Bujumbura

Bujumbura, estimated population 300,000 ( 1994), is the capital city of Burundi. The city lies at the north eastern corner of Lake Tanganyika, and is Burundi's largest city and its administrative, communications, and economic center. Manufactures include cement, textiles, and soap. Bujumbura is Burundi's main port and ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton, skins, and tin ore. Bujumbura is located at 3°22'34" South, 29°21'36" East (-3.3761111, 29.36). [1]

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.

The city centre is a colonial town with a large market, the national stadium, a large mosque and a cathedral. Museums in the city include the Burundi Museum of Life and the Burundi Geological Museum. Other nearby attractions include the Rusizi National Park, a rock at Mugere marking what claims to be the place where David Livingstone and Henry Stanley met (although the meeting is usually thought to have happened in Ujiji) 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 an airport and the University of Bujumbura.