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Basic Facts |
Country name |
conventional long form: Republic of Burundi
conventional short form: Burundi local long form: Republique du Burundi/Republika y'u Burundi local short form: Burundi former: Urundi |
Gevernment type | republic |
Capital |
name: Bujumbura
geographic coordinates: 3 23 S, 29 22 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Flag description | divided by a white diagonal cross into red panels (top and bottom) and green panels (hoist side and fly side) with a white disk superimposed at the center bearing three red six-pointed stars outlined in green arranged in a triangular design (one star above, two stars below) |
Currency | Burundi franc (BIF) |
Internet country code | .bi |
Ports and terminals | Bujumbura |
Agriculture products | coffee, cotton, tea, corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc (tapioca); beef, milk, hides |
Industries | light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imported components; public works construction; food processing |
Geography |
Location | Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Coordinates | 3 30 S, 30 00 E |
Continent | Africa |
Area |
total: 27,830 sq km
land: 25,650 sq km water: 2,180 sq km |
Boundaries |
total: 974 km
border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 233 km, Rwanda 290 km, Tanzania 451 km |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) |
Climate | equatorial; high plateau with considerable altitude variation (772 m to 2,670 m above sea level); average annual temperature varies with altitude from 23 to 17 degrees centigrade but is generally moderate as the average altitude is about 1,700 m; average annual rainfall is about 150 cm; two wet seasons (February to May and September to November), and two dry seasons (June to August and December to January) |
Terrain | hilly and mountainous, dropping to a plateau in east, some plains |
Natural resources | nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper, platinum, vanadium, arable land, hydropower, niobium, tantalum, gold, tin, tungsten, kaolin, limestone |
Natural hazards | flooding, landslides, drought |
People |
Population | 8,090,068
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2006 est.) |
Ethnic groups | Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%, Europeans 3,000, South Asians 2,000 |
Religions | Christian 67% (Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 5%), indigenous beliefs 23%, Muslim 10% |
Languages | Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area) |