Burundi is located in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa. Neighbor to Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Burundi has a coast with the Lake Tanganyika.
Burundi was founded at the junction of the Nile and Congo rivers. The mountain range, which is seen as infinite, characterizes it. The rough topography of the country adversely affects modern transportation and residential areas. A large part of Burundi land is over 1500 meters. Only the eastern shores of the Kuzizi Valley and Lake Tanganyika are located over 900 meters in a narrow alluvial valley. The eastern part of this area and the land suddenly rise to 2100-2700 meters along the north-east of the cross-section of the Congo and Nile waters.
Burundi is a republic managed by the constitution. The current constitution was adopted in 2005 and put into effect. Burundi has a multi-party political system and is governed by a presidential system. The head of state of Burundi serves both as the highest point of the state and as the head of the government. In Tanzania, more than 500,000 refugees were found in 2003 and this number dropped to below 150,000 in 2007.
Burundi, which is close to the equator, has a tropical climate in general, but there are also changes between regions. In many places, there is a significant difference between day and night temperatures. While the annual temperature is around 20 ° C in the plain area, temperatures around Lake Tanganyika reach up to 23 ° C and in mountainous regions, it falls down to 16 ° C. The average annual temperature is 23 ° C in the capital Bujumbura. The rainfall is irregular and the area with the most precipitation is northwest. There are 4 seasons: The long dry season is from June to August, the short rainy season is from September to November, the short dry season is from December to January and the long rainy season is from February to May.
The dominant religion throughout Burundi is the Christian religion. According to this, 84% of the population lives according to Christian beliefs. In this ratio, the rate of Christian Catholics Christians is 62.1%, the Protestant denomination is 21.6% and the other Christian sects are at 2.3%. Although Islam is the second most common religion in the country, only 2.5% of the population lives according to their Islamic beliefs. In addition to these two religions, the rate of believers in other religions is 3.6% and the rate of population without any religion is 7.9%.
Industry and Tourism
According to the world hunger index, Burundi is the poorest country in the world according to the data of the last 25 years. According to the 2014 data of the world hunger index, Burundi ranks at the end with its 35.6 index ratio among all countries.
Agricultural activities constitute the most important part of the national economy. Approximately 85% of the population is directly or indirectly involved in agricultural activities. The majority of the agricultural activities in Burundi cover the activities carried out to meet personal consumption. Coffee, cassava, banana, corn, sweet potatoes and vegetables are the most important agricultural products that are planted and grown.
In addition to agricultural activities, it is also common among livestock society. Although the number of animals in the country is high, the yield and usage obtained from this area is low. Milk and meat of cattle are used in this area.
Music and dances performed in local religions in Burundi constitute an important part of the culture. With dancing called abatimbo on special occasions and weddings, the dance which is faster and called abanyagasimbo is common. It is named according to the person and the group who sing in songs that are part of the culture. The songs that the families sing together are called imvyino, only the songs of men are called kwishongora, and the songs that women sing only are called bilos. The common point of all these songs is that they are spoken in the national language Kirundi.
In addition to flute, local musical instruments, also called ikembe, indonongo, urukayamba, umuduri, inanga and inyagara, are also widely used.
In the country, theater, and visual arts are less visible. In Burundi, stories and tales are generally told and conveyed to the next generations.
Population Density: 451 per Km2
Land Area: 25,680 Km2