蒲隆地

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正式名称蒲隆地共和国(Republic of Burundi)

非洲中部的内陆国。面积27,834平方公里。人口约6,224,000(2001)。首都:布琼布拉。主要种族是胡图人和图西人,分别占人口总数的4/5和1/5。最早的居民是特瓦俾格米人,占总人口约1%。语言︰隆地语、法语(均为官方语),以及斯瓦希里语和英语。宗教:天主教和地方传统宗教。货币:蒲隆地法郎。蒲隆地位於一座高原上,跨越尼罗河刚果河分水岭,分水岭呈北到南走向,最高点达2,760公尺。高原包括了鲁武布河流域,是尼罗河流域最南端的延伸部分。在西部,鲁济济河北连基伏湖,南接坦干伊喀湖。属开发中经济,以农业为主。现为军事政权,但有一个立法机构,国家元首政府首脑是总统(由总理辅助)。

最早是特瓦人定居於此,後来胡图人来此定居,逐步地超越特瓦人,到11世纪才完全取代其地位。图西人是三百~四百年後才抵达此地,他们虽是少数民族,但在16世纪建立了蒲隆地王国。19世纪该区属於德国的控制范围,但图西人仍握有权力。第一次世界大战後归属比利时,即卢旺达-乌隆迪托管地的一部分。第二次世界大战後成为联合国托管领地。殖民时期已加深胡图人和图西人之间的种族憎恶关系,在接近独立时更引爆了仇视情绪。1962年获准独立,以图西人统治的王国为形式。1965年胡图人起而反叛,但被粗暴地镇压下来。20世纪其余的年代只见两族之间的暴力冲突不断,导致1990年代被控诉有灭绝种族之嫌。1996年这个一直处於非常不稳定环境中的政府被军人推翻。

Burundi

Country, central Africa. Area: 10,759 sq mi (27,866 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 6,053,000 (not adjusted for casualties or refugees of recent war). Capital: Bujumbura. The population is divided primarily between the four-fifths who are Hutu and the one-fifth who are Tutsi. Its first inhabitants, the Twa Pygmies, make up about 1% of the population. Languages: Rundi (Kirundi), French (both official), Swahili, English. Religions: Roman Catholicism, local traditional religions. Currency: Burundi franc. Burundi occupies a high plateau, straddling the divide of the Nile and Congo (Zaire) rivers. The divide runs north to south, rising to 9,055 ft (2,760 m) at its highest point. The plateau contains the Ruvubu River basin, the southernmost extension of the Nile basin. In the west, the Rusizi River connects Lake Kivu in the north with Lake Tanganyika to the south. It has a developing economy, based primarily on agriculture. It is under a military regime. Normally, it has one legislative house, and its head of state and government is the president assisted by the prime minister. Original settlement by the Twa was followed by Hutu settlement, which occurred gradually and was completed by the 11th century. The Tutsi arrived 300-400 years later; though a minority, they established the kingdom of Burundi in the 16th century. In the 19th century, the area came within the German sphere of influence, but the Tutsi remained in power. Following World War I the Belgians took control of the area, then known as the mandate of Ruanda-Urundi. This was replaced by a UN trusteeship after World War II. Colonial-period conditions had intensified Hutu-Tutsi ethnic animosities, and as independence neared, hostilities flared. Independence was granted in 1962 in the form of a kingdom ruled by the Tutsi. In 1965 the Hutu rebelled but were brutally repressed. The rest of the 20th century saw violent clashes between the two groups, leading to charges of genocide in the 1990s. The very unstable government that existed in these surroundings was overthrown by the military in 1996.