Climate:temperate; warm; occasional frost in uplands
Terrain:
mostly rolling to hilly highland; some plains
Natural resources:
nickel, uranium, rare earth oxide, peat, cobalt, copper, platinum (not yet
exploited), vanadium
Land use:
arable land 43%; permanent crops 8%; meadows and pastures 35%; forest and
woodland 2%; other 12%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment:
soil exhaustion; soil erosion; deforestation
Note:
landlocked; straddles crest of the Nile-Congo watershed
:Burundi People
Population:
6,022,341 (July 1992), growth rate 3.2% (1992)
Birth rate:
46 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
14 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
106 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
51 years male, 55 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
6.8 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Burundian(s); adjective - Burundi
Ethnic divisions:
Africans - Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%; other
Africans include about 70,000 refugees, mostly Rwandans and Zairians;
non-Africans include about 3,000 Europeans and 2,000 South Asians
Religions:
Christian about 67% (Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 5%), indigenous beliefs
32%, Muslim 1%
Languages:
Kirundi and French (official); Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the
Bujumbura area)
Literacy:
50% (male 61%, female 40%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force:
1,900,000 (1983 est.); agriculture 93.0%, government 4.0%, industry and
commerce 1.5%, services 1.5%; 52% of population of working age (1985)
Organized labor:
sole group is the Union of Burundi Workers (UTB); by charter, membership is
extended to all Burundi workers (informally); active membership figures NA
:Burundi Government
Long-form name:
Republic of Burundi
Type:
republic
Capital:
Bujumbura
Administrative divisions:
15 provinces; Bubanza, Bujumbura, Bururi, Cankuzo, Cibitoke, Gitega, Karuzi,
Kayanza, Kirundo, Makamba, Muramvya, Muyinga, Ngozi, Rutana, Ruyigi
Independence:
1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian administration)
Constitution:
20 November 1981; suspended following the coup of 3 September 1987; a
constitutional committee was charged with drafting a new constitution
created in February 1991; a referendum on the new constitution scheduled for
March 1992
Legal system:
based on German and Belgian civil codes and customary law; has not accepted
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday:
Independence Day, 1 July (1962)
Executive branch:
president; chairman of the Central Committee of the National Party of Unity
and Progress (UPRONA), prime minister
Legislative branch:
unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale) was dissolved following
the coup of 3 September 1987; at an extraordinary party congress held from
27 to 29 December 1990, the Central Committee of the National Party of Unity
and Progress (UPRONA) replaced the Military Committee for National
Salvation, and became the supreme governing body during the transition to
constitutional government
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
Leaders:
Chief of State:
Major Pierre BUYOYA, President (since 9 September 1987)
Head of Government:
Prime Minister Adrien SIBOMANA (since 26 October 1988)
Political parties and leaders:
only party - National Party of Unity and Progress (UPRONA), Nicolas MAYUGI,
secretary general; note - although Burundi is still officially a one-party
state, at least four political parties were formed in 1991 in anticipation
of proposed constitutional reform in 1992 - Burundi Democratic Front
(FRODEBU), Organization of the People of Burundi (RPB), Socialist Party of
Burundi (PSB),
