Introduction
An inland port on Lake Tanganyika, Bujumbura serves as capital of the small West African country of Burundi. Bujumbura is the chief urban center of a country that is mostly agricultural.
Places of interest
Photograph:The Assemblée Nationale, or National Assembly, of Burundi meets at Parliament House in …
* The Assemblée Nationale, or National Assembly, of Burundi meets at Parliament House in …
The city has an old colonial section, which centers on Independence Plaza. There is a national university in Bujumbura, and there are several museums. The central market and the sports stadium are popular gathering places. There are several beaches near the city on Lake Tanganyika.
Economy
Bujumbura is a trading center and a port on Lake Tanganyika from which coffee is shipped. The country is devoted mostly to farming, not industry. However, cloth, leather, food products, paper, and chemicals have all been produced in Bujumbura. The city also has an international airport.
History
Bujumbura was originally called Usumbura. Because Usumbura was far from the seacoast, European rulers did not disturb the town for many centuries. In the 1890s, however, European countries rushed to make colonies in even the most remote regions of Africa. Usumbura was taken by the Germans, who made it part of their colony of German East Africa. Usumbura was a military post that attracted many white settlers.
The region that included Usumbura was taken over by Belgium in 1916. The Belgians gave the name of Ruanda-Urundi to their new territory. They ruled it under the supervision of the League of Nations and later on the United Nations. Usumbura was in the part called Urundi, but it was the capital of the combined territory for most of the Belgian period.
In 1962, Urundi became independent from Belgium and completely separate from Ruanda. Usumbura was made the capital of the new country. Both country and city changed their names. Urundi became Burundi, and Usumbura became Bujumbura.
Since independence, Bujumbura has been the site of prolonged and violent ethnic conflict between Burundi's two largest groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi. Despite this, the population has grown. Population (1994 estimate) 300,000.
