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
Religion: Christian about 67% (Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 5%).
indigenous beliefs 32%, Muslim 1%
Language: 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
Independence: 1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian
administration)
Constitution: 20 November 1981; suspended following the coup of
3 September 1987; referendum for a 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--President Pierre BUYOYA (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), President Pierre BUYOYA, chairman, and
Nicolas MAYUGI, secretary general
Suffrage: universal adult at age NA
Elections:
National Assembly--dissolved after the coup of 3 September
1987;
note--The National Unity Charter outlining the principles for
constitutional government was adopted by a national referendum on 5
February 1991
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Julien KAVAKURE; Chancery at
Suite 212, 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington DC 20007;
telephone (202) 342-2574;
US--Ambassador Cynthia Shepherd PERRY; Embassy at Avenue du Zaire,
Bujumbura (mailing address is B. P. 1720, Avenue des Etats-Unis,
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
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 depends 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.
GDP: $1.1 billion, per capita $200; real growth rate 1.5% (1989)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 11.7% (1989)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $158 million; expenditures $204 million,
including capital expenditures of $131 million (1989 est.)
Industrial production: real growth rate 5.1% (1986); accounts
for about 10% of GDP
Electricity: 51,000 kW capacity; 105 million kWh produced, 19 kWh
per capita (1989)
Industries: light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap;
assembly of imports; public works construction; food processing
Agriculture: accounts for 60% of GDP; 90% of population dependent
on subsistence farming; marginally self-sufficient in food production;
cash crops--coffee, cotton, tea; food crops--corn, sorghum, sweet
potatoes, bananas, manioc; livestock--meat, milk, hides, and skins
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $71
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $10.1 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $32 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $175 million
Currency: Burundi franc (plural--francs); 1 Burundi franc
(FBu) = 100 centimes
COMMUNICATIONS
Highways: 5,900 km 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;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; none
with runways 1,220 to 2,439 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
Branches: Army (includes naval and air units); paramilitary
Gendarmerie
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,268,342; 661,888 fit for
military service; 64,538 reach military age (16) annually
Defense expenditures: $33 million, 3.1% of GDP (1988)
