Burundi

[Country map of Burundi]

Map ©1996 NGS Cartographic Division. Developed in association with GeoSystems Global Corp. World Map

Geography

Location: Central Africa, east of Zaire

Map references: Africa

Area:
total area: 27,830 sq km
land area: 25,650 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland

Land boundaries: total 974 km, Rwanda 290 km, Tanzania 451 km, Zaire 233 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Climate: temperate; warm; occasional frost in uplands; dry season from June to September

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

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

Land use:
arable land: 43%
permanent crops: 8%
meadows and pastures: 35%
forest and woodland: 2%
other: 12%

Irrigated land: 720 sq km (1989 est.)


People

Population: 6,262,429 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 48% (female 1,489,721; male 1,494,730)
15-64 years: 50% (female 1,606,307; male 1,498,021)
65 years and over: 2% (female 105,446; male 68,204) (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.18% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 43.35 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 21.51 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: NA migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
note: in a number of waves since April 1994, hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled the civil strife between the Hutu and Tutsi factions in Burundi and crossed into Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zaire; the refugee flows are continuing in 1995 as the ethnic violence has persisted

Infant mortality rate: 111.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 39.86 years
male: 37.84 years
female: 41.95 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.63 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Burundian(s)
adjective: Burundi

Ethnic divisions:
Africans: Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%
non-Africans: 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)

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population: 50%
male: 61%
female: 40%

Labor force: 1.9 million (1983 est.)
by occupation: agriculture 93.0%, government 4.0%, industry and commerce 1.5%, services 1.5%


Government

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

Digraph: BY

Type: republic

Capital: Bujumbura

Administrative divisions: 15 provinces; Bubanza, Bujumbura, Bururi, Cankuzo, Cibitoke, Gitega, Karuzi, Kayanza, Kirundo, Makamba, Muramvya, Muyinga, Ngozi, Rutana, Ruyigi

Independence: 1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian administration)

National holiday: Independence Day, 1 July (1962)

Constitution: 13 March 1992; provides for establishment of a plural political system

Legal system: based on German and Belgiancivil codes and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: universal adult at age NA


Economy

Overview: A landlocked, resource-poor country in an early stage of economic development, Burundi since October 1993 has suffered from massive ethnic-based violence that has displaced an estimated million people, disrupted production, and set back needed reform programs. Burundi 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 continues to rest largely on the vagaries of the climate and theinternational coffee market. As part of its economic reform agenda, launched in February 1991 with IMF and World Bank support, Burundi is trying to diversify its agricultural exports, attract foreign investment in industry, and modernize government budgetary practices. Although the government remains committed to reforms, it fears new austerity measures would add to ethnic tensions.

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $3.7 billion (1994 est.)

National product real growth rate: -13.5% (1994 est.)

National product per capita: $600 (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 10% (1993 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues: $318 million
expenditures: $326 million, including capital expenditures of $150 million (1991 est.)

Exports: $68 million (f.o.b., 1993)
commodities: coffee 81%, tea, cotton, hides, and skins
partners: EC 57%, US 19%, Asia 1%

Imports: $203 million (c.i.f., 1993)
commodities: capital goods 31%, petroleum products 15%, foodstuffs, consumer goods
partners: EC 45%, Asia 29%, US 2%

External debt: $1.05 billion (1994 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate 11% (1991 est.); accounts for about 15% of GDP

Electricity:
capacity: 55,000 kW
production: 100 million kWh
consumption per capita: 20 kWh (1993)

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

Agriculture: accounts for 50% of GDP; cash crops - coffee, cotton, tea; food crops - corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc; livestock - meat, milk, hides and skins

Currency: 1 Burundi franc (FBu) = 100 centimes

Fiscal year: calendar year


Transportation

Railroads: 0 km

Highways:
total: 5,900 km
paved: 640 km
unpaved: gravel, crushed stone 2,260 km; improved, unimproved earth 3,000 km (1990)

Inland waterways: Lake Tanganyika

Ports: Bujumbura

Airports:
total: 4
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 1
with paved runways under 914 m: 1
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 2


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Information obtained from CIA, The World Factbook 1995