Kirundo Province
Kirundo Province | |
|---|---|
  Kirundo Province | |
| Coordinates: 2°33′7″S 30°5′39″E / 2.55194°S 30.09417°E | |
| Country |  Burundi |
| Capital | Kirundo |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Oscar Ruvuna |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1,703.34 km2 (657.66 sq mi) |
| • Rank | Ranked 8th |
| Population (2008 census) | |
| • Total | 628,256 |
| • Density | 370/km2 (960/sq mi) |
Kirundo Province is one of the eighteen provinces of Burundi. Kirundo is the capital city.
Geography[edit]
Kirundo Province is in the north of Burundi, bounded to the north and west by Rwanda. It is bounded to the southwest by Ngozi Province, and to the south and east by Muyinga Province. It has an area of 1,703.34 square kilometres (657.66 sq mi), or 6.1% of the area of Burundi, making it the 8th largest province. 88% of the province is in the Bugesera natural region, while 12% in the Commune of Vumbi and the south of the Commune of Gitobe is in the Bweru natural region.[1]
The south of the province is mountainous, and the central plateau has an altitude of 1,500 to 2,000 metres (4,900 to 6,600 ft). The north is lower, with an average altitude of 1,300 metres (4,300 ft). The Bugesera region has temperatures that vary from 14.8 to 27.1 °C (58.6 to 80.8 °F), with average annual rainfall of 800 to 1,200 millimetres (31 to 47 in).[1] The Bweru natural region has a slightly different climate from Bugesera. It has more rainfall, over 1,200 millimetres (47 in) annually, and a shorter dry season lasting 5 to 6 months.[2]
The province has eight lakes: Rweru, Cohoha, Rwihinda, Kanzigiri, Gacamirindi, Nagitamo, Narungazi and Mwungere.[3]
Communes[edit]
Kirundo Province is divided administratively into the communes of Bugabira, Busoni, Bwambarangwe, Gitobe, Kirundo, Ntega and Vumbi. These in turn are divided into 193 collines.[2] As of 2008, when the last census was taken, the population was:[4]
| Kirundo | Province | 628,256 |
|---|---|---|
| Bugabira | Commune | 89,259 |
| Busoni | Commune | 145,424 |
| Bwambarangwe | Commune | 66,816 |
| Gitobe | Commune | 57,326 |
| Kirundo | Commune | 93,110 |
| Ntega | Commune | 98,665 |
| Vumbi | Commune | 77,656 |
History[edit]
Kirundo Province was formerly called Muharuro. During battles between the Rwandans and Barundi in Muharuro in 1763 at Mount Shinge and Mount Rugero, near the provincial capital, the Rwandans were decisively defeated through tactics of the troops of King Mutaga Senyamwiza. The province took its current name of Kirundo (pile) from the piles of corpses of Rwandans killed there in the battle.[5]
Until 1970 some of the communes of Kirundo province were uninhabited, and covered in forest. Then migrants from Ngozi and Kayanza came to the province and cleared the forests to create arable land. In the 1980s the Burundi Tobacco Company (BTC) started to clear large areas of forest to supply wood to the ovens used to dry tobacco, but did not undertake reforestation. The result was drought.[3]
In November 2021 Cyriaque Nshimirimana, second vice-president of the Senate of Burundi, who represented the Kirundo constituency, met leaders of the province in the capital of the Commune of Ntega. His audience included heads of provincial and municipal services, colline chiefs, leaders of the Sangwe cooperatives and religious leaders. He urged them to preserve peace and security, fight drunkenness, polygamy, unwanted pregnancies and corruption, limit births, send their children to school, continue to build the offices of colline chiefs and join cooperatives to accomplish development projects together. He advised the leaders of cooperatives to be fiscally prudent and transparent. Concerns raised by the audience included the need to repair the Rurata–Ntega road, the lack of teachers and teaching materials in the vocational schools, and the lack of a regional branch of the Banque d’Investissement pour les Jeunes (Investment Bank for Youth).[6]
Economy[edit]
In the past, farmers in Kirundo province produced goods for sale in the markets. More recently, they have turned to farming for comsumption by the family. Reasons for this change include inadequate labor, agricultural equipment and agricultural inputs, poor protection of the soil, persistant conflicts over land ownership and lack of microcredit.[7]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Minani, Rurema & Lebailly 2013, p. 3.
- ^ a b Minani, Rurema & Lebailly 2013, p. 4.
- ^ a b Récoltes : Kirundo aux anges.
- ^ Brinkhoff.
- ^ Nyandwi 2019.
- ^ La population de la province ... Senat.
- ^ Minani, Rurema & Lebailly 2013, p. 1.
Sources[edit]
- Brinkhoff, Thomas, "BURUNDI: Administrative Division", City Population, retrieved 2024-06-08
- La population de la province Kirundo interpellée à préserver la paix et la sécurité (in French), Senate of Burundi, 29 November 2021, retrieved 2024-06-08
- Minani, Bonaventure; Rurema, Déo-Guide; Lebailly, Philippe (2013), Analyse et stratégies de l’agriculture familiale dans un pays post-conflit : cas de la province de Kirundo au nord du Burundi (PDF) (in French), retrieved 2024-06-08
- Nyandwi, Dieudonné (29 August 2019), Festival Igihugu: les festivaliers visitent les mots Shinge et Rugero (in French), Radio Télévision Nationale du Burundi, retrieved 2024-06-08
- "Récoltes : Kirundo aux anges, mais …", IWACU (in French), 5 May 2013, retrieved 2024-06-08
