Burundi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in the African Great Lakes region of Southeast Africa, bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west.
It is also sometimes considered part of Central Africa. Burundi's capital is Bujumbura. Although the country is landlocked, much of the southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika.
The Twa, Hutu and Tutsi peoples have lived in Burundi for at least five hundred years and, for over two hundred years, Burundi was ruled as a kingdom. At the beginning of the twentieth century, however, Germany and Belgium occupied the region and Burundi and Rwanda became a European colony known as Ruanda-Urundi.
Social differences between the Tutsi and Hutu have since contributed to political unrest in the region, leading to civil war in the middle of the twentieth century. Presently, Burundi is governed as a presidential representative democratic republic.
Burundi is one of the five poorest countries in the world. It has one of the lowest per capita GDPs of any nation in the world. The country has suffered from warfare, corruption and poor access to education.
Burundi is densely populated and experiences substantial emigration. According to a 2012 DHL Global Connectedness Index, Burundi is the least globalized of 140 surveyed countries.
According to the Global Hunger Index of 2013, Burundi has an indicator ratio of 38.8 earning the nation the distinction of being the hungriest country in the world in terms of percentage.
Republic of Burundi / République du Burundi
Motto:
• "Ubumwe, Ibikorwa, Amajambere" (Kirundi)
• "Unité, Travail, Progrès" (French)
• "Unity, Work, Progress"
Anthem: Burundi bwacu / Our Burundi
Capital and largest city: Bujumbura (3°30′S 30°00′E)
Official languages:
• Kirundi
• French
Vehicular languages:
• Kirundi
• Swahili
Ethnic groups:
• 85% Hutu
• 14% Tutsi
• 1% Twa
• ~3,000 Europeans
• ~2,000 South Asians
Demonym: Burundian
Government: Presidential republic
• President:
• 1st Vice President:
• 2nd Vice President:
Legislature: Parliament
• Upper house: Senate
• Lower house: National Assembly
Status: Part of Ruanda-Urundi (UN trust territory) 1945–1962
Independence from Belgium: 1 July 1962
Republic: 1 July 1966
Area:
• Total: 27,834 km2 (145th) - 10,745 sq mi
• Water (%): 7.8
Population:
2012 estimate 8,749,000 (89th) - 2008 census 8,053,574
Density: 314.3/km2 (45th) - 814.2/sq mi
GDP (PPP): 2012 estimate
• Total: $5.488 billion
• Per capita: $625
Currency: Burundian franc (FBu) (BIF)
Time zone:
CAT (UTC+2) - Summer (DST) not observed (UTC+2)
Drives on the right
Calling code: +257
ISO 3166 code: BI
Internet TLD: .bi