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BURUNDI BACKGROUND NOTES (JULY 1991)
PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE

July 1991

Republic of Burundi
PROFILE
Geography
Area:  27,834 sq. km. (10,747 sq. mi.); about the size of Maryland. Cities:
Capital--Bujumbura (pop. 240,000).  Other cities--Gitega (27,000), Rumonge
(25,000), Ngozi (15,000).  Terrain:  Hilly, rising from 780 meters (2,600 ft.)
at the shore of Lake Tanganyika to mountains more than 2,700 meters
(9,000 ft.) above sea level.  Climate: Warm but not uncomfortable in
Bujumbura; cooler in high regions.

People
Nationality:  Noun and adjective--Burundi (sing. and pl.).  Population (1990):
5.5 million.  Annual growth rate:  3.2%.  Ethnic groups:  Hutu 85%, Tutsi
14%, Twa 1%. Religions:  Roman Catholic 62%, traditional African 32%,
Protestant 5%, Muslim 1%. Languages:  Kirundi and French (both official),
Swahili.  Education:  Years compulsory--6.  Attendance--45%.
Literacy--40%.  Health:  Infant mortality rate--111/1,000.  Life expectancy--51
yrs. Work force (1.9 million):  Agriculture--93%. Industry and
commerce--1.5%.  Services--1.5%.  Government--4%.

Government
Type:  Republic.  Independence:  July 1, 1962. Constitution:  Officially
suspended following the September 1987 coup d'etat, although all rights
and guarantees apparently are being observed.  A new constitution is being
drawn up.

Branches:  Executive--president (chief of state, head of government) and
21-member Cabinet. Legislative--65-member National Assembly dissolved
after 1987 coup d'etat.  New elections will follow adoption of new
constitution.  Judicial--Supreme Court and subsidiary courts.

Administrative subdivisions:  15 provinces and 114 communes.

Political parties:  National Party of Unity and Progress (UPRONA).  Suffrage:
Universal adult.

Central government budget (1990): Revenues--$177 million.
Expenditures--$203 million.

Defense (1990):  19% of government budget.

Flag:  White diagonal cross with two red and two green panels; white circle
in center with three red stars.

Economy
GDP (1988):  $1 billion.  Annual growth rate (1988):  -0.18%.  Per capita
income (1988): $203.  Inflation rate (1989):  7%.

Natural resources:  Nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper,
and platinum deposits not yet exploited.

Agriculture (60% of GNP): Products--coffee, tea, cotton, food crops.  Arable
land--89%, 46% cultivated.

Industry (14% of GNP):  Types--light consumer goods, public works
construction, beverages.

Trade (1988):  Exports--$132 million: coffee, tea, cotton, cigarettes, soft
drinks, beer.  Major market--European Community.  Imports--$204 million:
cement, asphalt, petroleum, fertilizer, pesticides, textiles, vehicles.  Major
suppliers--Iran, France, Belgium, Germany, Japan.

Official exchange rate:  175 Burundi francs=US$1.

Fiscal year:  Calendar year.

International Affiliations
UN and some of its specialized and related agencies, Organization of
African Unity (OAU), International Coffee Organization, Economic
Community of the Great Lakes (CEPGL), Economic Commission for Africa
(ECA), Kagera River Basin Organization (KBO), Non-Aligned Movement,
Group of 77, Preferential Trade Agreement for Eastern and Southern African
States (PTA), African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States.

PEOPLE
Burundi's population density is one of the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Most people live on family farms. Major urban concentrations are in
Bujumbura and Gitega. The population is made up of three ethnic
groups--Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. Hutus (85%) are primarily farmers whose
Bantu-speaking ancestors migrated into Burundi 800-1,000 years ago. The
Tutsi (14%) are a pastoral people who apparently migrated from Ethiopia
several hundred years later. Since independence in 1962, the Tutsis have
been in effective control of the government. Twa (l%) appear to be the last
survivors of aboriginal pygmies driven into marginal areas by successive
invaders.

HISTORY
Before European arrival, Burundi was a kingdom with a highly stratified,
feudal social structure. Rulers were drawn from princely dynastic families
(ganwa), from whom a king (mwami) was chosen. Much of the country's
precolonial history was characterized by constant power struggles between
the ganwa and the mwami. When the Tutsis introduced cattle into Burundi,
the animals were maintained as an indication of wealth. Over the centuries,
the Hutus gave up title to their lands to Tutsis in return for cattle, which
resulted in a feudal landholding system known as Ubugererwa. Although
formally abolished in 1977, this system made possible the continuing
political, social, and economic domination of the majority Hutu by the
minority Tutsis.

European explorers and missionaries made brief visits to the area as early
as 1858; however, Burundi did not come under European administration
until the 1890s, when it became part of German East Africa. Belgian troops
occupied the country in 1916. In 1923, the League of Nations mandated it
to Belgium as part of the Territory of Ruanda-Urundi, now Rwanda and
Burundi. Following World War II, Ruanda-Urundi became a UN Trust
Territory with Belgium as the administering authority. Burundi became
independent on July 1, 1962.

Following independence, the mwami was established as a constitutional
monarch, and the country fell into political disorder and economic
stagnation. In November 1966, with army backing, Capt. Michel Micombero,
a Tutsi, proclaimed a republic, although a de facto Tutsi-led military
government ensued. Since then, the Tutsi-dominated military has controlled
the government. In November 1976, Lt. Col. Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, also a
Tutsi, came to power in a bloodless coup and continued military rule.
Bagaza himself was overthrown in a bloodless coup in September 1987 by
another Tutsi, Army Maj. Pierre Buyoya, who created the Military Committee
of National Salvation. This regime retained effective governmental power
through 1990. When the country returned to civilian rule.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
The Buyoya coup was, in large part, a reaction against the excesses of the
Bagaza regime, which had taken a hard line against dissent. The focal point
of the Bagaza regime's campaign of persecution was organized religion,
particularly, the Catholic Church; Bagaza sought to weaken, if not eliminate
altogether, its influence by closing schools, confiscating its property,
arresting and detaining priests and churchgoers, expelling foreign
missionaries, and restricting hours of worship.

Other religions also were persecuted, and many Seventh-day Adventists
and Jehovah's Witnesses were detained without charges under extremely
harsh conditions. In l987, Amnesty International estimated that there may
have been 100 political prisoners held at any one time during 1986.

Buyoya's coup and his significant reform policies have brought about a
dramatic improvement in the human rights situation. The new government
immediately freed all political prisoners and quickly rescinded all measures
taken against religious groups with the exception of the Jehovah's
Witnesses, allegedly because they refuse to recognize the authority of the
state. Although the sect remains banned, believers are permitted to practice
their religion, and its leaders have  recently applied for legal status.

Since 1987, Buyoya has used the sole political organization in Burundi, the
National Union for Progress (UPRONA) and its affiliated movements--the
Union of Workers of Burundi, the Union of Burundi Women, and the Union
of Revolutionary Burundi Youth--to serve as the framework for organizing
the population in efforts to develop the country.  UPRONA party
membership is open to all Burundi citizens.

The major policy priority of the Buyoya government is ethnic reconciliation
and national unity, which reflects the country's history of ethnic conflict.
Since independence, Burundi has been plagued by conflict between the
Hutus and the Tutsis, primarily, because of the unequal distribution of
political and economic power. About 100,000 Hutus sought refuge in other
countries, but several thousand later returned from Zaire and Tanzania, and
a judicial mechanism was established to return their land to them.

In 1988, Hutus initiated violence against Tutsis, prompting the Tutsis to
retaliate. In August, 5,000 to 10,000 people were estimated killed, and
50,000 Hutus were displaced or fled the country, primarily to Rwanda. Most
of the refugees returned by early 1989 under a general amnesty program
negotiated by Burundi, Rwanda, Zaire, and the office of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The Republic of Burundi remains a one-party state headed by President
Buyoya. Currently the constitution is officially suspended, and the nation is
ruled through the 31-member Military Committee. However, in May 1990,
President Buyoya announced a timetable for political and institutional
reform, beginning with the adoption of a national unity charter.  The Military
Committee was dissolved in December 1990.

As proposed by a government commission investigating the causes of the
1988 violence, the national unity charter will form the basis of future
democratic reforms. A UPRONA central party committee replaced the ruling
Military Committee and will lead the country while a new constitution (to be
adopted by referendum in 1991) is being drawn up.  President Buyoya has
not dismissed the idea of multi-partyism, stating that other parties will be
permitted as long as they are not based on ethnic lines.

Although Hutu participation national life remains limited, the situation has
improved since 1987, and the government has pledged to continue to
correct imbalances. The Buyoya government includes a number of Hutu
ministers, among them the prime minister.

Principal Government Officials
President--Maj. Pierre Buyoya
Prime Minister--Adrien Sibomana
Foreign Minister--Cyprien Mbonimpa
Ambassador to the United States--Julien Kavakure
Ambassador to the United Nations--Benoit Seburyamo

Burundi maintains an embassy in the United States at Suite 212, 2233
Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 (tel. [phone]).

ECONOMY
Burundi, one of the world's poorest countries, has the second densest
population rate in sub-Saharan Africa. More than 90% of the people live off
subsistence farming. The population has increased at such a fast rate, that
a family's landholdings provide only marginal support. Bad weather can
produce famine in the most heavily populated areas. Soil exhaustion and
severe erosion also have hampered production. As a result, per capita food
production has stagnated or declined since the mid-1980s.

Coffee provides up to 90% of Burundi's export earnings, making the
country's economy extremely dependent on the size and quality of the crop
and on world prices. During the 1980s, revenues for Burundi's high-quality
arabica coffee fluctuated considerably. With the collapse of the International
Coffee Agreement in 1989, foreign exchange earnings were cut in half. In
response, the government avoided decreases in the producer price by
devaluing the Burundi franc by 10%, which had the dual effect of reducing
Burundi buying power and making exports more competitive.

 Even if lost revenues are recovered, Burundi still remains highly dependent
on foreign aid. Since 1986, it has participated in a World Bank/International
Monetary Fund Structural Agreement Program which focuses on privatizing
enterprises and attracting foreign investment.  Burundi also receives aid
from Belgium and the United States.  In 1989, 40% of its foreign exchange
earnings went toward external debt.

The government's long-term strategy is to improve the quality of its coffee.
It has built several new coffee-washing stations and installed sophisticated
drying, sorting, and processing factories.

In order to diversify exports, the government has encouraged the
production of tea, cotton, and some manufactured goods.

Tea is Burundi's second largest export, although the 3,650 metric tons
produced in 1989 represented only 4% of the country's total exports.
Nevertheless, altitude and growing conditions produce a very high quality
tea, which received the second highest average price at a 1989 London
auction. Continued technical assistance from the European Community, as
well as local programs to increase production and expand factories, will
increase the importance of the tea industry.

The cotton industry thrived in the early 1980s, but the 1989 crop fell 4%,
due to torrential rains.  Although the 7,200 tons produced fell short of the
predicted 8,500, the $183,000 in earnings allowed it to remain Burundi's
third largest export.

Burundi's manufacturing sector, which centers on cotton cloth, soft drinks,
beer, cigarettes, fibro-cement roofing, and glass bottles, is directed toward
import substitution and the domestic market. Manufacturing exports earned
$7.2 million in 1989.

High-grade nickel deposits and other minerals were discovered in the
1980s, providing new resource potential. The government, international
organizations, and several firms are studying techniques for exploiting these
minerals.

In 1979, Burundi enacted an investment code providing basic guarantees.
In 1983, it began negotiations with the United States for a bilateral
investment treaty. The government holds a majority interest in about 50
mixed enterprises, or "parastatals," with substantial foreign participation.
Recently, the government began to implement reforms of the parastatal
sector to increase efficiency and improve performance, in some cases
divesting control altogether and moving them to the private sector.

FOREIGN RELATIONS
Burundi seeks good relations with all countries, especially its neighbors
Rwanda, Zaire, and Tanzania. Burundi is a member of the Organization of
African Unity, the African Development Bank, the Preferential Trade
Agreement for Eastern and Southern African states, and other regional
groups.

Trade with other African countries is minimal. To spur regional development,
Burundi helped form the Economic Community of the Great Lakes (CEPGL)
with neighboring Rwanda and Zaire, although the effect of this group has
been limited.

The country's main trading partners are EC countries, specifically Germany,
Finland, the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium. Burundi also imports oil
from Iran and vehicles from Japan, as well as exporting some goods to
Japan.

Burundi receives substantial amounts of development assistance, especially
from the EC and France. Germany, China, the United Nations, and the
World Bank also are major donors, and the United States and Belgium have
recently increased aid. Several Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries also have provided assistance through loans or grants. The
Soviet Union and North Korea have limited programs.

US-BURUNDI RELATIONS
The US Government's primary interest in Burundi is humanitarian. The
thrust of US policy is to encourage political stability, democratic change,
and peaceful economic development.

A US consulate opened in Bujumbura in October 1960 was elevated to
embassy status in July 1962. Difficult periods in bilateral relations occurred
in 1966, when the US Ambassador was expelled without cause, and in
1972-73, during Burundi's internal strife.

Following the 1972 ethnic conflict, the US Government and relief groups
contributed almost $1 million in disaster relief. In 1984, when Burundi was
faced with critical food shortages due to drought, the US moved quickly to
send emergency food shipments. In 1988, the United States praised
Buyoya's moderate response to the ethnic violence and has, subsequently,
encouraged him to continue political reform.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) program in Burundi
focuses on increasing food production, promoting family planning and
health, and training Burundi managers and technicians. In 1989, $2.5 million
was budgeted for development assistance, and this figure is expected to
increase to $7.5 million in 1991.

One development project is designed to increase the production of corn,
wheat, and potatoes.  Another provides technical and commodity support
to extend infant-related health services throughout the entire country. Most
recently, USAID instituted a $15 million program to encourage the growth
of private-sector enterprises through trade promotion and technical
assistance.

In education, USAID grants African Graduate Program Fellowships to
several Burundi students each year for training at the Master of Science
level in agricultural economics, physiology, and economic planning. In
addition, USAID's African Manpower Development Program provides
non-degree training each year for skilled technicians in the agriculture and
rural development.

The Peace Corps inaugurated a program in Burundi in March 1983.
Currently, about 26 volunteers participate in projects promoting inland fish
production, park preservation, women's programs, and marketing skills.

The US Information Service (USIS) operates a cultural center in Bujumbura
with a reading room and English-language courses throughout the year.
The Fulbright Program has sponsored an exchange of American professors
to teach in Burundi and scholarships for Burundi students at US universities.
USIS also funds travel to the United States for a number of Burundi officials
under the International Visitor Grant Program.

Principal US Officials
Ambassador--Cynthia Shepard Perry
Deputy Chief of Mission--David B. Dunn
Economic/Political/Commercial Officer-- Edwin P. Brown, Jr.
Administrative Officer--Herbert R. Brown
Consular Officer--Emily E. Jeffers
Regional Security Officer--Joseph Davison
Public Information Officer (USIS)--Walter  Theurer
Director, AID Mission--Glenn Slocum

The US Embassy is at Avenue des Etats Unis  (PO Box 1720), Bujumbura
(tel. 23455).