The most interesting facts about Burundi, from a man-eating crocodile called Gustave to a tragic history of genocide and war.
Fast facts
Official name: Republic of Burundi
Capital city: Bujumbura / Gitega
Population: 13,590,102
Area: 27,830 sq km
Major languages: Kirundi, French, Swahili, English
Time zone: UTC+2 (Central Africa Time)
Interesting facts about Burundi
1. Burundi is a landlocked country in East Africa. Landlocked countries are entirely encompassed by land with no access to the sea.
2. Burundi was initially inhabited by the Twa – a Pygmy hunter-gatherer people.
3. Hutu people settled in the region, followed by Tutsi settlers who arrived in the 1400s. During the 1500s a defined Burundian kingdom emerged known as Urundi.
4. Unlike many sub-Saharan African countries, the borders of Burundi were not created by European powers. Instead, they were conceived by the original Burundian monarchy.
5. The Burundi flag is red, which represents the struggle for independence, and green, which represents the hope for future development. There is a white diagonal cross and a central white disk which symbolise peace.
6. The central three stars represent the three main ethnic groups of Burundi – the Tutsi, Hutu and Twa – as well as the national motto, “Unity, work, progress.”
7. In 1890, the kingdoms of Urundi (Burundi) and neighbouring Ruanda (Rwanda) were colonised by Germany and incorporated into German East Africa.
8. Belgium then occupied Burundi until 1962, when the country finally seceded and became the independent Kingdom of Burundi.
9. Since gaining independence, Burundi has consistently faced tensions between the traditionally dominant Tutsi minority and the Hutu majority.
10. Burundi has seen two mass genocides. In 1972, government troops massacred more than 100,000 Hutus. Then in 1993, the assassination of the president led to an ethnic conflict which claimed more than 300,000 lives.
11. The following 12-year ethnic-based civil war lasted from 1993 until 2005.
12. Lake Tanganyika is the world’s longest freshwater lake, the second-deepest and the second-largest in volume. It is also the second-largest of the African Great Lakes after Lake Victoria.
13. Burundi is one of the world’s worst countries for internet access and has some of the slowest speeds, averaging at 6.04 mbps.
14. Burundi officially has two capital cities. In 2019, parliament decided to make Gitega the political capital of the country while Bujumbura would remain its economic capital.
15. Burundi won its first Olympic gold medal in its debut appearance at the 1996 Olympic Games. Vénuste Niyongabo won gold in the men’s 5,000m. Until 1993, Burundi was not even a member of the International Olympic Committee
16. Burundi is home to Gustave, a man-eating crocodile responsible for killing hundreds of people. The crocodile lives in Lake Tanganyika and is thought to be over 60 years old and has attacked hundreds of people between 1987 and 2009. It is unknown if he is still alive.
17. In Burundi, cows represent happiness, health, and prosperity. A popular Kirundi greeting, “amashyo,” wishes someone “many herds of cattle.” The customary reply, “amashongore,” extends the wish to “many herds of heifers,” emphasizing the value placed on livestock in their culture.
18. Continued unrest in Burundi has seen the rise of kwashiorkor or severe acute malnutrition (SAM). A 2021 report says 52% of children aged five are identified as chronically malnourished.
19. In 2014, Burundi, was ranked as the world’s hungriest – or most undernourished – country in the Global Hunger Index for the third year in a row.
20. As such, Burundi is also one of the world’s least obese countries. Global Obesity Observatory places Burundi at 170th with only a 6% obesity rate. Meanwhile, a 2022 Global Nutrition Report showed that only 10.5% adult women and 2.7% adult men live with obesity in the country.
21. Burundi is the second poorest country in the world when measured by GDP per capita based on purchasing power parity (PPP). Their economic growth is projected at 3.8 percent this year (2024).
22. Outside Bujumbura is the Livingstone–Stanley Monument, marking the spot where explorers Dr David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley visited and spent two nights in 1871. However, it is not the infamous “Dr Livingstone, I presume?” meeting that took place in Tanzania.
23. In 2014, jogging was made a crime in Burundi. President Pierre Nkurunziza had decreed that jogging could be used as a cover for subversion (planning anti-government rebellion).
24. East Africans, particularly Burundians, are known for brewing banana beer. The beer is often drunk in groups from a single large container and through straws.
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