Region: Eastern Africa

Capital: Bujumbura

Population: 6 231 221 (July 2004 est.)

Surface area: 27 834 square km

Currency: franc

GDP per capita: $600 (2003 est.)

Background:
Since 1993 200 000 Burundians have perished in widespread, often intense ethnic violence between Hutu and Tutsi factions. 800 000 have become refugees in Tanzania, and another 525 000 others have been displaced internally. A new transitional government, inaugurated on 1 November 2001, signed a power-sharing agreement with the largest rebel faction in December 2003 and set in place a provisional constitution in October 2004. Implementation of the agreement has been problematic, however, as one remaining rebel group refuses to sign on and elections have been repeatedly delayed, clouding prospects for a sustainable peace.

Economy – overview:
The economy is predominantly agricultural with roughly 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. Doubts about the prospects for sustainable peace continue to impede development.

Only one in two children go to school, and approximately one in ten adults has HIV/AIDS. Food, medicine, and electricity remain in short supply.

United Nations Membership date: 18 September 1962

New York Mission:
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Burundi to the United Nations, 336 East 45th Street, 12th Floor
New York, N.Y. 10017
Telephone: 212-499-0001/ 0002 / 0003 / 0004 / 0005
Fax: 212-499-0006