Country Facts - Burundi

The People

Nationality

Burundian(s)

Ethnic Composition

Hutu (Bantu)	85%
Tutsi (Hamitic)	14%
Twa (Pygmy)	1%
Europeans	3,000
South Asians	2,000

Religious Composition

Christian	67%
Indigenous beliefs	23%
Muslims	10%

Languages Spoken

Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area)

Education and Literacy

Burundi's overall adult literacy is around 35.3 percent. Among males it is 49.3 percent and females 22.5 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 1.9 million

By occupation:

Agriculture	93.0%
Government	4.0%
Industry and commerce	1.5%
Services	1.5%

Geography

Land Mass Total

49,355 sq mi (27,830 sq km)

Land

9,903 sq mi (25,650 sq km)

Water

841 sq mi (2,180 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 605 mi (974 km)
Border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 144 mi (233 km), Rwanda
180 mi (290 km), Tanzania 280 mi (451 km)

Coastline

Landlocked

Maritime claim

Landlocked

Climate/Weather

Equatorial; high plateau with considerable altitude variation 2,532 ft to 8,759 ft (772 m to 2,670 m); average annual temperature varies with altitude from 73.4 °F to 62.6 °F(23 °C to 17 °C) but is generally moderate as the average altitude is about 5,577 ft (1,700 m); average annual rainfall is about 59 in (150 cm); wet seasons from February to May and September to November, and dry seasons from June to August and December to January.

Terrain

Hilly and mountainous, dropping to a plateau in east, some plains.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Lake Tanganyika 2,532 ft (772 m)
Highest: Mount Heha 8,759 ft (2,670 m)

Natural Resources

Nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper, platinum (not yet exploited), vanadium, arable land, hydropower.

Land use

Arable land	30%
Permanent crops	13%
Other	57%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Flooding, landslides.

Environment - current issues

Soil erosion as a result of overgrazing and the expansion of agriculture into marginal lands; deforestation (little forested land remains because of uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel); habitat loss threatens wildlife populations.

Geography Note

Landlocked; straddles crest of the Nile-Congo watershed; the Kagera, which drains into Lake Victoria, is the most remote headstream of the White Nile.

Demographics

Population

6,373,002 (July 2002)
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.

Age structure

0-14 years:	46.5%	Male: 1,497,865	Female: 1,466,455
15-64 years:	50.7%	Male: 1,592,253	Female: 1,640,254
65 years and over:	2.8%	Male: 71,915	Female: 104,260

Growth Rate

2.36% (2002)

Life Expectancy

45.94 years (2002)
female: 46.83 years
male: 45.08 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$600 (2001)

Infant Mortality

69.97 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.69 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.99 male(s)/female

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

Burundi is a landlocked, resource-poor country with an underdeveloped manufacturing sector. The economy is predominantly agricultural with roughly 90 percent of the population dependent on subsistence agriculture. Its economic health depends on the coffee crop, which accounts for 80 percent of foreign exchange earnings. The ability to pay for imports therefore rests largely on the vagaries of the climate and the international coffee market. Since October 1993 the nation has suffered from massive ethnic-based violence, which has resulted in the death of more than 200,000 persons and the displacement of about 800,000 others. Only one in four children go to school, and more than one in ten adults has HIV/AIDS. Foods, medicines, and electricity remain in short supply. Doubts regarding the sustainability of peace continue to impede development. A Geneva donors' conference in November 2001 brought $800 million in pledges, and an IMF-staff-monitored program led to a further agreement in 2002. However, little was implemented in the midst of continuing chaos. With GDP growth as low as --1 percent in 1999, Burundi has moved back into the plus column with growth of 2.1 percent and 3.2 percent in 2001 and 2002 respectively, but these figures merely indicate a status of "treading water" due to former declines. Inflation is still in the double digits and unemployment is so high that the government declines to produce statistics on the matter.

Unemployment

N/A

Inflation Rate

14% (2001)

Industries

Light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imported components; public works construction; food processing.

Exports

US$24 million (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$125 million (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$3.7 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

EU 52.5%, US 11.5%, Kenya 11.5%, Switzerland 4.9% (2000)

Top Import Partners

EU 37.6%, Tanzania 10.3%, Zambia 4.3%, India 3.4%, China 3.4% (2000)

Top Exports

Coffee, tea, cotton, hides.

Top Imports

Capital goods, petroleum products, foodstuffs, consumer goods.

Debt - external

US$$1.12 billion (2001)

Economic aid

US$74 million (1999)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	7:30a.m. to noon and 2p.m. to 5:30p.m.	Closed
Retail	8:30a.m. to noon and 3p.m. to 6p.m.	Saturday 8:30a.m. to 12:30p.m.
Banks	8a.m. to 11:30a.m. and 3p.m. to 4p.m.	Closed
Government	Monday 8a.m. to 11:30a.m. Tuesday to Friday 7a.m. to noon and 2p.m. to 5p.m.	Saturday 8a.m. to 11:30a.m.

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Unity Day	February 5	February 5	February 5
Labor Day	May 1	May1	May 1
Ascension¹	May 29	May 21	May 6
Independence Day	July 1	July 1	July 1
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary	August 15	August 15	August 15
Victory of UPRONA Party	September 18	September 18	September 18
Anniversary of Rwagasore's Death	October 13	October 13	October 13
Anniversary of President Ndadaye's Death	October 21	October 21	October 21
All Saints' Day	November 1	November 1	November 1
Christmas Day²	December 25	December 25	December 25

¹	The feast of Ascension takes place 40 days after Easter in both the Christian and Orthodox faiths and celebrates the ascent of Christ into Heaven.
²	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press