The World Factbook (1982)/Burundi

by the Central Intelligence Agency

BURUNDI

(See reference map VII)

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

COMMUNICATIONS

Railroads: none

Highways: 7,800 km total; 300 km bituminous, 2,500 km crushed stone, gravel, or laterite, and 3,000 km improved earth,and 2,000 km unimproved earth

Inland waterways: Lake Tanganyika navigable for lake steamers and barges; 1 lake port

Civil air: 4 major transport aircraft

Airfields: 8 total, 7 usable; 1 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m

Telecommunications: sparse system of wire and low-capacity radio-relay links; about 6,000 telephones (0.1 per 100 pop].); 2 AM and 2 FM stations; no TV stations; INTELSAT satellite ground station

DEFENSE FORCES

Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,003,000; 521,000 fit for military service; 50,000 reach military age (16) annually

Military budget: for fiscal year ending 31 December 1980, $35.5 million; about 21.8% of central government budget