Burundi is a landlocked country with an equatorial climate on the east of Africa. The country is called "The heart of Africa" and it is located in a hilly and mountainous place, dropping to a plateau in the east. There are some plains but no maritime claims. Concerning its area, the country is slightly smaller than Maryland with 27,830 sq km. The country is bordered by 3 other countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania and by 3 lakes. The most important is the Lake Tanganyika. Burundi is divided into 17 provinces, 117 communes and 2,638 colonies. The capital is Bujumbura. To answer the question “will Burundi stay poor for ever?”, firstly we are going to discuss the history of the country. In fact, the history of the country - specially the last 40 years – has influenced the current economic situation of the country. Then we will try to explain this situation and understand the economic and social difficulties of Burundi and discover the actions of the international community which play an important role to help the country. To conclude we will discuss the future of the country.
[...] These ancestors of pygmy come from the West and speak a Bantu language. Between the 10th and the 15th century communities the Hutus, a nation of farmers, and the Tutsis, pastors from the North - establish in the current territory of Burundi. These three communities of different origins are similar to each other over time and share the same Bantu language: the Kirundi. In the 16th century, Burundi becomes a kingdom characterized by a hierarchical political authority. The king is called nwami, which represents the image of Imana, the supreme god. [...]
[...] In 1929, Belgians created a "school for sons of chiefs" to ensure the continuity of the system. The Belgians imposed an identity card in 1933 with the mention ethnic Tutsi or Hutu, which had the effect of accentuating the social distinction between the two ethnic groups, which was transformed later in segregation "race". The Hutus were subjected to forced labour in plantations, construction sites, sawmills. Moreover Belgians ordered the Tutsis to beat the Hutus. A strong dichotomy began. The distinction between the 2 communities meant that the Tutsis became rich and Hutus poor. [...]
[...] Conclusion As for the question: “will Burundi stay poor for ever? it's difficult to give a definitive answer. On one hand, Burundi suffered during the civil war and now the country wants to resolve its problems, we believe that peace will continue with trade and aid from international communities and organizations. On the other hand, the country has underlying weaknesses like high poverty, poor education, a weak legal system, and low administrative capacity. These weaknesses risk undermining planned economic reforms. [...]
[...] The Human Development Index (HDI) is the measure of life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living for countries worldwide. This indicator can measure well-being, especially child welfare. He can determine and indicate if a country is developed or an underdeveloped country: The HDI is an indicator included between 0 (very bad) and 1 (excellent) The HDI of Burundi is nearly 0,384. Even if it's better than in the past, the situation of standard of living in Burundi stays very bad. [...]
[...] For example we can see in 1985, the GDP was the highest (1,200,000,000 of the last 40 years. The GDP of Burundi in current US$ http://perspective.usherbrooke.ca/ Since the end of genocide, the economic situation becomes better than before concerning the GDP per capita (700$ in 2005). The GDP per capita shows GDP on a purchasing power parity basis divided by population as of 1 July for the same year. We can make the same about the GDP. The GDP per capita increases slowly. [...]
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