角鬥士

蒲隆地(Burundi)

正式名稱蒲隆地共和國（Republic of Burundi）

非洲中部的內陸國。面積27,834平方公里。人口約6,224,000（2001）。首都：布瓊布拉。主要種族是胡圖人和圖西人，分別占人口總數的4/5和1/5。最早的居民是特瓦俾格米人，佔總人口約1%。語言︰隆地語、法語（均為官方語），以及斯瓦希里語和英語。宗教：天主教和地方傳統宗教。貨幣：蒲隆地法郎。蒲隆地位於一座高原上，跨越尼羅河和剛果河的分水嶺，分水嶺呈北到南走向，最高點達2,760公尺。高原包括了魯武布河流域，是尼羅河流域最南端的延伸部分。在西部，魯濟濟河北連基伏湖，南接坦幹伊喀湖。屬開發中經濟，以農業為主。現為軍事政權，但有一個立法機構，國家元首暨政府首腦是總統（由總理輔助）。

最早是特瓦人定居於此，後來胡圖人來此定居，逐步地超越特瓦人，到11世紀才完全取代其地位。圖西人是三百～四百年後才抵達此地，他們雖是少數民族，但在16世紀建立了蒲隆地王國。19世紀該區屬於德國的控制範圍，但圖西人仍握有權力。第一次世界大戰後歸屬比利時，即盧安達－烏隆迪託管地的一部分。第二次世界大戰後成為聯合國託管領地。殖民時期已加深胡圖人和圖西人之間的種族憎惡關係，在接近獨立時更引爆了仇視情緒。1962年獲准獨立，以圖西人統治的王國為形式。1965年胡圖人起而反叛，但被粗暴地鎮壓下來。20世紀其餘的年代只見兩族之間的暴力衝突不斷，導致1990年代被控訴有滅絕種族之嫌。1996年這個一直處於非常不穩定環境中的政府被軍人推翻。

English version：

Burundi

Country,central Africa. Area: 10,759 sq mi (27,866 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 6,053,000 (not adjusted for casualties or refugees of recent war). Capital: Bujumbura. The population is divided primarily between the four-fifths who are Hutu and the one-fifth who are Tutsi. Its first inhabitants,the Twa Pygmies,make up about 1% of the population. Languages: Rundi (Kirundi),French (both official),Swahili,English. Religions: Roman Catholicism,local traditional religions. Currency: Burundi franc. Burundi occupies a high plateau,straddling the divide of the Nile and Congo (Zaire) rivers. The divide runs north to south,rising to 9,055 ft (2,760 m) at its highest point. The plateau contains the Ruvubu River basin,the southernmost extension of the Nile basin. In the west,the Rusizi River connects Lake Kivu in the north with Lake Tanganyika to the south. It has a developing economy,based primarily on agriculture. It is under a military regime. Normally,it has one legislative house,and its head of state and government is the president assisted by the prime minister. Original settlement by the Twa was followed by Hutu settlement,which occurred gradually and was completed by the 11th century. The Tutsi arrived 300-400 years later; though a minority,they established the kingdom of Burundi in the 16th century. In the 19th century,the area came within the German sphere of influence,but the Tutsi remained in power. Following World War I the Belgians took control of the area,then known as the mandate of Ruanda-Urundi. This was replaced by a UN trusteeship after World War II. Colonial-period conditions had intensified Hutu-Tutsi ethnic animosities,and as independence neared,hostilities flared. Independence was granted in 1962 in the form of a kingdom ruled by the Tutsi. In 1965 the Hutu rebelled but were brutally repressed. The rest of the 20th century saw violent clashes between the two groups,leading to charges of genocide in the 1990s. The very unstable government that existed in these surroundings was overthrown by the military in 1996.