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75-644: (Redirected from Lake Region ) Lakes Region or Lake Region may refer to: Regions [ edit ] African Great Lakes region Finger Lakes Region, New York, United States Great Lakes region , North America Lakes Region (New Hampshire) , United States Los Lagos Region , Chile Turkish Lakes Region , Anatolia, Turkey Uwharrie Lakes Region , North Carolina, United States Willandra Lakes Region , New South Wales, Australia Education [ edit ] Lake Region High School (disambiguation) , multiple high schools Lake Region State College ,

150-642: A constitutional monarchy with Mwami Mwambutsa IV, Prince Rwagasore's father, serving as the country's king. On 18 September 1962 Burundi joined the United Nations . In 1963, King Mwambutsa appointed a Hutu prime minister, Pierre Ngendandumwe , but he was assassinated on 15 January 1965 by a Rwandan Tutsi employed by the US Embassy. The assassination occurred in the broader context of the Congo Crisis during which Western anti-communist countries were confronting

225-767: A complex power-sharing architecture that has been described as "associational" in its logic, as it aims to provide guarantees of representation for the Tutsi minority without entrenching the ethnic cleavage at the centre of Burundian politics. This institutional design provides an original contribution from Burundian negotiators and constitution makers to institutional options to manage ethnic conflict. Reconstruction efforts in Burundi started to practically take effect after 2006. The UN shut down its peacekeeping mission and re-focused on helping with reconstruction. Toward achieving economic reconstruction , Rwanda, D.R.Congo and Burundi relaunched

300-465: A depression between the Eastern and Western Rifts, formed by the uplift of the rifts to either of its sides. Around two to three million years ago, Lake Turkana was larger and the area more fertile, making it a center for early hominids . Richard Leakey led numerous anthropological excavations in the area, which yielded many important discoveries of hominin remains. The two-million-year-old Skull 1470

375-827: A far more determining role in Burundi's politics than ethnicity. From 1884, the German East Africa Company was active in the African Great Lakes region. As a result of heightened tensions and border disputes between the German East Africa Company, the British Empire and the Sultanate of Zanzibar , the German Empire was called upon to put down the Abushiri revolts and protect the empire's interests in

450-502: A means of obtaining or forcing an outcome, frequently along the lines of "bargaining" or "win-lose". The main objective was to transform the Burundian government and military structurally in order to bridge the ethnic gap between the Tutsi and Hutu. It was to take place in two major steps. First, a transitional power-sharing government would be established, with the presidents holding office for three-year terms. The second objective involved

525-468: A new constitution in 1981, which maintained Burundi's status as a one-party state . In August 1984, Bagaza was elected head of state. During his tenure, Bagaza suppressed political opponents and religious freedoms. Major Pierre Buyoya , a Tutsi, overthrew Bagaza in 1987 , suspended the constitution and dissolved political parties. He reinstated military rule by a Military Committee for National Salvation (CSMN). Anti-Tutsi ethnic propaganda disseminated by

600-486: A pre-colonial era African state. The early history of Burundi, and especially the role and nature of the country's three dominant ethnic groups, the Twa, Hutu and Tutsi, is highly debated amongst academics. The first evidence of the Burundian state dates back to the late 16th century where it emerged on the eastern foothills. Over the following centuries it expanded, annexing smaller neighbours. The Kingdom of Burundi, or Urundi, in

675-563: A private newspaper publishing company in New Hampshire Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Lakes Region . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lakes_Region&oldid=672285651 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

750-687: A region with great potential after independence, the Great Lakes region has suffered from civil war and conflict in the four decades around the turn of the 21st century ( c.  1980 –2020). In 2022 the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees commended Tanzania for consistently welcoming and aiding refugees from other countries in the region. The highlands are relatively cool, with average temperatures ranging between 17 °C (63 °F) and 19 °C (66 °F) and abundant rainfall. Major drainage basins include those of

825-464: A restructuring of the armed forces, where the two groups would be represented equally. As the protracted nature of the peace talks demonstrated, the mediators and negotiating parties confronted several obstacles. First, the Burundian officials perceived the goals as "unrealistic" and viewed the treaty as ambiguous, contradictory and confusing. Second, and perhaps most importantly, the Burundians believed

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900-634: A result of the Rwandan Revolution, many Rwandan Tutsi refugees arrived in Burundi from 1959 to 1961. Burundi's first elections took place on 8 September 1961 and UPRONA, a multi-ethnic unity party led by Prince Louis Rwagasore won just over 80% of the electorate's votes. In the wake of the elections, on 13 October, the 29-year-old Prince Rwagasore was assassinated , robbing Burundi of its most popular and well-known nationalist. The country claimed independence on 1 July 1962, and legally changed its name from Ruanda-Urundi to Burundi. Burundi became

975-592: A staunch regime of law and order and sharply repressed Hutu militarism. In late April 1972, two events led to the outbreak of the First Burundian Genocide . On 27 April 1972, a rebellion led by Hutu members of the gendarmerie broke out in the lakeside towns of Rumonge and Nyanza-Lac and the rebels declared the short-lived Martyazo Republic . The rebels attacked both Tutsi and any Hutu who refused to join their rebellion. During this initial Hutu outbreak, anywhere from 800 to 1200 people were killed. At

1050-565: A transitional government for Burundi was planned as a part of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement. The transitional government was placed on a trial basis for five years. After several aborted cease-fires, a 2001 peace plan and power-sharing agreement has been relatively successful. A cease-fire was signed in 2003 between the Tutsi-controlled Burundian government and the largest Hutu rebel group, CNDD-FDD (National Council for

1125-678: A two-year public college in Devils Lake, North Dakota, United States Lake Region Union High School , a high school in Barton, Vermont, United States Lakes Region Community College , Laconia, New Hampshire, United States Other uses [ edit ] Lakes Region Facility , a former state prison in Laconia, New Hampshire, United States Lakes Region League , an athletics league in New Hampshire Lakes Region News Club ,

1200-494: Is densely populated, and many young people emigrate in search of opportunities elsewhere. Roughly 85% of the population are of Hutu ethnic origin, 15% are Tutsi , and fewer than 1% are Twa . The official languages of Burundi are Kirundi , French , and English—Kirundi being officially recognised as the sole national language . English was made an official language in 2014. One of the smallest countries in Africa, Burundi's land

1275-570: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages African Great Lakes Countries in the area which are bounded by the lakes of the Great Lakes region include Burundi , the Democratic Republic of the Congo , Ethiopia , Kenya , Malawi , Mozambique , Rwanda , Zambia , Tanzania , and Uganda . The following are included on most lists of

1350-505: Is ethnically integrated. The focus of the UN's mission had been to enshrine the power-sharing arrangements in a popularly voted constitution, so that elections may be held and a new government installed. Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration were done in tandem with elections preparations. In February 2005, the constitution was approved with over 90% of the popular vote. In May, June and August 2005, three separate elections were also held at

1425-407: Is home to hundreds of species of birds endemic to Kenya. The flamingo wades in its shallows. The East African rift system also serves as a flyway for migrating birds, bringing in hundreds more. The birds are essentially supported by plankton masses in the lake, which also feed the fish there. Vegetation ranges from rainforest to savanna grasses. In some lakes, rapidly growing invasive plants, like

1500-536: Is hot and very dry. A short rainy season in October is followed by a longer one from April to May. The Western Rift Valley lakes are freshwater and home to an extraordinary number of endemic species. More than 1,500 cichlid fish species live in the lakes, as well as other fish families. The lakes are also important habitats for a number of amphibian species. Nile crocodiles are numerous. Mammals include elephants , gorillas and hippopotamus . The Lake Turkana area

1575-447: Is required. Civilians are victims of repeated acts of violence done by the FLN. The latter also recruits child soldiers. The rate of violence against women is high. Perpetrators regularly escape prosecution and punishment by the state. There is an urgent need for reform of the judicial system. Genocide , war crimes and crimes against humanity continued to go unpunished. In late March 2008,

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1650-563: Is used mostly for subsistence agriculture and grazing. Deforestation , soil erosion , and habitat loss are major ecological concerns. As of 2005 , the country was almost completely deforested. Less than 6% of its land was covered by trees, and over half of that being for commercial plantations. Burundi is the poorest country in the world by nominal GDP per capita , and is one of the least developed countries . It faces widespread poverty , corruption , instability , authoritarianism , and illiteracy . The 2018 World Happiness Report ranked

1725-896: The African Union Mission to Burundi , deployed to help oversee the installation of a transitional government. In June 2004, the UN stepped in and took over peacekeeping responsibilities as a signal of growing international support for the already markedly advanced peace process in Burundi. The mission's mandate, under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter , has been to monitor cease-fire, carry out disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of former military personnel, support humanitarian assistance and refugee and IDP return, assist with elections, protect international staff and Burundian civilians, monitor Burundi's troublesome borders, including halting illicit arms flows, and assist in carrying out institutional reforms including those of

1800-456: The Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west; Lake Tanganyika lies along its southwestern border. The capital city is Gitega and the largest city is Bujumbura . The Twa , Hutu and Tutsi peoples have lived in Burundi for at least 500 years. For more than 200 of those years, Burundi was an independent kingdom . In 1885, it became part of the German colony of German East Africa . After

1875-585: The First World War and Germany's defeat , the League of Nations mandated the territories of Burundi and neighboring Rwanda to Belgium in a combined territory called Rwanda-Urundi . After the Second World War , this transformed into a United Nations Trust Territory . Burundi gained independence in 1962 and initially retained the monarchy ; a 1966 coup replaced the monarchy with a one-party republic. Over

1950-587: The 1940s, a series of policies caused divisions throughout the country. On 4 October 1943, powers were split in the legislative division of Burundi's government between chiefdoms and lower chiefdoms. Chiefdoms were in charge of land, and lower sub-chiefdoms were established. Native authorities also had powers. In 1948, Belgium allowed the region to form political parties . These factions contributed to Burundi gaining its independence from Belgium, on 1 July 1962. On 20 January 1959, King Mwami Mwambutsa IV requested Burundi's independence from Belgium and dissolution of

2025-420: The African Great Lakes, grouped by drainage basin . The exact number of lakes considered part of the African Great Lakes varies by list, and may include smaller lakes in the rift valleys, especially if they are part of the same drainage basin as the larger lakes, such as Lake Kyoga . The Great Lakes region (rarely: Greater Lakes region) consists of ten riparian countries: Burundi , the Democratic Republic of

2100-648: The British Lake Force then started a thrust to capture Tabora , an administrative centre of central German East Africa. After the war, as outlined in the Treaty of Versailles , Germany was forced to cede "control" of the Western section of the former German East Africa to Belgium. On 20 October 1924, Ruanda-Urundi , which consisted of modern-day Rwanda and Burundi, became a Belgian League of Nations mandate territory , with Usumbura as its capital. In practical terms it

2175-688: The Burundian government was talking with the Hutu-led Palipehutu-National Liberation Forces (NLF) to bring peace to the country. African leaders began a series of peace talks between the warring factions following a request by the United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali for them to intervene in the humanitarian crisis. Talks were initiated under the aegis of former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere in 1995; following his death, South African President Nelson Mandela took

2250-413: The Congo , Ethiopia , Kenya , Malawi , Mozambique , Rwanda , Tanzania , Uganda , and Zambia . The adjective interlacustrine ("between lakes") can refer to the region, or more specifically, the nations or area bounded by the lakes. The Swahili language is the most commonly spoken language in the African Great Lakes region. It also serves as a national or official language of five nations in

2325-576: The Congo-Zaire, Nile, and Zambezi rivers, which drain into the Atlantic Ocean , Mediterranean Sea , and Indian Ocean , respectively. Forests are dominant in the lowlands of the Congo-Zaire Basin, while grasslands and savannas (dry grasslands) are most common in the southern and eastern highlands. Temperatures in the lowlands average about 35 °C (95 °F). Around Lake Turkana , the climate

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2400-467: The Constitution, judiciary, armed forces and police. The mission has been allotted 5,650 military personnel, 120 civilian police and about 1,000 international and local civilian personnel. The mission has been functioning well. It has greatly benefited from the transitional government, which has functioned and is in the process of transitioning to one that will be popularly elected. The main difficulty in

2475-686: The DRC. GDP per capita fluctuates between $ 600 in DRC and Burundi and $ 800 in Uganda. Burundi Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with population of over 14 million people. It is bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and southeast, and

2550-460: The Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy). In 2003, FRODEBU leader Domitien Ndayizeye (Hutu) was elected president. In early 2005, ethnic quotas were formed for determining positions in Burundi's government. Throughout the year, elections for parliament and president occurred. Pierre Nkurunziza (Hutu), once a leader of a rebel group, was elected president in 2005. As of 2008 ,

2625-452: The FLN sought for the parliament to adopt a law guaranteeing them 'provisional immunity' from arrest. This would cover ordinary crimes, but not grave violations of international humanitarian law like war crimes or crimes against humanity . Even though the government has granted this in the past to people, the FLN has been unable to obtain the provisional immunity. On 17 April 2008, the FLN bombarded Bujumbura. The Burundian army fought back and

2700-399: The FLN suffered heavy losses. A new ceasefire was signed on 26 May 2008. In August 2008, President Nkurunziza met with the FLN leader Agathon Rwasa , with the mediation of Charles Nqakula , South Africa's Minister for Safety and Security. This was the first direct meeting since June 2007. Both agreed to meet twice a week to establish a commission to resolve any disputes that might arise during

2775-468: The Great Lakes region was a polity ruled by a traditional monarch with several princes beneath him; succession struggles were common. The king, known as the mwami (translated as ruler) headed a princely aristocracy ( ganwa ) which owned most of the land and required a tribute, or tax, from local farmers (mainly Hutu) and herders (mainly Tutsi). The Kingdom of Burundi was characterised by a hierarchical political authority and tributary economic exchange. In

2850-522: The Hutu in the administration. They were arrested and jailed. A few weeks later, Buyoya appointed a new government, with an equal number of Hutu and Tutsi ministers. He appointed Adrien Sibomana (Hutu) as Prime Minister. Buyoya also created a commission to address issues of national unity. In 1992, the government created a new constitution that provided for a multi-party system, but a civil war broke out. An estimated total of 250,000 people died in Burundi from

2925-617: The Hutu-dominated Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU), won the first democratic election. He became the first Hutu head of state, leading a pro-Hutu government. Though he attempted to smooth the country's bitter ethnic divide, his reforms antagonised soldiers in the Tutsi-dominated army, and he was assassinated amidst a failed military coup in October 1993, after only three months in office. The ensuing Burundian Civil War (1993–2005) saw persistent violence between Hutu rebels and

3000-624: The Hutu-dominated police was carried out but failed. The Tutsi dominated army, then led by Tutsi officer Captain Michel Micombero purged Hutu from their ranks and carried out reprisal attacks which ultimately claimed the lives of up to 5,000 people in a precursor to the 1972 Burundian Genocide . King Mwambutsa, who had fled the country during the October coup of 1965, was deposed by a coup in July 1966 and his teenage son, Prince Ntare V , claimed

3075-613: The Ruanda-Urundi region. During the First World War , the East African Campaign greatly affected the African Great Lakes region. The Belgian and British colonial forces of the allied powers launched a coordinated attack on the German colony. The German army stationed in Burundi was forced to retreat by the numerical superiority of the Belgian army and by 17 June 1916, Burundi and Rwanda were occupied. The Force Publique and

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3150-534: The Ruanda-Urundi union. In the following months, Burundian political parties began to advocate for the end of Belgian colonial rule and the separation of Rwanda and Burundi. The first and largest of these political parties was the Union for National Progress (UPRONA). Burundi's push for independence was influenced by the Rwandan Revolution and the accompanying instability and ethnic conflict that occurred there. As

3225-514: The Tutsi majority army. It is estimated that some 300,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the years following the assassination. In early 1994, the parliament elected Cyprien Ntaryamira (Hutu) to the office of president. He and Juvénal Habyarimana , the president of Rwanda, both Hutus, died together when their airplane was shot down in April 1994. More refugees started fleeing to Rwanda. Speaker of Parliament, Sylvestre Ntibantunganya (Hutu),

3300-452: The communist People's Republic of China as it attempted to make Burundi a logistics base for communist insurgents battling in Congo. Parliamentary elections in May 1965 brought a majority of Hutu into the parliament, but when King Mwambutsa appointed a Tutsi prime minister, some Hutu felt this was unjust and ethnic tensions were further increased. In October 1965, an attempted coup d'état led by

3375-547: The constitution and was sworn in as president in 1998. This was the start of his second term as president, after his first term from 1987 to 1993. In response to rebel attacks, the government forced much of the population to move to refugee camps . Under Buyoya's rule, long peace talks started, mediated by South Africa . Both parties signed agreements in Arusha , Tanzania and Pretoria , South Africa, to share power in Burundi. The agreements took four years to plan. On 28 August 2000,

3450-610: The country as the world's least happy with a rank of 156. Burundi is a member of the African Union , Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa , United Nations , East African Community (EAC), OIF and the Non-Aligned Movement . Modern Burundi is named after the King of Urundi , who ruled the region starting in the 16th century. It derives its name from a word "Urundi" in Kirundi

3525-472: The early stages was continued resistance to the peace process by the last Hutu nationalist rebel group. This organisation continued its violent conflict on the outskirts of the capital despite the UN's presence. By June 2005, the group had stopped fighting and its representatives were brought back into the political process. All political parties have accepted a formula for inter-ethnic power-sharing: no political party can gain access to government offices unless it

3600-673: The government. However, smaller militant Hutu groups – such as the Forces for National Liberation – remained active. Between 1993 and 2003, many rounds of peace talks, overseen by regional leaders in Tanzania, South Africa and Uganda , gradually established power-sharing agreements to satisfy the majority of the contending groups. Initially the South African Protection Support Detachment was deployed to protect Burundian leaders returning from exile. These forces became part of

3675-420: The helm. As the talks progressed, South African President Thabo Mbeki and United States President Bill Clinton also lent their respective weight. The peace talks took the form of Track I mediations . This method of negotiation can be defined as a form of diplomacy involving governmental or intergovernmental representatives, who may use their positive reputations, mediation, or the "carrot and stick" method as

3750-523: The higher social status of Tutsi, some even made it to become close advisors of the Ganwa . On the other hand, there are also reports of Tutsi that lost all their cattle and subsequently lost their higher status and were called Hutu. Thus, the distinction between Hutu and Tutsi was also a socio-cultural concept, instead of a purely ethnic one. There were also many reports of marriages between Hutu and Tutsi people. In general, regional ties and power struggles played

3825-399: The killings. Analysts have called this period the beginning of the "culture of impunity." Other analysts put the origins of the "culture of impunity" earlier, in 1965 and 1972, when a small number of identifiable Hutus unleashed massive killings of Tutsis. In the aftermath of the killings, a group of Hutu intellectuals wrote an open letter to Pierre Buyoya , asking for more representation of

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3900-399: The local language, which means "Another one". Later the Belgian mandate to Ruanda-Urundi region came to rename it and their former capital "Usumbura" of both kingdoms by adding the letter "B" in front of it. Burundi is one of the few countries in Africa, along with its neighbour Rwanda among others (such as Botswana , Lesotho , and Eswatini ), to be a direct territorial continuation of

3975-587: The local level for the Parliament and the presidency. While there are still some difficulties with refugee returns and securing adequate food supplies for the war-weary population, the mission managed to win the trust and confidence of a majority of the formerly warring leaders, as well as the population at large. It was involved with several "quick effect" projects, including rehabilitating and building schools, orphanages, health clinics and rebuilding infrastructure such as water lines. The 2005 Constitution formalised

4050-424: The lower levels of this society were generally Hutu people, and at the very bottom of the pyramid were the Twa. The system had some fluidity, however. Some Hutu people belonged to the nobility and in this way also had a say in the functioning of the state. The classification of Hutu or Tutsi was not merely based on ethnic criteria alone. Hutu farmers that managed to acquire wealth and livestock were regularly granted

4125-442: The main livelihood for people in the region. With four Great Lakes on its borders, Uganda ranks as one of the world's largest producers of freshwater fish. The climate and rich volcanic soils in the highlands also sustain intensely cultivated croplands. The economies of the Great Lakes region states have different structures and are at various stages of development. The GDP real growth rate ranges from 1.8 percent in Burundi to 4.4 in

4200-520: The mid-18th century, the Tutsi royalty consolidated authority over land, production, and distribution with the development of the ubugabire—a patron-client relationship in which the populace received royal protection in exchange for tribute and land tenure. By this time, the royal court was made up of the Tutsi-Banyaruguru. They had higher social status than other pastoralists such as the Tutsi-Hima. In

4275-418: The nascent government, and when the ceasefire would begin. The spoilers of the peace talks were the hardliner Tutsi and Hutu groups who refused to sign the accord; as a result, violence intensified. Three years later at a summit of African leaders in Tanzania, the Burundian president and the main opposition Hutu group signed an accord to end the conflict; the signatory members were granted ministerial posts within

4350-473: The next 27 years, Burundi was ruled by a series of Tutsi dictators and notably experienced a genocide of Hutus in 1972 . In July 1993, Melchior Ndadaye became Burundi's first Hutu president following the country's first multi-party presidential election . His assassination three months later during a coup attempt provoked the 12-year Burundian Civil War . In 2000, the Arusha Agreement was adopted, which

4425-426: The number of people killed between 80,000 and 210,000. In addition, several hundred thousand Hutu were estimated to have fled the killings into Zaïre , Rwanda and Tanzania . Following the civil war and genocide, Micombero became mentally distraught and withdrawn. In 1976, Colonel Jean-Baptiste Bagaza , a Tutsi, led a bloodless coup to topple Micombero and set about promoting reform. His administration drafted

4500-563: The region. The German East Africa Company transferred its rights to the German Empire in 1891, in this way establishing the German colony of German East Africa , which included Burundi (Urundi), Rwanda (Ruanda), and the mainland part of Tanzania (formerly known as Tanganyika ). The German Empire stationed armed forces in Rwanda and Burundi during the late 1880s. The location of the present-day city of Gitega served as an administrative centre for

4575-510: The region: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Because of its high population—estimated to be 107 million people —and the agricultural surplus in the region, the area became organized into a number of small states. The most powerful of these monarchies were Buganda , Bunyoro , Karagwe , Rwanda, and Burundi. Being the long-sought source of the Nile and

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4650-641: The regional Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries . In addition, Burundi, along with Rwanda, joined the East African Community in 2007. However, the terms of the September 2006 Ceasefire between the government and the last remaining armed opposition group, the FLN (Forces for National Liberation, also called NLF or FROLINA), were not totally implemented, and senior FLN members subsequently left

4725-532: The remnants of the 1972 UBU, which had re-organized as PALIPEHUTU in 1981, led to killings of Tutsi peasants in the northern communes of Ntega and Marangara in August 1988. The government put the death toll at 5,000, some international NGOs believed this understated the deaths. The new regime did not unleash the harsh reprisals of 1972. Its effort to gain public trust was eroded when it decreed an amnesty for those who had called for, carried out, and taken credit for

4800-429: The same time, King Ntare V of Burundi returned from exile, heightening political tension in the country. On 29 April 1972, the 24-year-old Ntare V was murdered. In subsequent months, the Tutsi-dominated government of Michel Micombero used the army to combat Hutu rebels and commit genocide, murdering targeted members of the Hutu majority. The total number of casualties was never established, but contemporary estimates put

4875-472: The separation of two tectonic plates , often accompanied by a graben , or trough, in which lake water can collect. This rift began when East Africa, impelled by currents in the mantle , began separating from the rest of Africa, moving to the northeast. The basins that resulted from the geological uplifts filled with water that now flowed north. Lake Victoria is not actually within the Rift Valley. It occupies

4950-619: The surface-choking water hyacinth and shore-clogging papyrus , are problems. Water hyacinth have thus far affected only Lake Victoria. Until 12 million years ago, the bountiful waters of the equatorial plateau either flowed west into the Congo River system or east to the Indian Ocean . This was changed by the formation of the Great Rift Valley. A rift is a weak place in Earth's crust due to

5025-595: The throne. In November that same year, the Tutsi Prime Minister, then-Captain Michel Micombero, carried out another coup , this time deposing Ntare, abolishing the monarchy and declaring the nation a republic , though his one-party government was effectively a military dictatorship . As president, Micombero became an advocate of African socialism and received support from the People's Republic of China. He imposed

5100-520: The treaty would be irrelevant without an accompanying cease fire. This would require separate and direct talks with the rebel groups. The main Hutu party was skeptical of the offer of a power-sharing government; they alleged that they had been deceived by the Tutsi in past agreements. In 2000, the Burundian President signed the treaty, as well as 13 of the 19 warring Hutu and Tutsi factions. Disagreements persisted over which group would preside over

5175-610: The truce monitoring team, claiming that their security was threatened. In September 2007, rival FLN factions clashed in the capital, killing 20 fighters and causing residents to begin fleeing. Rebel raids were reported in other parts of the country. The rebel factions disagreed with the government over disarmament and the release of political prisoners. In late 2007 and early 2008, FLN combatants attacked government-protected camps where former combatants were living. The homes of rural residents were also pillaged. The 2007 report of Amnesty International mentions many areas where improvement

5250-613: The various conflicts between 1962 and 1993. Since Burundi's independence in 1962, two genocides have taken place in the country: the 1972 mass killings of Hutus by the Tutsi-dominated army, and the mass killings of Tutsis in 1993 by the Hutu majority. Both were described as genocides in the final report of the International Commission of Inquiry for Burundi presented in 2002 to the United Nations Security Council . In June 1993, Melchior Ndadaye , leader of

5325-450: The watershed triple point between the rivers Nile, Congo and Zambezi, the region had long been of interest to Europeans. The first Europeans to arrive in the region in any numbers were Christian missionaries who had limited success in converting the locals, but did open the region to later colonization. Increased contact with the rest of the world led to a series of devastating epidemics affecting both humans and livestock. While seen as

5400-476: Was appointed as president in October 1994. A coalition government involving 12 of the 13 parties was formed. A feared general massacre was averted, but violence broke out. A number of Hutu refugees in Bujumbura, the then-capital, were killed. The mainly Tutsi Union for National Progress withdrew from the government and parliament. In 1996, Pierre Buyoya (Tutsi) again took power through a coup d'état . He suspended

5475-516: Was considered part of the Belgian colonial empire . Burundi, as part of Ruanda-Urundi, continued its kingship dynasty despite the presence of European authorities. The Belgians, however, preserved many of the kingdom's institutions; the Burundian monarchy succeeded in surviving into the post-colonial period. Following the Second World War , Ruanda-Urundi was classified as a United Nations Trust Territory under Belgian administrative authority. During

5550-562: Was found in 1972. It was originally thought to be Homo habilis , but some anthropologists have assigned it to a new species, Homo rudolfensis , named after the lake (previously known as Lake Rudolf). In 1984, the Turkana Boy , a nearly complete skeleton of a Homo erectus boy was discovered. In 1999, a 3,500,000-year-old skull was discovered there, named Kenyanthropus platyops , which means "flat-faced man of Kenya". Fishing—primarily of tilapia species but also of Nile perch —provides

5625-509: Was largely integrated in a new constitution in 2005. Since the 2005 post-war elections, the country's dominant party has been the National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD–FDD), widely accused of authoritarian governance and perpetuating the country's poor human rights record . Burundi remains primarily a rural society, with just 13.4% of the population living in urban areas in 2019. Burundi

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