Burundi Statistics

Independence: 1 July 1962

Population: 8,691,005

Area, sq. mi.: 10,745 (rank=141)

Area, sq. km.: 27,830

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

Ethnic Make-Up: Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%, Europeans 3,000, South Asians 2,000

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write (total population: 59.3%, male: 67.3% , female: 52.2% (2000 est.)

Religions: Christian 67% (Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 5%), indigenous beliefs 23%, Muslim 10%

Per Capita Yearly Income: $300 (2007 est.)

Unemployment Rate: 14% in 2003

Urban Population: 754,751.5 in 2005

Rural Population: 6,792,764 people in 2005. Only 10 percent of Burundians live in urban areas; half of all urban residents live in Bujumbura.

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Human Dev. Index rank: 167 of 177 countries

Infant mortality rate: 114 per 1,000 births

Under-5 child mortality rate: 190/1,000 live births (die before age five)   {USA: 7/1,000}

Life expectancy: 47 (male); 50 (female); 48.5 years (average);   {USA: 77.9}

Physicians per 100,000 people: 3   {USA: 256}

People undernourished: 66%   {USA: 0%}

People with access to safe drinking water: 79%    {USA: 100%}

People living on less than $1 a day: 54.6%    {USA: 0%}

Does Burundi accept the UDHR? Yes. It has been a part of the UN since September 18, 1962.

Burundi Culture

The country of Burundi was probably first inhabitated by a tribe called the Twa, but today they only make up a small percentage of the population. Another tribe, the Hutu, migrated to the area during the first millennium AD. The Tutsi tribe came to Burundi by the 1300's from the northeast.

Burundi has a population of 8.4 million and is growing by 3.6 percent yearly. Most of the population lives in rural areas, and only 10 percent live in urban areas. Half of the people who live in the urban areas live in the country's capital, Bujumbura. 85% of the population is comprised of the Hutu tribe, 14% makes up the Tutsi tribe and the original Twa tribe only makes up 1%. 

They speak the language of Kirundi, and some of the greetings they say are:
Bwakeye or Mwaramutse (good morning)
Bite (how are you)
Ni sawa (good)
Mwiriwe (good afternoon/evening)
Nyokuru (Old woman or Mother)
Mutama (Old man or Father)
Amahoro (formally to an elder, meaning "is there peace?")
Kibodo (Young one)
Yambu (young people say to each other, means "hello")
Ndagize (to add respect, this is placed before the greeting)

Patriarchal is the type of family structure practiced in Burundi. The father makes all family decisions and is considered head of the family. When he grows older, he chooses the samuragwa, a son to be in charge of all the other sons in the family and the family properties. He designates these duties to his favorite son, no matter what the birth order is. Also, families are expected to care for parents when they grow old. The older children are supposed to be responsible for their younger siblings when their parents are away or busy. However, due to HIV/AIDS, there are many child-run and single-parent households.

Buruundians live in houses called urugos, which are two or three small huts with thatch roofs which the immediate family lives. In the south where it is colder, these types of houses are common because they retain heat well, and contain an open-air kitchen and a pit latrine. Throughout the rest of the country, the housese are made with mud walls and floors, roofs are made with corrugated metal or clay tiles. When they bathed, they went to a river, or used a wet cloth to scrub their hands, feet and face.

Children and teenagers love playing soocer, and it is the most popular sport in Burundi. Most of the time they play with a homemade ball of tightly bound rags, butt sometimes they are able to find a manufactured ball. Sometimes a professional league plays in a stadium in the capital, Bujumbura. Many people come from the capital and the surrounding areas to cheer their teams on, and the game can turn into a major event. However, soccer is not the only sport played in Burundi. There is basketball, volleyball, and some people even jog in the morning before it gets too hot.

Education is not very highly valued in Burundi, because even those who have university degrees are often unemployed and must find work as security guards, taxi drivers, or housekeepers. There is little to no written press in Burundi because of the low literacy rates. There are several private radio stations, and Burundi has one radio station with national coverage as well as a television station, but both are owned by the government. The use of cell phones greatly outnumbers the number of landlines and the postal system is usually reliable, but sometimes the packages are stolen or the package arrives open and items are not there.

In the country of Burundi, there are 17 provinces and each of them have a central hospital and several health centers. However, many people are unable to pay for their health care because they are supposed to pay for any medicine they receive. In 2006, the government announced that there would be free health care for people under 5 years of age. This was good for most families, because it removed the obstacle of paying, but the hospitals were soon overrun with patients. Malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS were soon widespread. Also, Burundians depend heavily on substance crops, which means they are exposed to harsh weather conditions while working in the fields. The crops are usually not enough food to support a family, and most people there are malnourished. Because they cannot afford health care, herbs and other mixtures are depended on to cure and fix illnesses. Some towns even have traditional healers that come to your house and help cure you.