BURUNDI
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LAND
28,490 km2 ; about 37% arable (about 66% cultivated), 23% pasture, 10% scrub and forest, 30% other
Land boundaries: 974 km
PEOPLE
Population: 4,438,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 2.7%
Nationality: noun—Burundian(s); adjective—Burundi
Ethnic divisions: Africans—85% Hutu (Bantu), 14% Tutsi (Hamitic), 1% Twa (Pigmy); other Africans include around 70,000 refugees, mostly Rwandans and Zairians; non-Africans include about 3,000 Europeans and 2,000 South Asians
Religion: about 60% Christian (53% Catholic, 7% Protestant); rest mostly animist plus perhaps 2% Muslim
Language: Kirundi and French (official); Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area)
Literacy: about 15% in Kirundi, 3% in French, no serviceable estimate for Kiswahili
Labor force: about 2 million (1976 est.); most engaged in subsistence agriculture
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" have been unobtainable
GOVERNMENT
Official name: Republic of Burundi
Type: republic; presidential system; military leaders hold key positions; previous military government overthrown in military coup in 1976
Capital: Bujumbura
Political subdivisions: 8 provinces, subdivided into 18 arrondissements and 78 communes
Legal system: based on German and French civil codes and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Independence Day, 1 July
Branches: executive (President and Cabinet offices); judicial; National Assembly to be convened in 1982
Government leader: Col. Jean-Baptiste BAGAZA, President and Head of State
Suffrage: universal
Elections: new constitution approved by national referendum in November 1981; elections to National Assembly planned for 1982
Political parties and leaders: National Party of Unity and Progress (UPRONA), a Tutsi-led party, declared sole legitimate party in 1966; Col. Jean-Baptiste Bagaza
Communists: no Communist party; resumed diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in October 1971 following a six-year suspension; USSR, North Korea, and Romania also have diplomatic missions in Burundi
Member of: AFDB, EAMA, ECA, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, ITU, NAM, OAU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
ECONOMY
GNP: about $614.0 million (1978), $140 per capita; 2.0% real growth (1970-74); real GDP growth in 1976, 7.8%
Agriculture: major cash crops—coffee, cotton, tea; main food crops—manioc, yams, corn, sorghum, bananas, haricot beans; marginally self-sufficient
Industries: light consumer goods such as beverages, blankets, shoes, soap, assembly of imports
Electric power: 17,000 kW capacity (diesel generator 1980); 2 million kWh produced (1980), 35 million kWh imported from Zaire, .05 kWh per capita
Exports: $90 million (f.o.b., 1979); coffee (90%), tea, cotton, hides, skins
Imports: $102 million (c.i.f., 1979); textiles, foodstuffs, transport equipment, petroleum products
Major trade partners: US, EEC countries
Budget: (1979) revenue $113.3 million, current expenditure $38.0 million, development expenditure $38.0 million
Monetary conversion rate: 90 Burundi francs=US$1 (official)
Fiscal year: calendar year
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