Burundi*
IRIN News for Burundi, from the United Nations*
Agence Burundaise de Presse (ABP) (in French)
*
Radio Isanganiro Burundi's independent radio station, one of the few independent sources of daily news in Burundi. You can listen online in French and Kirundi.
*
umuco.com Burundian-run news site, with detailed news and analysis, mainly in French
*
Burundi Réalités News and analysis, French&English
Overviews
*
BBC News - Country Profile: Burundi*
Encyclopaedia Britannica's Burundi Country Page*
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding BurundiDirectories
*
Open Directory Project - Burundi directory category
*
Stanford University - Africa South of the Sahara: Burundi directory category
*
University of Pennsylvania - African Studies Center: Burundi directory category
*
Yahoo! - Burundi directory category
Tourism
*
L'Afrique.com - Photographs of and articles about Burundi
Other
*
Burundian Human Rights Organisation "Ligue Iteka" - with up-to-date news in English and French
*
Campaign for the prosecution of FNL leader Agathon Rwasa*
Human Rights Watch reports on Burundi *
Woodrow Wilson Center Reports on Burundi *
Human Rights Watch special report on the August 2004 Gatumba massacre*
Links to political analyses from 1998 on by the
International Crisis Group*
Reuters Alertnet - Burundi humanitarian news
*
Burundi's location on a 3D globe (Java)*
Updated humanitarian news from the
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs*
Transcend Africa Network to bring peace to regions of Africa
