Bujumbura

Bujumbura, formerly Usumbura, city in western Burundi, capital of the country and of Bujumbura Province, at the northeastern end of Lake Tanganyika. Bujumbura is a trade and communications center, with ferry service to Kigoma, Tanzania, from which there are raillinks to Dar es Salaam. An international airport is located 11 km (7 mi) northwest of Bujumbura. The city is in a cotton-growing region, and lake fishing is also an important occupation. Plants in Bujumbura process cotton, fish, and coffee; and factories produce beer, cement, and pharmaceuticals. Bujumbura is the seat of the University of Burundi (founded in 1960).

The explorers David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley visited Usumbura in 1871. The settlement subsequently became an important army camp in German East Africa. In 1923 Usumbura became the capital of the Belgian mandate (after 1946 the trust territory) of Ruanda-Urundi. The city’s name was changed to Bujumbura when it became the capital of independent Burundi in 1962. Ethnic violence between Tutsi and Hutu groups in Bujumbura erupted in 1962, 1972, 1988, and 1991. After Burundian president Melchior Ndadaye was killed in a 1993 coup attempt, Hutu-Tutsi violence flared again. Thousands of Hutu fled the capital, which became a stronghold for the Tutsi-dominated army. The violence continued through 1996, and repeated clashes caused many deaths in and around Bujumbura. Population (1999 estimate) 321,000.