Bujumbura

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 3°23′00″S 29°22′00″E / -3.383333, 29.366667
Bujumbura, Burundi
Central Bujumbura, with Lake Tanganyika in the background
Map of Burundi showing the location of Bujumbura.
Province	Bujumbura-Ville
Population (1994)
- City	300,000
- Urban	300,000
	estimated
Time zone	CAT (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	none (UTC+1)

Bujumbura (pronounced /ˌbuːdʒəmˈbuːrə/) is the capital city of Burundi. The city lies at the northeastern corner of Lake Tanganyika and, with an estimated population of 300,000 in 1994, is Burundi's largest city and its administrative, communications, and economic center. Manufactures include textiles and soap. Bujumbura is Burundi's main port and ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton, skins, and tin ore.

1 Growth
2 Maps
3 Statistics
4 References and footnotes

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 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), 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.

The city is also where a lot of the Disney movie George of the Jungle is supposed to take place (though the film's location bears very little resemblance to the real city).