| Background: |
Between 1993 and
2000, wide-spread, often intense ethnic violence between
Hutu and Tutsi factions in Burundi created hundreds of
thousands of refugees and left tens of thousands dead.
Although some refugees have returned from neighboring
countries, continued ethnic strife has forced many others to
flee. Burundian troops, seeking to secure their borders,
have intervened in the conflict in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo. |
| Location: |
Central Africa,
east of Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Geographic
coordinates: |
3 30 S, 30 00 E |
| Area: |
total:
27,830 sq km
land: 25,650 sq km
water: 2,180 sq km |
| Area
- comparative: |
slightly smaller
than Maryland |
| Land
boundaries: |
total:
974 km
border countries: Democratic Republic of the
Congo 233 km, Rwanda 290 km, Tanzania 451 km |
| Coastline: |
0 km (landlocked) |
| Maritime
claims: |
none (landlocked) |
| Climate: |
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; 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 |
| Elevation
extremes: |
lowest point:
Lake Tanganyika 772 m
highest point: Mount Heha 2,670 m |
| Natural
resources: |
nickel, uranium,
rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper, platinum (not yet
exploited), vanadium, arable land, hydropower |
| Land
use: |
arable land:
44%
permanent crops: 9%
permanent pastures: 36%
forests and woodland: 3%
other: 8% (1993 est.) |
| Irrigated
land: |
140 sq km (1993
est.) |
| Natural
hazards: |
flooding,
landslides, drought |
| Environment
- current issues: |
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 |
| Environment
- international agreements: |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea,
Nuclear Test Ban |
| Geography
- note: |
landlocked;
straddles crest of the Nile-Congo watershed |
| Population: |
6,223,897
note: estimates for this country explicitly
take into account the effects of excess mortality due to
AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher
infant mortality and death rates, lower population and
growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population
by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001
est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years:
46.82% (male 1,472,618; female 1,441,548)
15-64 years: 50.37% (male 1,541,131; female
1,593,743)
65 years and over: 2.81% (male 71,984; female
102,873) (2001 est.) |
| Population
growth rate: |
2.38% (2001 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
40.13
births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
16.36
deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
0 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2001 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001
est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
70.74
deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total
population: 46.06 years
male: 45.15 years
female: 46.99 years (2001 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
6.16 children
born/woman (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- adult prevalence rate: |
11.32% (1999
est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- people living with HIV/AIDS: |
360,000 (1999
est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- deaths: |
39,000 (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 23%,
Muslim 10% |
| Languages: |
Kirundi
(official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake
Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area) |
| Literacy: |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 35.3%
male: 49.3%
female: 22.5% (1995 est.) |
| Country
name: |
conventional
long form: Republic of Burundi
conventional short form: Burundi
local long form: Republika y'u Burundi
local short form: Burundi
former: Urundi |
| Government
type: |
republic |
| Administrative
divisions: |
16 provinces;
Bubanza, Bujumbura, Bururi, Cankuzo, Cibitoke, Gitega,
Karuzi, Kayanza, Kirundo, Makamba, Muramvya, Muyinga, Mwaro,
Ngozi, Rutana, Ruyigi |
| Independence: |
1 July 1962 (from
UN trusteeship under Belgian administration) |
| National
holiday: |
Independence Day,
1 July (1962) |
| 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; has not accepted
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Suffrage: |
NA years of age;
universal adult |
| Executive
branch: |
chief of
state: President Pierre BUYOYA (interim president
since 27 September 1996, officially sworn in 11 June 1998),
First Vice President Frederic BAMVUGINYUMVIRA (since NA June
1998), Second Vice President Mathias SINAMENYE (since NA
June 1998); note - the president is both chief of state and
head of government
head of government: President Pierre BUYOYA
(interim president since 27 September 1996, officially sworn
in 11 June 1998), First Vice President Frederic
BAMVUGINYUMVIRA (since NA June 1998), Second Vice President
Mathias SINAMENYE (since NA June 1998); note - the president
is both chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by
president
elections: NA; current president assumed power
following a coup on 25 July 1996 in which former President
NTIBANTUNGANYA was overthrown |
| Legislative
branch: |
unicameral
National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (121 seats; note -
new Transitional Constitution expanded the number of seats
from 81 to 121 in 1998; members are elected by popular vote
on a proportional basis to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 29 June 1993 (next was
scheduled to be held in 1998, but suspended by presidential
decree in 1996)
election results: percent of vote by party -
FRODEBU 71.04%, UPRONA 21.4%, other 7.56%; seats by party -
FRODEBU 65, UPRONA 16, various other parties 40 |
| Judicial
branch: |
Supreme Court or
Cour Supreme; Constitutional Court; Courts of Appeal (there
are three in separate locations); Tribunals of First
Instance (17 at the province level and 123 small local
tribunals) |
| Political
parties and leaders: |
Two national,
mainstream governing parties are: Unity for National
Progress or UPRONA [Luc RUKINGAMA, president]; Burundi
Democratic Front or FRODEBU [Jean MINANI, president]
note: A multiparty system was introduced after
1998, included are: Burundi African Alliance for the
Salvation or ABASA [Terrence NSANZE]; Rally for Democracy
and Economic and Social Development or RADDES [Joseph
NZENZIMANA]; Party for National Redress or PARENA [Jean-Baptiste
BAGAZA]; People's Reconciliation Party or PRP [Mathias
HITIMANA] |
| Political
pressure groups and leaders: |
Loosely organized
Tutsi militias, often affiliated with Tutsi extremist
parties |
| International
organization participation: |
ACCT, ACP, AfDB,
CCC, CEEAC, CEPGL, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA,
IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat (nonsignatory user),
Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
| Diplomatic
representation in the US: |
chief of
mission: Ambassador Thomas NDIKUMANA
chancery: Suite 212, 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20007
telephone: [1] (202) 342-2574
FAX: [1] (202) 342-2578 |
| Diplomatic
representation from the US: |
chief of
mission: Ambassador Mary Carlin YATES
embassy: Avenue des Etats-Unis, Bujumbura
mailing address: B. P. 1720, Bujumbura
telephone: [257] 223454
FAX: [257] 222926 |
| 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, resource-poor country with an underdeveloped
manufacturing sector. The economy is predominantly
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. Since October 1993 the nation has suffered
from massive ethnic-based violence which has resulted in the
death of perhaps 250,000 persons and the displacement of
about 800,000 others. Only one in four children go to
school, and one in nine adults has HIV/AIDS. Foods,
medicines, and electricity remain in short supply. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power
parity - $4.4 billion (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
1.8% (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power
parity - $720 (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture:
50%
industry: 18%
services: 32% (1999 est.) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
36.2% (1990 est.) |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%:
3.4%
highest 10%: 26.6% (1992) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
22% (2000 est.) |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
NA |
| Budget: |
revenues:
$125 million
expenditures: $176 million, including capital
expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
| Industries: |
light consumer
goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imported
components; public works construction; food processing |
| Industrial
production growth rate: |
6.3% (1999 est.) |
| Electricity
- production: |
141 million kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel:
0.71%
hydro: 99.29%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1999) |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
160.1 million kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
0 kWh (1999) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
29 million kWh
note: supplied by the Democratic Republic of
the Congo (1999) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
coffee, cotton,
tea, corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc
(tapioca); beef, milk, hides |
| Exports: |
$32 million
(f.o.b., 2000) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
coffee, tea,
sugar, cotton, hides |
| Exports
- partners: |
Germany 17%,
Belgium 14%, US 8%, France 6%, Switzerland 4% (1999) |
| Imports: |
$110 million
(f.o.b., 2000) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
capital goods,
petroleum products, foodstuffs |
| Imports
- partners: |
Belgium 20%,
Zambia 11%, Kenya 8%, South Africa 5%, France 4% (1999) |
| Debt
- external: |
$1.12 billion
(1999 est.) |
| Economic
aid - recipient: |
$1.344 billion
(1999 est.) |
| Currency: |
Burundi franc (BIF) |
| Exchange
rates: |
Burundi francs
per US dollar - 782.36 (January 2001), 720.67 (2000), 563.56
(1999), 477.77 (1998), 352.35 (1997), 302.75 (1996) |
| Fiscal
year: |
calendar year |
| Telephones
- main lines in use: |
16,000 (1997) |
| Telephones
- mobile cellular: |
619 (1997) |
| Telephone
system: |
general
assessment: primitive system
domestic: sparse system of open wire,
radiotelephone communications, and low-capacity microwave
radio relay
international: satellite earth station - 1
Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
| Radio
broadcast stations: |
AM 2, FM 2,
shortwave 0 (1998) |
| Television
broadcast stations: |
1 (1999) |
| Televisions: |
25,000 (1997) |
| Internet
country code: |
.bi |
| Internet
Service Providers (ISPs): |
1 (2000) |
| Internet
users: |
2,000 (2000) |
| Highways: |
total:
14,480 km
paved: 1,028 km
unpaved: 13,452 km (1996) |
| Waterways: |
Lake Tanganyika |
| Ports
and harbors: |
Bujumbura |
| Airports
- with paved runways: |
total:
1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with unpaved runways: |
total:
3
914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
| Military
branches: |
Army (includes
naval and air units), paramilitary Gendarmerie |
| Military
manpower - military age: |
16 years of age |
| Military
manpower - availability: |
males age
15-49: 1,394,273 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - fit for military service: |
males age
15-49: 728,326 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - reaching military age annually: |
males:
79,360 (2001 est.) |
| Military
expenditures - dollar figure: |
$57 million
(FY97) |
| Military
expenditures - percent of GDP: |
6.1% (FY97) |
| Disputes
- international: |
none |
|
