Burunga

{{short description|Province of Burundi}} {{For|the locality in Panama|Burunga, Panama}} {{Infobox settlement  | name = Burunga | native_name = | native_name_lang =  | settlement_type = Province | image_skyline = Nkayamba, La Magie de la Nature à Votre Portée.jpg | image_alt = | image_caption = Rumonge, the largest town in Burunga | image_flag = | flag_alt = | image_seal = | seal_alt = | image_shield = | shield_alt = | nickname = | motto = | image_map = Burunga in Burundi.svg | map_alt = | map_caption = Location of Burunga in Burundi | pushpin_map = | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption = | coordinates = {{coord|4|S|30|E|display=inline,title|region:BI_type:adm2nd_source:GNS-enwiki}} | coor_pinpoint = | coordinates_footnotes = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{Flag|Burundi}} | subdivision_type1 = | subdivision_name1 = | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | established_title = Inaugurated | established_date = 2025 | founder = | seat_type = Capital | seat = Makamba | government_footnotes = | leader_party = CNDD-FDD | leader_title = Governor | leader_name = Parfait Mboninyibuka  | area_footnotes = <ref name=citypop>{{cite web |last=Brinkhoff |first=Thomas |url=https://citypopulation.de/en/burundi/admin/ |title=Burundi: Administrative Division |website=City Population |date=7 June 2025 |access-date=27 July 2025}}</ref> | area_water_percent = | area_rank = | area_blank1_title = | area_blank2_title =  | area_total_km2 = 6206 | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = | area_urban_km2 = | area_rural_km2 = | area_metro_km2 = | area_blank1_km2 = | area_blank2_km2 = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | population_footnotes = <ref name=citypop/> | population_total = 2118551 | population_as_of = 2024 census | population_density_km2 = auto | population_demonym = | timezone1 = CAT | utc_offset1 = +2 | timezone1_DST = | utc_offset1_DST = | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | area_code_type = | area_code = | iso_code = | website =  | footnotes = }} '''Burunga''' is the largest of Burundi's five provinces by area. It covers an area of {{convert|6206|km2}} and recorded a population of 2,118,551 in the 2024 Burundian census.<ref name=citypop/> The province's capital is Makamba,<ref name=law /> while Rumonge is its largest town, reporting a population of 35,931 in the 2008 Burundian census.<ref>{{cite web |last=Brinkhoff |first=Thomas |url=https://citypopulation.de/en/burundi/cities/ |title=Burundi |website=City Population |date=8 June 2025 |access-date=27 July 2025}}</ref>

==Geography== [[File:La chute de karera nyakayi 1 à Rutana.jpg|thumb|One of the cascades at Karera Falls.]] Located in southern Burundi, Burunga borders Lake Tanganyika to the west, the Burundian provinces of Bujumbura, Gitega and Buhumuza to the northwest, north and northeast respectively, and Tanzania's Kigoma Region to the east and south. The Kibimbi and Inanzerwe massifs on the Bututsi plateau in the centre of the province divide the Imbo plain along Lake Tanganyika and Mumirwa foothills from the Moso and Buragane lowlands to the east.<ref>{{cite report |last1=Nduwayezu |first1=Gérard |last2=Fofo |first2=Alphonse |last3=Masabo |first3=Onesphore |last4=Bukuru |first4=Désiré |last5=Ahishakiye |first5=Jérôme |last6=Nindorera |first6=Damien |date=1 January 2023 |title=Paysages Protégées de Kibimbi-Inanzerwe: Etude d’identification |language=fr |url=https://bi.chm-cbd.net/sites/bi/files/2024-04/etud-identif-ppki-bis.pdf |page=4 |publisher=Office Burundais pour la Protection de l’Environnement |location=Gitega |access-date=27 July 2025}}</ref>

Burunga contains five of Burundi's six nature reserves: Bururi Forest Nature Reserve, Malagarazi Nature Reserve, Kigwena Nature Reserve, Rumonge Nature Reserve, and Vyanda Forest Nature Reserve.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.protectedplanet.net/country/BDI |title=Burundi |website=World Database on Protected Areas |publisher=Protected Planet |access-date=27 July 2025}}</ref> The Makamba Protected Landscapes are also located in the province.<ref>{{cite map |last=Tuyisenge |first=Cedric |date=16 January 2023 |title=Location map of Makamba Protected Landscapes |url=https://bi.chm-cbd.net/sites/bi/files/2023-01/cart-paysag-proteg-makamba_0.pdf |publisher=Conservation et Communauté de Changement (3C) |website=Biodiversité du Burundi |access-date=27 July 2025}}</ref> Three sites in Burunga are on Burundi's list of Tentative World Heritage Sites: Karera Falls and Nyakazu Gorge (also known as German Gorge<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bradt |first1=Hilary |authorlink=Hilary Bradt |edition=3rd |year=1989 |title=Backpacker's Africa |url=https://archive.org/details/backpackersafric0000brad |publisher=Bradt Travel Guides |page=137 |isbn=0-946983-20-8 |access-date=July 3, 2025}}</ref>) in the commune of Musongati, and the southernmost source of the Nile at Gasumo on Mount Kikizi in the commune of Bururi.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/bi/ |title=Burundi |website=World Heritage Convention |publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |access-date=27 July 2025}}</ref>

==History== On 16 March 2023, President of Burundi Évariste Ndayishimiye signed into law a reorganization of Burundi's administrative divisions,<ref name=law>{{cite web |last=Ndayishimiye |first=Évariste |author-link=Évariste Ndayishimiye |date=16 March 2023 |title= Loi Organique N° 1/05 du 16 Mars 2023 portant détermination et délimitation des provinces, des communes, des zones, des collines et/ou quartiers de la République du Burundi |language=fr |url=https://www.ceniburundi.bi/loi-organique-n-1-05-du-16-mars-2023-portant-determination-et-delimitation-des-provinces-des-communes-des-zones-des-collines-et-ou-quartiers-de-la-republique-du-burundi |access-date=27 July 2025 |publisher=CENI Burundi}}</ref> which included the reduction of Burundi's provinces from eighteen to five.<ref name=projet>{{cite web |url=https://www.senat.bi/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/PROJET-DE-LOI-ORGANIQUE-PORTANT-DELIM-DES-PROVINCES-DE-1-A-50.pdf |title= Projet de loi organique portant délimitation des provinces, des communes, des zones, des collines/quartiers de la République du Burundi |access-date=27 July 2025 |publisher=Senate of Burundi}}</ref> Burunga was created from the former provinces of Bururi, Makamba and Rutana, the communes of Burambi, Buyengero and Rumonge formerly part of Rumonge Province, and the zone of Mahwa formerly part of the commune of Ryansoro in Gitega Province.<ref name=projet /> The new provinces took effect with Burundi's 2025 parliamentary and local elections. Burunga's first governor Parfait Mboninyibuka was sworn in on 4 July 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 July 2025 |title=Senate approves Five New Provincial Governors After Major Administrative Reform |url=https://breakingburundi.com/burundi-senate-approves-five-new-provincial-governors-after-major-administrative-reform/ |access-date=3 July 2025 |website=Breaking Burundi}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Manirakiza |first=Patrick |date=6 July 2025 |title=Burundi’s new Governors sworn in following major provincial reforms |url=https://www.burunditimes.com/burundis-new-governors-sworn-in-following-major-provincial-reforms/ |access-date=27 July 2025 |website=Burundi Times}}</ref>

Burunga is named after a region of southern Burundi described in the Nkoma cycle of Burundian oral tradition as being conquered by Ntare Rushatsi on his way to founding the kingdom of Burundi.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Guillet |editor-first1=Claude |editor-last2=Ndayishinguje |editor-first2=Pascal |year=1987 |title=Légendes historiques du Burundi |language=fr |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6AZqpZuBMq4C&pg=PA48 |publisher=Éditions Karthala |pages=26,48 |issn=0290-6600 |access-date=July 3, 2025}}</ref> Historically this part of Burundi has been a zone of commercial exchange between the central plateau and the Imbo and Moso lowlands.<ref name=projet /> Since the 1980s, SOSUMO has grown and processed sugarcane around Gihofi.<ref>{{cite journal |language=fr |doi=10.4000/eastafrica.1535 |journal=Les Cahiers d'Afrique de l'Est / The East African Review |volume=56 |year=2021 |last=Iriho |first=Clovis |title=Le travail ouvrier au Burundi : identité et conditions socio-économiques des ouvriers de l’usine sucrière de la SOSUMO}}</ref>

==Communes== Burunga is divided into seven communes: Bururi, Makamba, Matana, Musongati, Nyanza, Rumonge, and Rutana.<ref name=law />

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Provinces of Burundi Category:States and territories established in 2025 Category:2025 establishments in Burundi