Republic of Burundi

National name: Republika y'u Burundi

President: Pierre Nkurunziza (2005)

Land area: 9,903 sq mi (25,649 sq km); total area: 10,745 sq mi (27,830 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 8,090,068 (growth rate: 3.7%); birth rate: 42.2/1000; infant mortality rate: 63.1/1000; life expectancy: 50.8; density per sq mi: 817

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Bujumbura, 331,700

Other large city: Gitega, 45,700

Monetary unit: Burundi franc

Languages: Kirundi and French (official), Swahili

Ethnicity/race: Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%

Religions: Roman Catholic 62%, indigenous 23%, Islam 10%, Protestant 5%

Literacy rate: 52% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $4.399 billion; per capita $600. Real growth rate: 4.5%. Inflation: 14%. Unemployment: n.a. Arable land: 35%. Agriculture: coffee, cotton, tea, corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc (tapioca); beef, milk, hides. Labor force: 2.99 million (2002); agriculture 93.6%, industry 2.3%, services 4.1% (2002 est.). Industries: light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imported components; public works construction; food processing. Natural resources: nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper, platinum (not yet exploited), vanadium, arable land, hydropower, niobium, tantalum, gold, tin, tungsten, kaolin, limestone. Exports: $52 million f.o.b. (2005 est.): coffee, tea, sugar, cotton, hides. Imports: $200 million f.o.b. (2005 est.): capital goods, petroleum products, foodstuffs. Major trading partners: Germany, Belgium, Pakistan, U.S., Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, France, Italy, Uganda, Japan (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 23,900 (2003); mobile cellular: 64,000 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 0, FM 4, shortwave 1 (2001). Television broadcast stations: 1 (2001). Internet hosts: 22 (2003). Internet users: 14,000 (2003).

Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 14,480 km; paved: 1,028 km; unpaved: 13,452 km (1999 est.). Waterways: mainly on Lake Tanganyika (2004). Ports and harbors: Bujumbura. Airports: 8 (2004 est.).

International disputes: 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.


 

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