Burundi's population is heavily concentrated in the central uplands, where the climate is pleasant. Makamba, in the south-central portion of the country, and Kigwena, in the southwest, are also densely populated. The lowest population densities are found in the forested southeast, in the swampy east-central borderlands, and in the lowlands of the Rift Valley north of Bujumbura. Burundi's population remains overwhelmingly rural; only 7% of its citizens live in cities. The annual rate of growth for the nation's cities is 8.3%. The only significant urban center is Bujumbura, the capital.

Since independence, there have been traumatic population shifts due to massacres and to hundred of thousands of Burundians fleeing the country into neighboring Tanzania and the Congo. For example, an estimated 200,000 Hutu were killed by the Tutsi controlled army between April and September of 1972. In October of 1993, there was a Tutsi led coup and in the aftermath over 800,000 people fled Burundi.

Population: 5,537,387 (July 1998 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 47% (male 1,313,112; female 1,309,600)
15-64 years: 50% (male 1,331,336; female 1,417,228)
65 years and over: 3% (male 69,718; female 96,393) (July 1998 est.)
Population growth rate: 3.51% (1998 est.)
Birth rate: 41.61 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Death rate: 17.38 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Net migration rate: 10.84 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female (1998 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 101.19 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 45.56 years
male: 43.79 years
female: 47.38 years (1998 est.)
Total fertility rate: 6.4 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Source: CIA World Fact Book.