| Bujumbura | |
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| Central Bujumbura, with Lake Tanganyika in the background | |
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Bujumbura
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Burundi |
| Province | Bujumbura Mairie Province |
| Area | |
| • Total | 86.54 km2 (33.4 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 774 m (2,539 ft) |
| Population (2008) | |
| • Total | 800,000 |
| • Density | 2,720.6/km2 (7,046.3/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CAT (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | none (UTC+2) |
| Website | Official site |
Bujumbura ( /ˌbuːdʒəmˈbʊərə/; French pronunciation: [buʒumbuʁa]) is the capital and largest city and main port of Burundi and ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton, skins, and tin ore. It is located on the northeastern shore of Lake Tanganyika.
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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 Burundi.
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. Bujumbura today stands as an undeveloped city, but remains to develop along with its country.
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]
It is also its own province, the Bujumbura Mairie Province.
Air Burundi, the national airline of Burundi, has its head office in Bujumbura.[2][3]
Bujumbura features a tropical savanna climate with distinct wet and dry seasons. Its wet season is from October through April, while the dry season covers the remaining five months. Despite being located close to the equator, Bujumbura is not nearly as warm as one might expect due to its altitude. Average temperatures are constant throughout the course of the year with the high temperature at around 29°C and the low temperature at around 19°C.
| Climate data for Bujumbura | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 34 (93) |
32 (90) |
32 (90) |
31 (88) |
31 (88) |
31 (88) |
31 (88) |
33 (91) |
33 (91) |
33 (91) |
33 (91) |
34 (93) |
34 (93) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 28 (82) |
28 (82) |
28 (82) |
28 (82) |
28 (82) |
29 (84) |
29 (84) |
30 (86) |
31 (88) |
30 (86) |
28 (82) |
28 (82) |
29 (84) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 19 (66) |
19 (66) |
19 (66) |
19 (66) |
19 (66) |
18 (64) |
17 (63) |
18 (64) |
19 (66) |
20 (68) |
19 (66) |
19 (66) |
19 (66) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 14 (57) |
15 (59) |
14 (57) |
15 (59) |
16 (61) |
13 (55) |
11 (52) |
13 (55) |
14 (57) |
14 (57) |
15 (59) |
16 (61) |
11 (52) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 94 (3.7) |
109 (4.29) |
121 (4.76) |
125 (4.92) |
57 (2.24) |
11 (0.43) |
5 (0.2) |
11 (0.43) |
37 (1.46) |
64 (2.52) |
100 (3.94) |
114 (4.49) |
796 (31.34) |
| Source: BBC Weather [4] | |||||||||||||
The University of Burundi is located in Bujumbura. Hope Africa University is located in Bujumbura Université du Lac Tanganyika is located in Bujumbura
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