Burundi << buh RUHN dee or bu ROON dee >> is one of the smallest and most crowded countries in Africa. Bujumbura is its capital and largest urban community. Burundi is a poor country. It has few minerals and little industry. The country’s soil has been weakened by heavy rainfall, erosion, and poor farming methods. A majority of the people of Burundi are farmers who raise only enough food to feed their families. Burundi is far inland and, as a result, transportation of goods for overseas trade is costly. Burundi is in east-central Africa, just south of the equator. However, Burundi has a cool, pleasant climate, because it is a mountainous country.
A large majority of Burundi’s people belong to the Hutu (sometimes called Bahutu) ethnic group. The Tutsi (sometimes called the Batutsi or Watusi) ethnic group form a minority of the population. The two groups speak the same language and share a common culture.
Burundi was a kingdom until 1884, when Germany colonized the region. The Germans merged Burundi with its northern neighbor, the kingdom of Rwanda, and governed them as the territory of Ruanda-Urundi. The region came under Belgian control during World War I (1914-1918). From 1946 to 1962, Ruanda-Urundi was a United Nations (UN) trust territory administered by Belgium. In 1962, Burundi and Rwanda became independent nations.
Government.
Under the Constitution, adopted in 2005, a president serves as head of state and head of the government. The people elect the president to a seven-year term. Burundi also has a vice president and a prime minister. The country’s parliament consists of a National Assembly, which is mostly elected by the people, and a Senate, mostly elected by local councils. The Constitution calls for legislative seats, cabinet posts, and army roles to be shared between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups. 
People.
Approximately 85 percent of Burundi’s people belong to the Hutu ethnic group, and about 14 percent to the Tutsi group. Most of the rest of the people belong to a Pygmy group called the Twa. Small groups of Arabs, Asians, and Europeans also live in Burundi.
Since colonial times, the Tutsi, though a minority, have held most of the country’s wealth and controlled the military. Many Tutsi own cattle and other livestock. Most of the Hutu are farmers who often struggle to raise enough food to feed their families. The Twa once hunted and collected berries and other foods that grow in the wild. Many of the Twa make pottery and raise crops.
French and Kirundi are the official languages. Most of the people speak Kirundi, a Bantu language (see Bantu). Over half of the people are Roman Catholics. Roman Catholic missionaries operate most of the schools in Burundi.
Land.
Burundi’s western border runs along the Great Rift Valley. This area contains the northern part of Lake Tanganyika and the Rusizi River. The northwestern part of Burundi rises from the valley to over 8,800 feet (2,680 meters) above sea level. Most of western Burundi is volcanic rock, and soils formed on volcanic rock are usually fertile. But heavy rains have washed out most of the useful chemicals in the soil there. Poor farming methods have also weakened the soil and worn it away.
Plateaus that are bordered by escarpments (steep slopes) cover central and eastern Burundi. Swamps lie at the foot of the escarpments. Woodlands once covered most of the plateaus, but farmers have cleared most of the land. The soils there produce better crops than those in western Burundi. Another highland region covers southern Burundi.
The Great Rift Valley region around Bujumbura has an average temperature of 73 °F (23 °C) and an average annual rainfall of 30 inches (76 centimeters). The mountainous western region of the country has an average temperature of 63 °F (17 °C) and an average annual rainfall of about 58 inches (147 centimeters). On the plateaus, temperatures average 68 °F (20 °C) and about 47 inches (119 centimeters) of rain falls a year. The rainy season in Burundi generally lasts from February to May.
Economy.
Most of Burundi’s people depend on subsistence farming, in which a farm basically produces just enough to feed the farmer’s family. Burundi’s farmers raise bananas, beans, cassava, corn, and sweet potatoes for food. Leading cash crops include coffee and tea. Some farmers also raise cattle and other livestock.
Burundi has a small manufacturing sector. Manufacturing is centered on processing agricultural products for export. Fish are an important food for many people in Burundi. Lake Tanganyika is a major source of fish. The country mines gold, niobium, peat, and tantalum.
Most of Burundi’s roads are unpaved, and the country has no railroads. Boats on Lake Tanganyika carry goods between Burundi and Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bujumbura has an international airport. Transportation and overseas trade is expensive and difficult because Burundi is far inland.
Burundi imports much more than it exports. The country imports food, machinery, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals (medicinal drugs), and vehicles. Burundi exports coffee, gold, and tea. Burundi is heavily dependent on foreign aid.
History.
Twa people were probably the first inhabitants of what is now Burundi. They may have lived in the area in prehistoric times. Bantu-speaking farmers arrived sometime during the first several hundred years after the time of Jesus Christ. These people, the ancestors of the present-day Hutu, eventually became the largest group in Burundi. Historians believe that the Tutsi arrived from northeastern Africa sometime during the 1300’s or 1400’s. A kingdom was established with two groups of citizens: cattle herders (the Tutsi) and farmers (the Hutu). Burundi was ruled by a small group of aristocrats known as the Ganwa. The Ganwa were of Tutsi descent, but they were considered neither Hutu nor Tutsi. They ruled both the Hutu and the Tutsi and gained much wealth. Burundi also had a king called the mwami, but his authority was restricted by the Ganwa.
In 1897, the Germans occupied the area that is now Burundi and Rwanda. The area, then called Ruanda-Urundi, became part of German East Africa. Belgium occupied the country in 1916, during World War I. In 1923, Ruanda-Urundi became a mandated territory under Belgian administration (see Mandated territory). In 1946, the United Nations made Ruanda-Urundi a trust territory under Belgian administration (see Trust territory). In 1961, Urundi voted to become the independent monarchy of Burundi, and Ruanda voted to become the republic of Rwanda. The two became independent on July 1, 1962. By then, the power of the Ganwa had ended, and the Tutsi controlled Burundi.
After Burundi’s independence, ill-feeling between the Hutu and Tutsi led to almost continual unrest. In 1965, assassins killed Prime Minister Pierre Ngendandumwe. Later that year, army rebels shot Ngendandumwe’s successor, Leopold Biha. Biha recovered but was replaced by Michel Micombero, Burundi’s military leader. In 1966, Micombero overthrew the king. He established Burundi as a republic and declared himself president. In 1972, an unsuccessful revolt by the Hutu against the Tutsi resulted in about 100,000 deaths, most of them Hutu. In 1976, Colonel Jean-Baptiste Bagaza became president after leading a group of army officers against the government.
Under Bagaza, relations between Burundi’s government and its influential Roman Catholic Church deteriorated. Religious services could not be held without government permission. Discontent within the army over the relations between church and state led to the overthrow of Bagaza in September 1987. Major Pierre Buyoya succeeded Bagaza.
In 1966, the Union for National Progress had become Burundi’s only legal political party. Other parties were legalized in 1993, and Burundi held its first multiparty elections in June of that year. Melchior Ndadaye won the elections and became the first Hutu to serve as Burundi’s president. In October, a military coup overthrew Ndadaye’s government and killed Ndadaye. In January 1994, Cyprien Ntaryamira, also a Hutu, was named interim president by the National Assembly. Ntaryamira and President Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda were killed in a plane crash in April. Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, another Hutu, was then named president. In 1996, the Tutsi-led military overthrew Ntibantunganya’s government, and appointed Buyoya, a Tutsi, president. Burundi’s Constitution was suspended.
In 2000, the government and several rebel groups signed a peace agreement. The agreement provided for governmental power to be shared between the Hutu and Tutsi. However, the two main Hutu rebel groups did not participate in the peace process. In 2001, a transitional constitution was adopted, and Buyoya became president of a transitional government. Domitien Ndayizeye, a Hutu, became vice president. Plans called for the two leaders to exchange offices in 2003, midway through the transitional period. The exchange of offices took place as planned.
In 2002, the government and one of the two main Hutu rebel groups, Forces for the Defense of Democracy (FDD), signed a cease-fire agreement. However, violence continued between the rebels and the Tutsi-dominated army. In 2003, the government signed new agreements with the FDD. As part of these agreements, FDD leaders gained several posts in Burundi’s transitional government. In 2004, many of Burundi’s political groups signed a power-sharing agreement. Some violence continued.
Voters approved a new constitution in February 2005 that guarantees both the Hutu and the Tutsi a certain share of legislative seats, cabinet posts, and military roles. In July, elections were held for a National Assembly and a Senate, and the FDD won a majority of seats in both chambers. In August, the Assembly and Senate elected a Hutu, Pierre Nkurunziza of the FDD, as president. In 2006, the government and the only remaining rebel group, the National Liberation Forces (FNL), signed a cease-fire agreement, though fighting continued. From the 1993 coup to the signing of the agreement with the FNL, about 300,000 people died in clashes between the Hutu and Tutsi.
In 2008, the two sides signed yet another cease-fire agreement. The FNL disarmed in 2009, and the government recognized the former rebel group as a political party. About 3,500 FNL fighters trained for new jobs in Burundi’s army and police. Prior to a 2010 presidential election, opposition candidates concerned about vote rigging withdrew from the race. Nkurunziza faced no opponents and was reelected. In parliamentary elections held later that year, the FDD kept the majority of seats in both houses.
In 2007, Burundi joined the East African Community (EAC). The EAC aims to promote economic and political cooperation among its member countries, which include Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.
In April 2015, Nkurunziza sparked controversy when he announced he would run for another presidential term. Opponents claimed this move was illegal, because Burundi’s constitution limits presidents to two terms. The country’s constitutional court ruled that, because he had been elected to his first term by parliament and not by voters, it did not count against the term limit. After months of violent unrest, Nkurunziza was reelected in July. Violence continued in the following months. Observers accused police and security forces of attacking people suspected of opposing Nkurunziza’s presidency. Hundreds of thousands of people fled the country.
In 2019, Burundi experienced a severe outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease malaria. The World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations reported that by early 2020, more than 8.9 million people in Burundi had contracted malaria, and more than 3,700 people had died of the disease. Also in early 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic was spreading around the world, Burundi took some measures to try to halt the spread of that disease. The government temporarily suspended air travel into and out of the country and then quarantined travelers entering Burundi. By early 2023, there had been over 53,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Burundi and about 40 confirmed deaths from the disease.
In presidential elections held in May 2020, the governing CNDD-FDD party’s candidate, former army general Evariste Ndayishimiye, was declared the winner. CNDD-FDD is a French acronym for National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Front for the Defense of Democracy, a political party formed by two former Hutu rebel groups. Ndayishimiye had been chosen as the party’s candidate by Nkurunziza. The opposition, led by Agathon Rwasa, first vice president of the National Assembly, charged fraud and took the matter to the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court ruled that the election results were valid. Ndayishimiye was to be inaugurated in August. However, Nkurunziza died suddenly on June 8, and President-elect Ndayishimiye was inaugurated the following week. Later that month, parliament approved President Ndayishimiye’s nominations of Alain-Guillaume Bunyoni as prime minister and Bazombanza Prosper as vice president.
