Tutsi factions in Burundi and have crossed into
Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zaire (now called the Democratic Republic of
the Congo or DROC). Since October 1996, an estimated 120,000
Burundian Hutu refugees from the DROC have been compelled to return
to Burundi because of insecurity in the region. Continuing ethnic
violence with the Tutsi has caused additional Hutu to flee to
Tanzania, thus raising their numbers in the United Nations Office of
the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) camps in that country to
about 260,000. Burundian troops have joined armies from Rwanda and
Uganda and Congolese Tutsi in trying to overthrow DROC President
KABILA and restore security to their borders with the Democratic
Republic of the Congo.

Geography

Location: Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo

Geographic coordinates: 3 30 S, 30 00 E

Map references: Africa

Area:
total: 27,830 sq km
land: 25,650 sq km
water: 2,180 sq km

Area--comparative: slightly smaller than Maryland

Land boundaries:
total: 974 km
border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 233 km, Rwanda
290 km, Tanzania 451 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: equatorial; high plateau with considerable altitude
variation (772 m to 2,760 m); average annual temperature varies with
altitude from 23 to 17 degrees centigrade but is generally moderate
as the average altitude is about 1,700 m; average annual rainfall is
about 150 cm; wet seasons from February to May and September to
November, and dry seasons from June to August and December to January

Terrain: hilly and mountainous, dropping to a plateau in east,
some plains

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Lake Tanganyika 772 m
highest point: Mount Heha 2,670 m

Natural resources: nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat,
cobalt, copper, platinum (not yet exploited), vanadium

Land use:
arable land: 44%
permanent crops: 9%
permanent pastures: 36%
forests and woodland: 3%
other: 8% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 140 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: flooding, landslides

Environment--current issues: soil erosion as a result of
overgrazing and the expansion of agriculture into marginal lands;
deforestation (little forested land remains because of uncontrolled
cutting of trees for fuel); habitat loss threatens wildlife
populations

Environment--international