Burundi
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| Republika y'u Burundi République du Burundi Republic of Burundi |
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| Motto: "Ubumwe, Ibikorwa, Iterambere" (Kirundi) "Unité, Travail, Progrès" (French) "Unity, Work, Progress" 1 |
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| Anthem: Burundi bwacu |
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| Capital (and largest city) | Bujumbura | |||||
| Official languages | Kirundi, French | |||||
| Demonym | Burundian | |||||
| Government | Republic | |||||
| - | President | Pierre Nkurunziza | ||||
| Independence | from Belgium | |||||
| - | Date | July 1 1962 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 27,830 km² (145th) 10,745 sq mi |
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| - | Water (%) | 7.8% | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 2005 estimate | 7,548,000 (94th) | ||||
| - | 1978 census | 3,589,434 | ||||
| - | Density | 271/km² (43rd) 533.8/sq mi |
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| GDP (PPP) | 2003 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $4.517 billion² (142nd) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $739 (163rd) | ||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2005 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $799 million[1] (162nd) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $90 (182nd) | ||||
| Gini (1998) | 42.4 (medium) | |||||
| HDI (2007) | Image:Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 0.413 (low) (167th) | |||||
| Currency | Burundi franc (FBu) (BIF) |
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| Time zone | CAT (UTC+2) | |||||
| - | Summer (DST) | not observed (UTC+2) | ||||
| Internet TLD | .bi | |||||
| Calling code | +257 | |||||
| 1 | Before 1966, "Ganza Sabwa". | |||||
| 2 | Estimate is based on regression; other PPP figures are extrapolated from the latest International Comparison Programme benchmark estimates. | |||||
Burundi (pronounced [buˈɾundi]), officially the Republic of Burundi, is a small country in the Great Lakes region of Africa. 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 has the lowest GDP per capita in the world, arguably making it the poorest country on the planet. One scientific study of 178 nations rated Burundi's population as having the lowest satisfaction with life of all. [2]
Contents |
[edit] History
The earliest inhabitants of the area were the pygmoid Twa. They were largely replaced and absorbed by Bantu (Hutu) tribes during Bantu migrations.
Burundi existed as an independent kingdom from the sixteenth 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 seventeenth 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 the 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. These years saw extensive ethnic violence. In 1965 Hutu extremists attempted to wipe out ethnic Tutsi at Busangana in the central province of Muramvya. In 1972, 1988, and 1993, the Tutsi minority was victim of a genocide at the hands of Hutu extremist organisations such as UBU (Umugambwe w'Abakozi b'Uburundi or Burundi Workers Party), PALIPEHUTU, FRODEBU, and more recently the now ruling CNDD-FDD. In 1993 Burundi held democratic presidential 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 was a pretense for the ruling party FRODEBU to start a new genocide against the Tutsi minority. Hutu extremists massacred thousands of Tutsi civilians. Years of instability followed until 1996, when former president Pierre Buyoya took power in a coup. In August 2000, a peace deal was agreed by most of Burundi's political groups. Unfortunately, it made no distinction between political parties and genocidal forces, as both were allowed to play a role in the national institutions. The deal laid out a timetable for the restoration of democracy. After several more years of genocide against the Tutsi minority, a cease-fire was signed in 2003 between the government and the largest Hutu rebel group, CNDD-FDD. In April of that year, FRODEBU leader Domitien Ndayizeye had 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. However, the arrest warrants were never effected. On the contrary, a few months later, the UN representative to Burundi went to meet the two men in Nairobi, Kenya.
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). On September 7, 2006, a second ceasefire agreement was signed but as of November 2007 the British government were still advising against travel to Burundi due to "increased tension" as the "implementation of the agreement" has stalled.
[edit] Genocide and mass killings
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A tentative of genocide against the Tutsi prepared by Hutu extremists but caught by the government in the late 1960s led to a well prepared genocide against the Hutu, mostly the intellectuals, in Burundi in 1972 and an estimated 100,000 Hutu and moderate Tutsi died. Those who participated in that genocide are free after the current government of Burundi continue to urge all the people to forgive each other on all of the killings. In 1993, Burundi's first democratically elected Hutu president, Melchior Ndadaye, was assassinated by Tutsi extremists. His assassination was followed by a long civil war that killed both Hutu and Tutsi. A 1996 UN report into Ndadaye's assassination and its aftermath[2], concluded that "acts of genocide against the Tutsi minority were committed in Burundi in October 1993". The report also implicated senior figures in Burundi's Tutsi-dominated army in the assassination. In Burundi, both Hutu and Tutsi civilians have been targets of mass killings and acts of genocide organized by the state and by armed militia groups. The current government is made up of both Hutu and Tutsi. The Military is made up of both former Hutu rebels and former Tutsi government soldiers. The restoration of a multi-ethnic, multi-party democracy has seen renewed expectations of an end to Burundi's conflict.
With a population of 7.8 million and GNP per capita of $90, Burundi is considered the poorest country in the world. The landlocked country is bordered by Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Formerly known as Urundi, the country gained its independence in 1962 after being run by Germany and Belgium since 1884.
Burundi has been desecrated by bloody battles, civil unrest, and mass murdering since it gained independence. The Hutus constitute 85 percent of the population, but have historically been dominated by the minority Tutsis. In 1972, the Tutsis organized genocide against the Hutus, killing 100,000 Hutus and moderate Tutsis all together. Despite the assassinations of nine leaders, fighting remained minimal in the country for the next 30 years until the first democratically elected president, a Hutu named Melchior Ndadaye, was killed by Tutsi paratroopers in 1993.
As a result of the murder, violence broke out between the two groups, and an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 people died within a year. In 1994, Ndadaye’s successor was killed in the same plane crash with Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana. After, the assassination, the Hutu presidency and Tutsi military operated under a power-sharing political system until 1996, when Tutsi Major Buyoya replaced the Hutu president in a coup. In 1998, Buyoya and the opposition-led Hutu parliament reached an agreement to sign a transitional constitution, and Buyoya was sworn in as president.
Fighting still remained between Tutsi and Hutu groups, and ceasefire talks, named the Arusha Accords, were held in Tanzania in 2000, facilitated by Nelson Mandela. The Accords established a transitional government, where the presidency and vice-presidency would be rotated every 18 months, sharing power between the Hutus and Tutsis. While the government and three Tutsi groups signed the ceasefire accord, two leading Hutu rebel groups refused to participate, and the fighting continued.
The transitional government was implemented in October 2001. Main Hutu rebel groups had still refused to sign a ceasefire agreement at this time, and 500 rebels were killed in their own attack against the Tutsi army on Dec. 25, 2001. This resulted in increased fighting for several months.
In July 2003, Domitien Ndayizeye, a Hutu, took over as president of the transitional government, and Buyoya stepped down. Along with the main Hutu rebel group, Forces for Defense of Democracy (FDD), President Ndayizeye signed a ceasefire agreement at a summit of African leaders in Tanzania in November 2003. Under the agreement, the FDD became a political party, and it was decided that rebel Hutu fights were to be integrated into the predominately-Tutsi armed forces.
Disaster occurred in 2004 when the Hutu rebel group, Forces of National Liberation (FNL), claimed responsibility for killing 160 Congolese Tutsi refugees in a United Nations camp near the Congo border in Burundi. The attack was strongly condemned by the U.N. Security Council, which issued a statement of outrage at the fact that “most of the victims were women, children and babies who were shot dead and burned in their shelters.” citation The Council called on the top U.N. envoy in Burundi to investigate the incident with a U.N. representative from Congo, a step that increased U.N. intervention in the Burundi civil war. A few months later in December, U.N. and government forces began to disarm thousands of Burundi soldiers and former rebels.
In 2005, many developments were made in the peace process. The president signed a law in January 2005 to initiate a new national army, consisting of Tutsi military forces and all but one Hutu rebel groups. The Constitution was approved by voters in a referendum—marking the first time for Burundians to vote since 1994. They voted again in the July during the legislative elections, in which “the Government of Burundi and the Independent National Electoral Commission conducted a technically-sound election, carried out in an atmosphere of peace and security.” The FDD ended up being the winning party for the parliamentary elections. Several months later, Pierre Nkurunziza, from the Hutu FDD group, was elected as president by the two Hutu-dominated houses of parliament.
After 12 years of living with a midnight-to-dawn curfew, Burundians were free to stay out late when the curfew was lifted in April 2006 for the first time since 1993. This signified the most stable point in Burundi civil affairs since the assassination of Hutu President Ndadaye and the beginning of the civil war.
Matters continued to look prosperous after Burundi’s last rebel group, the Force for National Liberation (FNL) signed a ceasefire deal in Tanzania, “solidifying the end of a 12-year civil war.” citation As part of the agreement, members of the FNL were to be assembled, demobilized, and integrated into the national army.
Former President Ndayizeye and his political supporters were arrested in 2006 and accused of plotting a coup, but later he was acquitted by the Supreme Court. International human rights groups claimed that the current government was framing Ndayizeye by torturing him into false confessions of the coup plot. Along with these accusations, in December 2006 the International Crisis Group labeled Burundi’s government with a “deteriorating” status in its treatment of human rights. The organization reported that the government had arrested critics, muzzled the press, committed human rights abuses, and tightened its control over the economy, and that “unless it [reversed] this authoritarian course, it risk[ed] triggering violent unrest and losing the gains of peace process.” citation
In February 2007, the U.N. officially shut down its peacekeeping operations in Burundi and turned its attention to rebuilding the nation’s economy, which relies heavily on tea and coffee but suffered severely during 12 years of civil war. The U.N. had deployed 5,600 peacekeepers since 2004, and several hundred troops remained to work with the African Union in monitoring the ceasefire. The U.N. donated $35 million to Burundi to work on infrastructure, promote democratic practices, rebuild the military, and defend human rights.
SOS Children, an NGO, claims success in the use of ARVs and condoms to combat AIDS when sample testing showed that the amount of those whom were HIV positive were 20 percent. The death toll due to the syndrome has still been devastating with the UN estimating 25,000 deaths in 2001 and OxFam estimating 45,000 dead in 2003.
[edit] Politics
The politics of Burundi take 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. The President has officially called a cease-fire between the two warring parties in the civil war.
Decades of ethnic violence makes the achievement of political and social harmony difficult, as is evident in the reports of seminars of ministers of religion and teachers on the prospects for a 'nonkilling society' conducted in 2005-2006 by Fondation chirezi.
[edit] Assassinated Leaders
- Louis Rwagasore, (1961), Prime Minister of Burundi
- Jean Nduwabike, (1962), trade union leader
- Gabriel Gihimbare, (1964), first Roman Catholic bishop of Hutu descent
- Pierre Ngendandumwe, (1965), Prime Minister of Burundi
- Joseph Bamina, (1965), Prime Minister of Burundi
- Paul Mirerekano, (1965), leading Burundian politician
- Gervais Nyangoma, (1965), politician
- Martin Ndayahoze, (1972), leading army commander and information minister
- Ntare V, (1975), dethroned King of Burundi (disputed circumstances)
- Melchior Ndadaye, (1993), President of Burundi, Founder of The Burundi Workers' Party
- Gilles Bimazubute, (1993),
- Kassi Manlan, (2001), World Health Organisation representative
[edit] Provinces, communes, and collines
Burundi is divided into 17 provinces, 117 communes, and 2,638 collines.
The provinces are:
The capital city, Bujumbura, is located within Burumbi Rural.
[edit] Geography
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 2 760 m [3], lies to the southeast of the capital, Bujumbura. The southeastern and southern borders are at roughly 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. Deforestation of the entire country is almost complete due to overpopulation, with a mere 600 km² remaining and an ongoing loss of about nine percent per annum[4]. There are two national parks, Kibira National Park to the northwest (a small 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.
[edit] Economy
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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 (of which Burundi is one of the world's ten largest producers), 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$90 as of 2007. 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. According to the World Food Programme, the majority of children aged under 5 (56.8%) suffer from chronic malnutrition. [5]
[edit] Demographics
As of July 2006, Burundi was 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 people 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%). However, The Anglican Church of Burundi [6] claims over 10% of the population as members and recent reports indicate the Christian population may be as high as 90% with most of the remainder being Muslim. [7]. Care should therefore be taken with these statistics.
The official languages are Kirundi and French, although Swahili is spoken along the eastern border.
[edit] Culture
The culture of Burundi is based on local tradition and the influence of its neighbors, though its prominence has been hindered by the civil unrest. Most Burundians live in rural areas as extended families in hilltop compounds called rugos. Arranged marriages are not uncommon, with the groom’s family sometimes paying a bride price. City residents often take a siesta, and most businesses will be closed in the early afternoon.
Traditional drumming is an important part of Burundian cultural heritage, as indicated by the world-famous Royal Drummers of Burundi. Traditional dance often accompanies the drumming, which is frequently seen in celebrations and family gatherings. Burundians also adhere to a strong oral tradition which relays history and life lessons through storytelling, poetry, and song. Cattle herders engage in kivivuga amazina, an improvisational poetry contest in which they boast their abilities or accomplishments.
Football is a popular pastime throughout the country, as are mancala games. Many Burundians celebrate Christian holidays and Burundian Independence Day, though the largest celebration occurs on New Year’s Day with feasting and traditional drumming and dancing.
[edit] See also
- 2005 Lake Tanganyika earthquake
- Association des Scouts du Burundi
- Communications in Burundi
- Fondation chirezi
- Foreign relations of Burundi
- German East Africa
- Gilbert Tuhabonye
- List of Burundi-related topics
- Military of Burundi
- Transport in Burundi
[edit] References
- Much of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.
- This article contains material from the US Department of State's Background Notes which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.
- [8]
[edit] Notes
[edit] Further reading
- Burundi: Ethnic Conflict and Genocide René Lemarchand and Lee H. Hamilton
"This Voice in My Heart: A Genocide Survivor's Story of Escape, Faith and Forgiveness" Gilbert Tuhabonye and Gary Brozek
[edit] External links
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- Government
- Official government website (in French)
- News
- allAfrica - Burundi
- East African Business Week business news for Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda
- 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
- Burundi Agnews info News and analysis, Kirundi&French&English
- Overviews
- Rural poverty in Burundi (IFAD)
- BBC News - Country Profile: Burundi
- CIA World Factbook entry on Burundi
- Encyclopaedia Britannica's Burundi Country Page
- Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding Burundi
- Directories
- 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
- Burundi travel guide from Wikitravel
- 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
- 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
- UNESCO Nairobi office on HIV/AIDS in Burundi
- UNESCO Nairobi office on education in Burundi
- UNESCO Nairobi Office - Fact Book on Education For All, Burundi 2006
- Canadian Cultural Profiles Project, Burundi
- More detailed map from UNHCR
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Categories: Cleanup from January 2008 | All pages needing cleanup | Articles needing additional references from December 2007 | Wikipedia external links cleanup | Member states and observers of La Francophonie | Burundi | African Union member states | Landlocked countries | French-speaking countries | Least Developed Countries
