Bujumbura

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Bujumbura
Central Bujumbura, with Lake Tanganyika in the background
Bujumbura is located in Burundi
Bujumbura
Bujumbura
Coordinates: 3°23′00″S 29°22′00″E / 3.383333°S 29.366667°E / -3.383333; 29.366667
Country  Burundi
Province Bujumbura Mairie Province
Area
 - Total 86.54 km2 (33.4 sq mi)
Elevation 774 m (2,539 ft)
Population (1990)
 - Total 235,440
Time zone CAT (UTC+2)
 - Summer (DST) none (UTC+2)
Website Official site

Bujumbura (pronounced /ˌbuːdʒəmˈbuːrə/) is the capital city and main port of Burundi and ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton, skins, and tin ore.

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[edit] Description

The city center is a colonial town with a large market, the national stadium, a large mosque, and the cathedral for the Archdiocese of Bujumbura. Museums in the city include the Burundi Museum of Life and the Burundi Geological Museum. Other nearby attractions include the Rusizi National Park, the Livingstone-Stanley Monument at Mugere (where David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley visited 14 days after their first historic meeting at Ujiji in Tanzania), the presidential palace and the source of the southernmost tributary of the Nile, described locally as the source of the Nile.

Ferries sail from Bujumbura to Kigoma in Tanzania, while the city is also home to the Bujumbura International Airport and the University of Bujumbura.

[edit] History

Bujumbura grew from a small village after it became a military post in German East Africa in 1889. After World War I it was made the administrative center of the Belgian League of Nations mandate of Ruanda-Urundi. The city's name was changed from Usumbura to Bujumbura when Burundi became independent in 1962. Since independence, Bujumbura has been the scene of frequent fighting between the country's two main ethnic groups, with Hutu militias opposing the Tutsi-dominated Burundi army.

The market in central Bujumbura.
A view of Bujumbura Beach, west of the city

[edit] Administration

Bujumbura is governed by a community council and community administrator. It is further divided into 13 communes, or neighborhoods, each with its own neighborhood council and neighborhood boss.[1]

[edit] External links

[edit] References

Coordinates: 3°23′S 29°22′E / 3.383°S 29.367°E / -3.383; 29.367

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