Economic Overview
Burundi is a landlocked, resource-poor country with an underdeveloped manufacturing sector. the economy is predominantly agricultural with more than 90% of the population dependent on subsistence agriculture. economic growth depends on coffee and tea exports, which account for 90% of foreign exchange earnings. the ability to pay for imports, therefore, rests primarily on weather conditions and international coffee and tea prices. the tutsi minority, 14% of the population, dominates the government and the coffee trade at the expense of the hutu majority, 85% of the population. an ethnic-based war that lasted for over a decade resulted in more than 200,000 deaths, forced more than 48,000 refugees into tanzania, and displaced 140,000 others internally. only one in two children go to school, and approximately one in 15 adults has hiv/aids. food, medicine, and electricity remain in short supply. burundi's gdp grew around 5% annually in 2006-07. political stability and the end of the civil war have improved aid flows and economic activity has increased, but underlying weaknesses - a high poverty rate, poor education rates, a weak legal system, and low administrative capacity - risk undermining planned economic reforms. burundi will continue to remain heavily dependent on aid from bilateral and multilateral donors; the delay of funds after a corruption scandal cut off bilateral aid in 2007 reduced government's revenues and its ability to pay salaries.
Environmental 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
Government Type
Republic
Population
8,691,005
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, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (july 2008 est.)
Location
Central africa, east of democratic republic of the congo
Area
Total: 27,830 sq km
land: 25,650 sq km
water: 2,180 sq km
Slightly smaller than maryland
Country Aliases
Conventional long form: republic of burundi
conventional short form: burundi
local long form: republique du burundi/republika y'u burundi
local short form: burundi
former: urundi
Capital
Name: bujumbura
geographic coordinates: 3 22 s, 29 21 e
time difference: utc+2 (7 hours ahead of washington, dc during standard time)
Military Service
16 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; children as young as 10 years of age have been conscripted into the armed forces; the enrollment of children is still not prohibited (2007)
International Disputes
Burundi and rwanda dispute sections of border on the akanyaru/kanyaru and the kagera/nyabarongo rivers, which have changed course since the 1960s, when the boundary was delimited; cross-border conflicts among tutsi, hutu, other ethnic groups, associated political rebels, armed gangs, and various government forces persist in the great lakes region
Sources: Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
