Burundi

Geography
Burundi is a landlocked country located in east central Africa bordering Rwanda to its north, Tanzania to the east and south and to the west by the former Zaire. The central region sits atop a sloping plateau towards the east to Tanzania and the valley of the River Malagarasi. The southern tributary of the Nile system rises in the south of the country. The landscape is characterized by hills and valleys covered with eucalyptus trees, banana groves, cultivated field and pasture. In the east, the fertile area gives way to savanna grassland, and tea and coffee are now grown on mountainsides.

History
Since the end of the Belgian trusteeship in 1962, Burundi has suffered from ethnic uprisings, coups, and other societal dislocations. In a series of waves since October 1993, hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled the ethnic violence between the Hutu and Tutsi factions in Burundi and have crossed into Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zaire (now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo or DROC). Since October 1996, an estimated 120,000 Burundian Hutu refugees from the DROC have been compelled to return to Burundi because of insecurity in the region.

Continuing ethnic violence with the Tutsi has caused additional Hutu to flee to Tanzania, thus raising their numbers in the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) camps in that country to about 260,000. Burundian troops have joined armies from Rwanda and Uganda and Congolese Tutsi in trying to overthrow DROC President KABILA and restore security to their borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Climate
Burundi’s general climate is defined as tropical highland, but differences in altitude from region to region cause temperature variations. The central plateau enjoys cool weather, with an average temperature of about 70°F; the capital, Bujumbura, has an average annual temperature of 80°F. There are four clear seasons; the long dry season (June - August); the short wet season (September-November), the short dry season (December-January) and the long wet season (February- May).

Bujumbura
The capital city is situated in western Burundi's Great Rift Valley on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Called Usumbura until 1962, Bujumbura serves as a shipping center for the Lake Tanganyika trade in coffee, cotton, hides, and tins. Tourism showed promise here, too, until the latest round of ethnic and political unrest erupted.

Location: Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo

Area-comparative: slightly smaller than Maryland

Coastline: landlocked

Climate: equatorial; high plateau with considerable altitude variation (772 m to 2,760 m); 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; wet seasons from February to May and September to November, and dry seasons from June to August and December to January

Terrain: hilly and mountainous, dropping to a plateau in east, some plains

Natural resources: nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper, platinum (not yet exploited), vanadium

Geography—note: landlocked; straddles crest of the Nile-Congo watershed

Population: Population: 5,735,937 (July 1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Burundian(s)
adjective: Burundi

Ethnic groups: Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%, Europeans 3,000, South Asians 2,000

Religions: Christian 67% (Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 5%), indigenous beliefs 32%, Muslim 1%

Languages: Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Burundi
conventional short form: Burundi
local long form: Republika y'u Burundi
local short form: Burundi

Government type: republic

Capital: Bujumbura

Constitution: 13 March 1992; provided for establishment of a plural political system; supplanted on 6 June 1998 by a Transitional Constitution which enlarged the National Assembly and created two vice presidents

Legal system: based on German and Belgian civil codes and customary law; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Flag description: divided by a white diagonal cross into red panels (top and bottom) and green panels (hoist side and outer side) with a white disk superimposed at the center bearing three red six-pointed stars outlined in green arranged in a triangular design (one star above, two stars below

Economy—overview: Burundi is a landlocked, country with a reduced manufacturing capability. The economy is predominately agricultural with roughly 90% of the population dependent on subsistence agriculture. Its economic health depends on the coffee crop, which accounts for 80% of foreign exchange earnings. The ability to pay for imports therefore rests largely on the vagaries of the climate and the international coffee market. Foods, medicines, and electricity remain are available but remain in short supply.

Industries: light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imported components; public works construction; food processing

Currency: 1 Burundi franc (FBu) = 100 centimes

Telephone system: primitive system
domestic: sparse system of open wire, radiotelephone communications, and low-capacity microwave radio relay
international: satellite earth station? Intelsat (Indian Ocean)

Railways:
total: 0 km

Highways:
total: 14,480 km
paved: 1,028 km
unpaved: 13,452 km (1996 est.)

Waterways: Lake Tanganyika

Ports and harbors: Bujumbura

Military branches: Army (includes naval and air units), paramilitary Gendarmerie

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