Burundi 🇧🇮
Burundi is a country in Africa with a population of 12,889,576. Its capital is Gitega. The official currency is BIF, and the main languages are Kirundi, French.
Quick facts
- Capital: Gitega
- Continent: Africa
- Population: 12,889,576
- Area: 27,834 km²
- Density: 463 people per km²
- Currency: BIF
- Languages: Kirundi, French
- ISO code: BI
Where Burundi sits
Burundi 🇧🇮 is one of 54 countries in Africa, with its capital at Gitega. It covers 27,834 square kilometres — 143rd in the world — and is home to about 12,889,576 people, 78th globally.
The countries it shares a continent with include Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.
How Burundi compares
Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Burundi sits closest to Benin and Tunisia. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Haiti and Equatorial Guinea.
At 463 people per square kilometre it is about 7.8 times the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by population than by area, so it is more crowded than its size alone suggests.
Kirundi is listed as official in Burundi alone. The BIF is used by Burundi and no one else.
To see Burundi next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.
How to remember Burundi
Burundi moved its capital in 2019, so older answers say Bujumbura (still the largest city) while the capital is now Gitega, in the middle of the country. For the flag, three stars in a white circle, one for each word of the motto.
The flag of Burundi: red, green and white
🇧🇮 The flag is a white diagonal cross dividing the flag into red and green triangles, with a white disc in the centre holding three red six-pointed stars. Red stands for the struggle for independence, green for hope and white for purity and peace. The three stars stand for the national motto, Unity, Work, Progress, and for the country's three main peoples.
Region and neighbours
Burundi is a small landlocked country in East-Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region meets East Africa, on the northeastern shore of Lake Tanganyika. It shares land borders with 3 countries: Rwanda, Tanzania and Democratic Republic of the Congo. Burundi is landlocked, with no coast on the open ocean.
- Rwanda 🇷🇼 — capital Kigali
- Tanzania 🇹🇿 — capital Dodoma
- Democratic Republic of the Congo 🇨🇩 — capital Kinshasa
Three facts about Burundi
- Gitega replaced Bujumbura as the political capital in 2019.
- Lake Tanganyika, on Burundi's western border, is the second-deepest lake in the world.
- Burundi is one of the places that claim the southernmost source of the Nile.
Sources: Wikipedia: Burundi, Wikipedia: Flag of Burundi, Wikipedia: Gitega, CIA World Factbook.
Quiz yourself on Burundi
- African capitals quiz — match Burundi to Gitega
- African flags quiz — spot the Burundi flag among its neighbours
- Landlocked countries quiz — Burundi has no sea coast
Quizzes that include Burundi
Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Burundi those are:
- Africa map quiz — place it on a blank map
- Africa flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
- Africa capitals quiz — match it to Gitega
- Burundi capital quiz — five quick questions starting with Burundi
- Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day
Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.
Read more about Burundi
- Capital of Burundi: Gitega — the capital in detail, with size and density rankings
- All 54 countries of Africa
Nearby countries
- Algeria 🇩🇿 — capital Algiers
- Angola 🇦🇴 — capital Luanda
- Benin 🇧🇯 — capital Porto-Novo
- Botswana 🇧🇼 — capital Gaborone
- Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 — capital Ouagadougou
- Cabo Verde 🇨🇻 — capital Praia
- Cameroon 🇨🇲 — capital Yaoundé
- Central African Republic 🇨🇫 — capital Bangui
- Chad 🇹🇩 — capital N'Djamena
- Comoros 🇰🇲 — capital Moroni
- Congo 🇨🇬 — capital Brazzaville
- Democratic Republic of the Congo 🇨🇩 — capital Kinshasa
Frequently asked questions
What are the colours of the Burundi flag?
The flag of Burundi is a white diagonal cross dividing the flag into red and green triangles, with a white disc in the centre holding three red six-pointed stars. Red stands for the struggle for independence, green for hope and white for purity and peace. The three stars stand for the national motto, Unity, Work, Progress, and for the country's three main peoples.
Which countries border Burundi?
Burundi shares land borders with Rwanda, Tanzania and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
How can I remember the capital of Burundi?
Burundi moved its capital in 2019, so older answers say Bujumbura (still the largest city) while the capital is now Gitega, in the middle of the country. For the flag, three stars in a white circle, one for each word of the motto.