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Burundi
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The vast majority of Burundi's population is Hutu, traditionally a farming people. Power... has long rested with the Tutsi minority, which historically has controlled the army and most of the economy, particularly the lucrative international export of coffee. Few real cultural differences are distinguishable between the two peoples, and both speak Rundi (Kirundi). Such linguistic homogeneity is rare in sub-Saharan Africa and emphasizes the historically close cultural and ethnic ties among the peoples in Burundi. Even so, ethnic conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi has plagued the country since it gained independence from Belgium in 1962, at a great cost in human life and property. Few Burundians escaped the ensuing anarchy into which the country was plunged when this interethnic violence flared anew in the 1990s, a bloody conflagration that well illustrated the Rundi proverb “Do not call for lightning to strike down your enemies, for it also may strike down your friends.” Neither the presence of an international peacekeeping force beginning in the late 1990s nor the ratification of an agreement to share power between Hutu and Tutsi were immediately effective in curbing interethnic violence, which also spilled into the neighbouring countries of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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The original inhabitants of Burundi were the Twa, a Pygmy people who now make up only 1% of the population. Today the population is divided between the Hutu (approximately 85%) and the Tutsi, approximately 14%. While the Hutu and Tutsi are considered to be two separate ethnic groups, scholars point out that they speak the same language, have a history of intermarriage, and share many cultural characteristics. Traditionally, the differences between the two groups were occupational rather than ethnic. Agricultural people were considered Hutu, while the cattle-owning elite were identified as Tutsi. Supposedly Tutsi were tall and thin, while Hutu were short and square, but in fact it is often impossible to tell one from the other.
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As of July 2006, Burundi was projected to have an estimated population of 8,090,068, approximately half of whom are aged 14 or less. This estimate explicitly takes into account the effects of AIDS, which has a significant effect on the demographics of the country. Roughly 85% of the population are of Hutu ethnic origin; most of the remaining population are Tutsi, with a minority of Twa (Pygmy), and a few thousand Europeans and South Asians. The population density of around 315 people per square kilometre (753/sq mi) is the second highest in Sub-Saharan Africa, behind only Rwanda. The Twa are thought to be the original inhabitants of the area, with Hutu and then Tutsi settlers arriving in the 1300s and 1400s respectively.
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Burundi has a “moderate” tropical climate with average temperatures between 23 and 24ºC. This is a gift from nature to have such an average near the Equatorial area known for its heat and humidity. In Bujumbura city where it is hotter, average temperatures are about 25ºC. The country has two important seasons: the dry season from June to September and the rainy season from February to May. The remaining time is made up of middle seasons- half-dry and half-rainy-with a short rainy season between September and December and a short dry season between January and February. The vegetation is lush and agriculture important.
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When it comes to potential pathways to a more emancipated Burundi, a few routes suggest themselves which could form part of such an emancipatory process. The ongoing negotiation process in Arusha, Tanzania is plainly one. The most recent round of talks took place on 13-22 October 1998 and was the third such meeting in a process which started on 15-21 June 1998 and continued on 20-29 July 1998. They included representatives of the Burundian Government, the political parties (both the internal and external branches) and the armed groups involved in the fighting. The negotiations, chaired by the former Tanzanian President Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, were organised around the following themes: “the nature of the Burundian conflict”, “democracy and good governance”, “peace and security”, and “development and rebuilding” (Burundi-Bureau, 1998c). From a Critical Security perspective it is interesting to view these negotiations in the light of Habermas’ notion of unfulfilled potential, namely the potential for reaching mutual understanding (and potentially at least, accommodation) through undistorted communication inherent in speech (Wyn Jones, 1999; Jones, 2000).
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Burundi enjoys generally good relations with neighbouring states. Regional states, including Uganda, South Africa and Tanzania, continue to play a role in the post-conflict process. Burundi is seeking to strengthen its regional position and has been granted admission to the East African Community, comprising Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania and is ... a participant in the Great Lakes Conference process. Small numbers of Burundian troops were engaged in the DRC at the start of the 1998 – 2003 war in pursuit of Burundian rebels, but it was not involved in the wider regional conflict and relations between Burundi and the DRC have since been normalised. As of August 2007 there were estimated to be more than 350,000 Burundian refugees in Tanzania, although an equal number have returned to Burundi since 2002.
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Burundi