Burundi

§1. Burundi Introduction

Background:
  Burundi's first democratically elected president was assassinated in
  October 1993 after only 100 days in office, triggering widespread ethnic
  violence between Hutu and Tutsi factions. Over 200,000 Burundians perished
  during the conflict that spanned almost a dozen years. Hundreds of
  thousands of Burundians were internally displaced or became refugees in
  neighboring countries. An internationally brokered power-sharing agreement
  between the Tutsi-dominated government and the Hutu rebels in 2003 paved
  the way for a transition process that led to an integrated defense force,
  established a new constitution in 2005, and elected a majority Hutu
  government in 2005. The new government, led by President Pierre NKURUNZIZA,
  faces many challenges, particularly from the country's last rebel group who
  remains outside of the peace process and continue attacks in the western
  provinces of Burundi.

§2. Burundi Geography

Location:
  Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo

Geographic coordinates:
  3 30 S, 30 00 E

Map references:
  Africa

Area:
  total: 27,830 km²
  land: 25,650 km²
  water: 2,180 km²

Area - comparative:
  slightly smaller than Maryland

Land boundaries:
  total: 974 km
  border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 233 km, Rwanda 290 km,
    Tanzania 451 km

Coastline:
  0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims:
  none (landlocked)

Climate:
  equatorial; high plateau with considerable altitude variation (772 m to
  2,670 m above sea level); average annual temperature varies with altitude
  from 23 to 17 degrees centigrade but is generally moderate as the average
  altitude is about 1,700 m; average annual rainfall is about 150 cm; two wet
  seasons (February to May and September to November), and two dry seasons
  (June to August and December to January)

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

Elevation extremes:
  lowest point: Lake Tanganyika 772 m
  highest point: Heha 2,670 m

Natural resources:
  nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper, platinum,
  vanadium, arable land, hydropower, niobium, tantalum, gold, tin, tungsten,
  kaolin, limestone

Land use:
  arable land: 35.57%
  permanent crops: 13.12%
  other: 51.31% (2005)

Irrigated land:
  740 km² (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:
  flooding, landslides, drought

Environment - current issues:
  soil erosion as a result of overgrazing and the expansion of agriculture
  into marginal lands; deforestation (little forested land remains because of
  uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel); habitat loss threatens wildlife
  populations

Environment - international agreements:
  party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
    Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer
    Protection
  signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Geography - note:
  landlocked; straddles crest of the Nile-Congo watershed; the Kagera, which
  drains into Lake Victoria, is the most remote headstream of the White Nile

§3. Burundi People

Population:
  8,090,068
  note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects
    of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life
    expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and
    growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and
    sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 46.3% (male 1,884,825/female 1,863,200)
  15-64 years: 51.1% (male 2,051,451/female 2,082,017)
  65 years and over: 2.6% (male 83,432/female 125,143) (2006 est.)

Median age:
  total: 16.6 years
  male: 16.4 years
  female: 16.9 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:
  3.7% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
  42.22 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
  13.46 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
  8.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:
  at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
  under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
  15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
  65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female
  total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
  total: 63.13 deaths/1,000 live births
  male: 70.26 deaths/1,000 live births
  female: 55.79 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 50.81 years
  male: 50.07 years
  female: 51.58 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  6.55 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  6% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  250,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
  25,000 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:
  degree of risk: very high
  food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid
    fever
  vectorborne disease: malaria (2005)

Nationality:
  noun: Burundian(s)
  adjective: Burundian

Ethnic groups:
  Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%, Europeans 3,000,
  South Asians 2,000

Religions:
  Christian 67% (Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 5%), indigenous beliefs 23%,
  Muslim 10%

Languages:
  Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and
  in the Bujumbura area)

Literacy:
  definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  total population: 51.6%
  male: 58.5%
  female: 45.2% (2003 est.)

§4. Burundi Government

Country name:
  conventional long form: Republic of Burundi
  conventional short form: Burundi
  local long form: Republika y'u Burundi
  local short form: Burundi
  former: Urundi

Government type:
  republic

Capital:
  Bujumbura

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

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

National holiday:
  Independence Day, 1 July (1962)

Constitution:
  28 February 2005; ratified by popular referendum

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

Suffrage:
  NA years of age; universal adult

Executive branch:
  chief of state: President Pierre NKURUNZIZA (since 26 August 2005); First
    Vice President Martin NDUWIMANA - Tutsi (since 29 August 2005); Second
    Vice President Alice NZOMUKUNDA - Hutu (since 29 August 2005)
  head of government: President Pierre NKURUNZIZA (since 26 August 2005);
    First Vice President Martin NDUWIMANA - Tutsi (since 29 August 2005);
    Second Vice paresident Alice NZOMUKUNDA - Hutu (since 29 August 2005)
  cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by president
  elections: the president is elected by popular vote to a five-year term
    renewable one time; note - the constitution adopted in February 2005
    permits the post-transition president to be elected by a two-thirds
    majority of the parliament; vice presidents nominated by the president,
    endorsed by parliament
  election results: Pierre NKURUNZIZA was elected president by the parliament
    by a vote of 151 to 9; note - the constitution adopted in February 2005
    permits the post-transition president to be elected by a two-thirds
    majority of the legislature

Legislative branch:
  bicameral Parliament or Parlement, consists of a National Assembly or
  Assemblee Nationale (minimum 100 seats - 60% Hutu and 40% Tutsi with at
  least 30% being women; additional seats appointed by a National Independent
  Electoral Commission to ensure ethnic representation; members are elected
  by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and a Senate (54 seats; 34 by
  indirect vote to serve five year terms, with remaining seats assigned to
  ethnic groups and former chiefs of state)
  elections: National Assembly - last held 4 July 2005 (next to be held in
    2010); Senate - last held 29 July 2005 (next to be held in 2010)
  election results: National Assembly - percent of vote by party - CNDD-FDD
    58.6%, FRODEBU 21.7%, UPRONA 7.2%, CNDD 4.1%, MRC-Rurenzangemero 2.1%,
    others 6.2%; seats by party - CNDD-FDD 59, FRODEBU 25, UPRONA 10, CNDD 4,
    MRC- Rurenzangemero 2; Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by
    party - CNDD-FDD 30, FRODEBU 3, CNDD 1

Judicial branch:
  Supreme Court or Cour Supreme; Constitutional Court; Courts of Appeal
  (there are three in separate locations); Tribunals of First Instance (17 at
  the province level and 123 small local tribunals)

Political parties and leaders:
  the three national, mainstream, governing parties are: Burundi Democratic
    Front or FRODEBU [Leonce NGENDAKUMANA, president]; National Council for
    the Defense of Democracy, Front for the Defense of Democracy or CNDD-FDD
    [Hussein RADJABU, president]; Unity for National Progress or UPRONA
    [Aloys RUBUKA, president]
  note: a multiparty system was introduced after 1998, included are: National
    Council for the Defense of Democracy or CNDD [leader NA]; National
    Resistance Movement for the Rehabilitation of the Citizen or
    MRC-Rurenzangemero [Epitace BANYAGANAKANDI]; Party for National Redress
    or PARENA [Jean-Baptiste BAGAZA]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
  Party for the Liberation of the Hutu People - National Liberation Front
  (Palipehutu - FNL); note - as of December 2005, the only insurgent group
  still fighting the government

International organization participation:
  ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, CEPGL, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU,
  ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU,
  ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO,
  UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador Antoine NTAMOBWA
  chancery: Suite 212, 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007
  telephone: [1] (202) 342-2574
  FAX: [1] (202) 342-2578

Diplomatic representation from the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador Patricia Newton MOLLER
  embassy: Avenue des Etats-Unis, Bujumbura
  mailing address: B. P. 1720, Bujumbura
  telephone: [257] 223454
  FAX: [257] 222926

Flag description:
  divided by a white diagonal cross into red panels (top and bottom) and
  green panels (hoist side and fly side) with a white disk superimposed at
  the center bearing three red six-pointed stars outlined in green arranged
  in a triangular design (one star above, two stars below)

§5. Burundi Economy

Economy - overview:
  Burundi is a landlocked, resource-poor country with an underdeveloped
  manufacturing sector. The economy is predominantly agricultural with more
  than 90% of the population dependent on subsistence agriculture. Economic
  growth depends on coffee and tea exports, which account for 90% of foreign
  exchange earnings. The ability to pay for imports, therefore, rests
  primarily on weather conditions and international coffee and tea prices.
  The Tutsi minority, 14% of the population, dominates the government and the
  coffee trade at the expense of the Hutu majority, 85% of the population. An
  ethnic-based war that lasted for over a decade resulted in more than
  200,000 deaths, forced more than 48,000 refugees into Tanzania, and
  displaced 140,000 others internally. Only one in two children go to school,
  and approximately one in 10 adults has HIV/AIDS. Food, medicine, and
  electricity remain in short supply. Political stability and the end of the
  civil war have improved aid flows and economic activity has increased, but
  underlying weaknesses - a high poverty rate, poor education rates, a weak
  legal system, and low administrative capacity - risk undermining planned
  economic reforms.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
  $4.399 billion (2005 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
  $714.8 million (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
  4.5% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
  $600 (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: 45.6%
  industry: 20.8%
  services: 33.6% (2005 est.)

Labor force:
  2.99 million (2002)

Labor force - by occupation:
  agriculture 93.6%, industry 2.3%, services 4.1% (2002 est.)

Unemployment rate:
  NA%

Population below poverty line:
  68% (2002 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: 1.8%
  highest 10%: 32.9% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
  33.3 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  14% (2005 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
  11.5% of GDP (2005 est.)

Budget:
  revenues: $215.4 million
  expenditures: $278 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005
    est.)

Agriculture - products:
  coffee, cotton, tea, corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc
  (tapioca); beef, milk, hides

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

Industrial production growth rate:
  18% (2001)

Electricity - production:
  141.3 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - consumption:
  141.4 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports:
  0 kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports:
  10 million kWh; note - supplied by the Democratic Republic of the Congo
  (2003)

Oil - production:
  0 bbl/day (2003)

Oil - consumption:
  3,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - exports:
  NA bbl/day

Oil - imports:
  NA bbl/day

Natural gas - production:
  0 m³ (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
  0 m³ (2003 est.)

Current account balance:
  $-55 million (2005 est.)

Exports:
  $52 million f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Exports - commodities:
  coffee, tea, sugar, cotton, hides

Exports - partners:
  Germany 20.7%, Belgium 8.6%, Pakistan 7%, US 5.9%, Rwanda 5.9% (2004)

Imports:
  $200 million f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Imports - commodities:
  capital goods, petroleum products, foodstuffs

Imports - partners:
  Kenya 13.6%, Tanzania 11.1%, US 8.8%, Belgium 8.5%, France 8.3%, Italy
  5.9%, Uganda 5.6%, Japan 4.6%, Germany 4.4% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
  $76 million (2005 est.)

Debt - external:
  $1.2 billion (2003)

Economic aid - recipient:
  $105.5 million (2003)

Currency (code):
  Burundi franc (BIF)

Exchange rates:
  Burundi francs per US dollar - 1,138 (2005), 1,100.91 (2004), 1,082.62
  (2003), 930.75 (2002), 830.35 (2001)

Fiscal year:
  calendar year

§6. Burundi Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  23,900 (2003)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  64,000 (2003)

Telephone system:
  general assessment: primitive system
  domestic: sparse system of open-wire, radiotelephone communications, and
    low-capacity microwave radio relay
  international: country code - 257; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat
    (Indian Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations:
  AM 0, FM 4, shortwave 1 (2001)

Television broadcast stations:
  1 (2001)

Internet country code:
  .bi

Internet hosts:
  155 (2005)

Internet users:
  25,000 (2005)

§7. Burundi Transportation

Airports:
  8 (2005)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 1
  over 3,047 m: 1 (2005)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
  total: 7
  914 to 1,523 m: 4
  under 914 m: 3 (2005)

Roadways:
  total: 14,480 km
  paved: 1,028 km
  unpaved: 13,452 km (1999)

Waterways:
  mainly on Lake Tanganyika (2003)

Ports and terminals:
  Bujumbura

§8. Burundi Military

Military branches:
  National Defense Force (Forces de Defense Nationales, FDN): Army (includes
    Naval Detachment and Air Wing), National Gendarmerie (disbanding begun in
    2004) (2005)

Military service age and obligation:
  16 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service (2001)

Manpower available for military service:
  males age 16-49: 1,379,793 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
  males age 16-49: 693,956 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:
  males: 84,597 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
  $43.9 million (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
  5.6% (2005 est.)

§9. Burundi Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  Tutsi, Hutu, other conflicting ethnic groups, associated political rebels,
  armed gangs, and various government forces continue fighting in the Great
  Lakes region, transcending the boundaries of Burundi, Democratic Republic
  of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda in an effort to gain control over
  populated and natural resource areas; government heads pledge to end
  conflict, but localized violence continues despite the presence of about
  6,000 peacekeepers from the UN Operation in Burundi (ONUB) since 2004;
  although some 150,000 Burundian refugees have been repatriated, as of
  February 2005, Burundian refugees still reside in camps in western Tanzania
  as well as the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
  refugees (country of origin): 48,424 (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
  IDPs: 145,000 (armed conflict between government and rebels; most IDPs in
    northern and western Burundi) (2005)


<Factbook 2006>
