Population: 8,749,000 (est.)
Language(s): Kirundi, French
- The Burundian franc is the official currency of Burundi.
- About 75 percent of the population of Burundi are Christian and about 5 percent are Muslim. The remainder practise indigenous religions, or have no religious affiliation.
- Agriculture in Burundi amounts for more than 60% of the country’s GDP.
- July 1, 1962 is an important day for the Burundians due to this being the date the country gained its independence from Belgium.
- Coffee contributes more income to the country’s economy, like neighboring Rwanda, than any other economic activity.
- For natural resources Burundi is blessed with varying amounts of uranium, rare earth oxides, nickel, copper, vanadium, limestone, tungsten, gold, tin, niobium, and tantalum.
- Burundi is blessed with an abundance of wildlife and greenery. Its countryside boasts of myriad plant and animal species that include crocodiles, antelopes, antelopes, and hippopotamuses.
Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa, bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura. Although the country is landlocked, much of the southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika.
The Twa, Tutsi and Hutu peoples have lived in Burundi for at least five hundred years and, for over two hundred years, Burundi was ruled as a kingdom. At the beginning of the twentieth century, however, Germany and Belgium occupied the region and Burundi and Rwanda became a European colony known as Ruanda-Urundi. Social differences between the Tutsi and Hutu have since contributed to political unrest in the region, leading to civil war in the middle of the twentieth century. Presently, Burundi is governed as a presidential representative democratic republic.
Burundi is one of the five poorest countries in the world. It has one of the lowest per capita GDPs of any nation in the world and a low gross domestic product largely due to warfare, corruption, poor access to education and the effects of HIV/AIDS. Burundi is densely populated and experiences substantial emigration. According to a 2012 DHL Global Connectedness Index, Burundi is the least globalised of 140 surveyed countries.
Cobalt and copper are among Burundi’s natural resources, while coffee and sugar are two of its main exports.