Burundi

 

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.

The franc is the currency of Burundi. It is nominally subdivided into 100 centimes, although coins have never been issued in centimes since Burundi began issuing its own currency.

Burundi's political system is that of a presidential representative democratic republic based upon a multi-party state. The president of Burundi is the head of state and head of government. The president is elected by absolute majority vote through a two round system. The supreme court is the highest court of the land. Judges are nominated by the judicial service commission and then appointed by the president with the approval of the senate.

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.