LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Burundi: Countries
built 629 days ago
Burundi is a landlocked country with an equatorial climate. Called "The heart of Africa" it lies on a rolling plateau, with Lake Tanganyika in its south west corner. The average elevation of the central plateau is 5,600 feet (1,700 m), with lower elevations at the borders. The highest peak, Mount Karonje, at 9,055 feet (2,760 m) [3], lies to the southeast of the capital, Bujumbura. The southeastern and southern borders are at roughly 4,500 feet (1,370 m). A strip of land along the Ruzizi River, north of Lake Tanganyika, is the only area below 3,000 feet (915 m): this area forms part of the Albertine Rift, the western extension of the Great Rift Valley.
Source:
Burundi is a land-locked country in the heart of Africa, a little south of the equator, on the eastern shore of lake Tanganyika. It is bordered by Rwanda to the north, by Tanzania to the south and by the Democratic Republic of Congo to the west. The interior is a broken plateau sloping east to Tanzania and the valley of the River Malagarasi. The southern tributary of the Nile system rises in the south of the country. The landscape is characterised by hills and valleys covered with eucalyptus trees, banana groves, cultivated fields and pasture. In the east, the fertile area gives way to savannah grassland, and tea and coffee are now grown on mountainsides.
Source:
One of the world’s poorest nations, Burundi has a predominantly agricultural economy. The country’s estimated gross domestic product (GDP) was $800 million in 2005. Export earnings are dominated by a single crop: coffee. National budget figures for 1999 showed a large deficit, with $128 million in revenues and $167 million in expenditures. The government and foreign companies dominate the export sector of the economy. Burundi is heavily dependent on foreign aid, principally from Western Europe.
Source:
A landlocked country of Central Africa, the Republic of Burundi has an area of 10,740 square miles (27,816 square kilometers). It is bordered by Rwanda on the north, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west, and Tanzania on the south and east.
Source:
In November 1995, the presidents of Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) announced a regional initiative for a negotiated peace in Burundi facilitated by former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere. In July 1996, former Burundian President Buyoya returned to power in a bloodless coup. He declared himself president of a transitional republic, even as he suspended the National Assembly, banned opposition groups, and imposed a nationwide curfew. Widespread condemnation of the coup ensued, and regional countries imposed economic sanctions pending a return to a constitutional government. Buyoya agreed in 1996 to liberalize political parties. Nonetheless, fighting between the army and Hutu militias continued.
Source:
Burundi's rebel group Forces Nationales de Liberation (FNL) has agreed to negotiate with the transitional government, but insists that South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma cannot be the mediator. Head of the UN mission in Bujumbura Carolyn McAskie said the UN could mediate between the two parties. Until late January 2005, FNL leaders refused start peace talks with the government, and still continue their fight for a "social contract" between the country's Hutu, Tutsi and Twa groups to end injustice.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Countries