n.
officially Republic of Burundi
Country, central Africa.
Area: 10,759 sq mi (27,866 sq km). Population (2002 est.): 6,373,000. Capital: Bujumbura . The population is divided primarily between the approximately four-fifths who are Hutu and the approximately one-fifth who are Tutsi . Its first inhabitants, the Twa Pygmies, make up about 1% of the population. Languages: Rundi (Kirundi), French (both official), Swahili, English. Religions: Roman Catholicism, local traditional religions. Currency: Burundi franc. Burundi occupies a high plateau, straddling the divide of the Nile and Congo rivers. The divide runs north to south, rising to 9,055 ft (2,760 m) at its highest point. The plateau contains the Ruvubu River basin, the southernmost extension of the Nile basin. In the west the Rusizi River connects Lake Kivu in the north with Lake Tanganyika to the south. Burundi has a developing economy, based primarily on agriculture. It is governed by a military regime. Normally it has one legislative house, and its head of state and government is the president assisted by the prime minister. The presidency is shared alternately between a Hutu and a Tutsi. Original settlement by the Twa was followed by Hutu settlement, which occurred gradually and was completed by the 11th century. The Tutsi arrived 300400 years later; though a minority, they established the kingdom of Burundi in the 16th century. In the 19th century the area came within the German sphere of influence, but the Tutsi remained in power. Following World War I, the Belgians took control of the area, then known as the mandate of Ruanda-Urundi . This was replaced by a UN trusteeship after World War II. Colonial conditions had intensified Hutu-Tutsi ethnic animosities, and, as independence neared, hostilities flared. Independence was granted in 1962 in the form of a kingdom ruled by the Tutsi. In 1965 the Hutu rebelled but were brutally repressed. The rest of the 20th century saw violent clashes between the two groups, although the number of deaths did not approach the nearly one million people killed in Rwanda. The very unstable government that existed in these surroundings was overthrown by the military in 1996. By the beginning of the 21st century a government that alternated between a Tutsi and a Hutu president was in place. Nonetheless, political instability continued in the region.