Posts
Ok let’s move onto central and southern Africa and area that
includes Burundi, Chad, Central African Republic, South Africa, the Republic of
Congo, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Let’s start with Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, it
is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the
African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with population of over 14
million people.
It is considered by some to be
the poorest country in the world and is one of the least developed countries. Over 1
million of its people are facing crisis levels of hunger today. This is due to
poverty, climate shocks, soaring inflation and fuel shortages.
The town of Gitega, located in the central part of Burundi as the Political Capital, while Bujumbura, which is in the southwestern of the country, adjacent to the Lake Tanganyika is the Economic Capital.
Prior to 2019 Bujumbura served as Burundi's national capital,
but legislation passed that year designated Gitega as the country's
political capital and Bujumbura as the economic capital. The transfer of
government functions to Gitega proceeded in the following years.
The original flag was adopted after the country's independence
from Belgium on 1 July 1962. It went through several revisions and now consists
of a white saltire which divides the field into alternating red and green
areas. The centre of the saltire merges into a white disk, on which there are
three red solid six-pointed stars outlined in green. The current ratio is 3:5, which
was changed from 2:3 on 27 September 1982.
Burundi has a diverse religious population, with the majority
identifying as Christian and a minority identifying as Muslim:
Christianity is the most common religion in Burundi, with about
three-fifths of the population identifying as Roman Catholic and more than
one-eighth identifying as Protestant.
Islam is a minority religion in Burundi, with Muslims making up
less than one-twentieth of the population. The majority of Muslims in
Burundi are Sunni, but there are also Shia and Ismaili communities.
A large minority of the population, including some Roman
Catholics, practice traditional religions.
The government of Burundi has granted tax waivers to religious
groups for the purchase of materials for development projects and for imported
religious items. The government has also provided opportunities for
religious leaders to preach about scriptures and moral issues.
This is another country that is not considered a safe
destination for tourists due to a number of risks, such as a threat of
terrorism, political violence, violent crime, including mugging, purse
snatching, pickpocketing, assault, carjacking, home invasion, grenade attacks,
and armed robbery and there is a risk of kidnapping for ransom, and criminals
have targeted foreigners in the past.
Not somewhere I would go.
