Burundi Country Overview
Burundi, located in Central Africa, has Gitega as its political capital and Bujumbura as its economic capital. The official languages are Kirundi, French, and Swahili, and the country has a population of 13.4 million with the majority being Christian. Burundi faces significant political and economic challenges, including corruption and ethnic divides, impacting its development. It is one of the world's smallest economies with a GDP of US$3.39 billion.
Burundi General Information
Capital: Gitega (political capital), Bujumbura (economic capital)
Language: Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in Bujumbura area)
Religion: Christian 67% (Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 5%), indigenous beliefs 23%, Muslim 10%
Currency: Burundian franc
Cryptocurrency: No official cryptocurrency
Time Zone: GMT+2 (2 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time)
About Burundi
The Republic of Burundi is a Central African nation bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania. Burundi has a population of 13.4 million and is densely populated, with the population concentrated on areas of fertile soil, particularly in the North and along the shore of Lake Tanganyika.
The capital, Bujumbura, has a population of 751,000. Kirundi, French and English are all official languages, although the former is the most widely spoken. Burundi has a history of severe ethnic divides; 85% of the population are Hutu, 14% are Tutsi and roughly 1% are Twa. Furthermore, the population is largely Christian, with 62.1% following the Roman Church and 23.9% adhering to Protestantism.
Burundi’s political and business climate are both high risk. This is owing to its unstable political environment, currently entrenched in crisis, and numerous economic deficiencies, both of which are frustrated by deep ethnic schisms.
Corruption is a major problem in Burundi and hampers commercial activity. Bribery, nepotism and embezzlement pervade through society, politics, the economy and judiciary and little anti-corruption progress has been made. As such, Burundi is ranked 162 of 180 in Transparency International’s 2023 Corruption Index.
Burundi is one of the world’s smallest economies. Burundi’s GDP currently stands at just US$3.39 billion and following three years of negative or zero percent growth.
Burundi is a presidential republic, in which the president is both chief of state and head of government. The incumbent is President General Évariste, who has served as President of Burundi since 18 June 2020. The president is directly elected by absolute majority vote for a five-year term and is eligible for a second term.
The legislative branch is formed by the bicameral parliament. Of the Senate’s 43 members, 36 are indirectly elected by electoral college of provincial councils. The National Assembly forms the lower house and consists of 121 members, 100 of which are directly elected in multi-constituency proportional representation vote and the remaining 21 are co-opted. The next election for the national assembly is to be held in 2025.
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