ETHNIC DIVISIONS: Africans--85% Hutu (Bantu), 14% Tutsi (Hamitic), 1% Twa (Pygmy); other Africans include about 70,000 refugees, mostly Rwandans and Zairians; non-Africans include about 3,000 Europeans and 2,000 South Asians
RELIGION: about 67% Christian (62% Roman Catholic, 5% Protestant), 32% indigenous beliefs, 1% Muslim
LANGUAGE: Kirundi and French (official); Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area)
LITERACY: 30%
LABOR FORCE: 1,900,000 (1983 est.); 93.0% agriculture, 4.0% government, 1.5% industry and commerce, 1.5% services; 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); figures denoting active membership unobtainable
INDEPENDENCE: 1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian administration)
CONSTITUTION: 20 November 1981; on taking power Maj. Pierre Buyoya suspended the Constitution and formed a Military Council for National Salvation
LEGAL SYSTEM: based on German and French civil codes and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
NATIONAL HOLIDAY: Independence Day, 1 July (1962)
BRANCHES: executive (president and Cabinet); judicial; legislature (National Assembly) reestablished in 1982
CHIEF OF STATE: President Pierre BUYOYA (since 9 September 1987); Head of Government Prime Minister Adrien SIBOMANA (since NA September 1988)
SUFFRAGE: universal adult
ELECTIONS: election to National Assembly held in October 1982
POLITICAL PARTIES AND LEADERS: National Party of Unity and Progress (UPRONA), a Tutsi-led party, declared sole legitimate party in 1966; second national party congress held in 1984; Col. Jean-Baptiste Bagaza confirmed as party president for five-year term (deposed 3 September 1987 by coup)
DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION: Ambassador Edouard KADIGIRI; Chancery at Suite 212, 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington DC 20007; telephone (202) 342-2574
U.S. FOREIGN SERVICE POST: Ambassador James Daniel PHILLIPS; Embassy at Avenue du Zaire, Bujumbura (mailing address is B. P. 1720, Bujumbura); telephone 234-54 through 56
FLAG: divided by a white diagonal cross into red panels (top and bottom) and green panels (hoist side and outer 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)
.ECONOMY OF BURUNDI
OVERVIEW: A landlocked, resource-poor country in an early stage of economic development, Burundi is predominately agricultural with only a few basic industries. Its economic health is dependent on the coffee crop, which accounts for an average 90% of foreign exchange earnings each year. The ability to pay for imports therefore continues to rest largely on the vagaries of the climate and the international coffee market. vagaries of the climate and the international coffee market.
GDP: $1.3 billion, per capita $239; real growth rate 4% (1986)
INFLATION RATE (CONSUMER PRICES): 7.3% (1987)
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: NA%
BUDGET: revenues $252 million; expenditures $295 million, including capital expenditures of $143 million (1986)
EXPORTS: $84 million (f.o.b., 1987); commodities-- coffee 88%, tea, hides and skins; partners-- EC 83%, US 5%, Asia 2%
IMPORTS: $212 million (c.i.f., 1987); commodities-- capital goods 31%, petroleum products 15%, foodstuffs, consumer goods; partners-- EC 57%, Asia 23%, US 3%
EXTERNAL DEBT: $745 million (December 1988)
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION: real growth rate 5.1% (1986)
ELECTRICITY: 51,000 kW capacity; 46 million kWh produced, 10 kWh per capita (1988)
INDUSTRIES: light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imports; public works construction; food processing
AGRICULTURE: major cash crops--coffee, cotton, and tea; food crops--rice, corn, palm oil, sugar, bananas, manioc, pulses; livestock-meat, milk, hides, and skins
AID: NA
CURRENCY: Burundi franc (plural--francs); 1 Burundi franc (FBu) = 100 centimes
HIGHWAYS: 5,900 km (3,663 mi) total; 400 km paved, 2,500 km gravel or laterite, 3,000 km improved or unimproved earth
INLAND WATERWAYS: Lake Tanganyika
PORTS: Bujumbura (lake port) connects to transportation systems of Tanzania and Zaire
CIVIL AIR: 1 major transport aircraft
AIRPORTS: 8 total, 7 usable; 1 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m
TELECOMMUNICATIONS: sparse system of wire, radiocommunications, and low-capacity radio relay links; 8,000 telephones; stations--2 AM, 2 FM, 1 TV; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station
.DEFENSE FORCES OF BURUNDI
BRANCHES: Army (includes naval and air units); paramilitary Gendarmerie
MILITARY MANPOWER: males 15-49, 1,189,603; 622,183 fit for military service; 59,226 reach military age (16) annually
MILITARY BUDGET: $36.3 million, 19.1% of central government budget (1987)
.TRAVEL IN BURUNDI
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS: Valid Passport required. Transit visa, up to 48 hours, $15. Entry visa, valid 1 month, $15, requires 3 photos, 3 applications, round-trip ticket, and police statement showing no criminal record (for non-U.S. Government personnel only). Obtain before arrival because airport visas cause delays. Send SASE for return of passport. Vaccination certificate not required unless arriving from an area infected with yellow fever.
HEALTH: Limited health facilities available. Malaria suppressants are recommended. Health requirements change; check latest information.
WEATHER AND CLOTHING: Lightweight, washable clothing recommended. Raincoat and sweater needed in mountainous interior.
TELEPHONE: Calls to Burundi should be made through the operator.
TIME: 7 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time, and 2 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.
ELECTRIC CURRENT: 220V
IMPORTANT!! All requirements/recommendations are subject to change. Be sure to check latest information.
