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Burundi -- Ethnic
Groups
In
Burundi the
ethnic groups
are the Hutu
(Bantu) 85%,
Tutsi (Hamitic)
14%, Twa (Pygmy)
1% (other
Africans include
about 70,000
refugees,
mostly Rwandans
and Zairians)
Non-Africans
include Europeans
3,000 and
South Asians
2,000 The
original inhabitants
of Burundi
are believed
to have been
a people called
the Batwa.
In the early
14th century,
Bahutu farmers,
belonging
to the Bantu
language group,
arrived in
the area and
established
their language
and customs.
The Batutsi,
descendants
of a herding
people, arrived
from the north
during the
15th and 16th
centuries.
They achieved
political
domination
through their
feudal system,
and founded
Burundi's
first kingdom
early in the
16th century.
They dominated
the area almost
entirely.
Although the
Bahutu, Batutsi,
and Batwa
preserved
their own
customs and
traditions,
a common Burundi
culture emerged,
with a common
language,
Kirundi.
Little
reliable information
exists about
the ethnic
composition
of Burundi.
The statistics
most often
quoted -83%
Hutu, 16%
Tutsi, 1%
Twa- are based
on a Belgian
census from
the 1920s
whose value
is disputed.
By all estimates,
the Bahutu
greatly outnumber
the Batutsi,
and the Batwa
number only
a few thousand.
Burundi hosts
a small international
expatriate
community
that consists
mainly of
Greeks, Arabs,
Indians, and
Pakistanis.
Hundreds of
expatriate
church and
aid workers
work in the
country, but
in recent
years have
often been
forced to
leave on account
of the nation's
violent conflicts.
Burundi had
a feudal social
system until
recently.
Even though
the Hutu (or
Bahutu) had
a numerical
superiority,
they were
like serfs
to the Tutsi
(or Batutsi)
who functioned
as the overlords
in this system.
For several
centuries
there was
a patron-client
system in
place called
ubugabire
in which the
Hutu became
indentured
labor in exchange
for cattle
and land.
This system
began to collapse
in the 1960s
as ethnic
violence erupted.
In 1965, some
Hutu tried
to seize power
through force.
They were
defeated and
at least 5,000
Hutu were
killed in
retaliation
and in the
repression
that followed
the coup attempt.
Source:
Groeslsema,
R. 1995.
Burundians.
In Worldmark
Encyclopedia
of Cultures
and Daily
Life.
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