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Languages Of Burundi
Burundi has three official languages: Kirundi, French, and English, where English became the third official language of the country in 2014. Of these, only Kirundi is spoken by the vast majority of the population. It is recognised as the national language by the Burundian constitution of 2005. Burundi is unusual among African states in having a single indigenous language shared by its entire population. In one estimate, 98 percent of Burundians speak Kirundi. Under Belgian colonial rule (1919–62), Kirundi was taught, whereas under German rule (1894–1916), Swahili had been encouraged. In recent years, the Burundian government has promoted the use of the Kirundi language as a way to unify the country's different ethnic groups. The country is considered part of '' Francophonie''. As a legacy of Belgian colonial rule, French has an important role in government, business, and the educated classes but only between 3 and 10 percent of the population speak the language flue ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constitution Of Burundi
The Constitution of Burundi was adopted by referendum on February 28, 2005 and promulgated on March 18, 2005. On May 12, 2017, a draft revision of the constitution of Burundi was announced. The final draft was announced on October 25, 2017, and provides for the creation of a post of Prime Minister, the transition from a five-year to a seven year presidential term, the term limit will be one consecutive and the threshold of adoption of the laws would go from two thirds to the absolute majority. With these changes, the Arusha Accords are ''de facto'' abrogated. In January 2018, during the campaign for the referendum, the Burundian authorities arrested opponents of the changes. Finally, the text also provides for the possibility of restoring the monarchy. The referendum was held on May 17, 2018. The proposed amendments to the constitution were approved by over 70% of voters. The constitutional reform was promulgated on June 7, 2018. See also * Constitution of the Kingdom of Buru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Culture Of Burundi
The culture of Burundi is based on local tradition and common influence with its neighbors. People Although referred to as ethnic groups the Hutu, the Tutsi, the Twa, and the Ganwa all share the same culture, language and land. In Kirundi, the national language of Burundi, these ethnic groups are called miryango, which can be translated to clans or tribe. Pre-colonial society Before colonization Burundi and Rwanda formed one kingdom, Ruanda-Urundi. The Burundian part of society was ruled by Kings also called Mwami. There are no records of discrimination during this time. Every clan was involved in royal duties, for inclusion purposes. While there were physical differences between clans, they all shared to same customs and beliefs. Colonial society Burundi's colonization started in the early 19th century, which is later than most African countries. First, German colonizers were assigned Rwanda and Burundi at the Berlin Conference of 1884/1885. Belgians than took over the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Islam In Burundi
Islam is a minority religion in Burundi where approximately 90 percent of the national population are followers of Christianity. Between 2–5 percent of the population identifies as Muslim, according to a 2010 estimate by the United States Department of State. The same year, the Pew Research Centre estimated that there were 230,000 Muslims in Burundi, equivalent to 2.8 percent of Burundi's 8.4 million inhabitants. Religion History Islam first arrived in Burundi from the East African coast with Arab traders in the late 19th century. The Arabs were prevented from entering the Kingdom of Burundi by a successful campaign of resistance led by ''mwami'' (king) Mwezi IV Gisabo. However, they did establish settlements at Ujiji and Uvira close to the country's current borders. The number of Muslims in Burundi increased under German colonial rule (1894–1916) and the German administration favoured the use of Kiswahili, spoken mostly by the Muslim population, over Kirundi. By the ou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Great Lakes
The African Great Lakes (; ) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. The series includes Lake Victoria, the second-largest freshwater lake in the world by area; Lake Tanganyika, the world's second-largest freshwater lake by volume and depth; Lake Malawi, the world's eighth-largest freshwater lake by area; and Lake Turkana, the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake. Collectively, they contain of water, which is more than either Lake Baikal or the North American Great Lakes. This total constitutes about 25% of the planet's unfrozen surface fresh water. The large rift lakes of Africa are the ancient home of great biodiversity, and 10% of the world's fish species live in this region. Countries in the area which are bounded by the lakes of the Great Lakes region include Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Zam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East African Community
The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation in East Africa. The EAC's membership consists of eight states: Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda, and Tanzania. William Ruto, the president of Kenya, is the current EAC chairman. The organisation was founded in 1967, collapsed in 1977, and was revived on 7 July 2000. The main objective of the EAC is to foster regional economic integration. In 2008, after negotiations with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the EAC agreed to an expanded free trade area including the member states of all three organisations. The EAC is an integral part of the African Economic Community. The EAC is a potential precursor to the establishment of the East African Federation, a proposed federation of its members into a single sovereign state. In 2010, the EAC ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Pidgin
A French creole, or French-based creole language, is a creole for which French is the lexifier. Most often this lexifier is not modern French but rather a 17th- or 18th-century koiné of French from Paris, the French Atlantic harbors, and the nascent French colonies. This article also contains information on French pidgin languages, contact languages that lack native speakers. These contact languages are not to be confused with creolized varieties of French outside of Europe that date to colonial times, such as Acadian, Louisiana, New England or Quebec French. There are over 15.5 million speakers of some form of French-based creole languages. Haitian Creole is the most spoken creole language in the world, with over 12 million speakers. History Throughout the 17th century, French Creoles became established as a unique ethnicity originating from the mix of French, Indian, and African cultures. These French Creoles held a distinct ethno-cultural identity, a shared antique la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Language
A second language (L2) is a language spoken in addition to one's first language (L1). A second language may be a neighbouring language, another language of the speaker's home country, or a foreign language. A speaker's dominant language, which is the language a speaker uses most or is most comfortable with, is not necessarily the speaker's first language. For example, the Canadian census defines first language for its purposes as "What is the language that this person first learned at home in childhood and still understands?", recognizing that for some, the earliest language may be lost, a process known as language attrition. This can happen when young children start school or move to a new language environment. Second-language acquisition The distinction between acquiring and learning was made by Stephen Krashen as part of his monitor theory. According to Krashen, the ''acquisition'' of a language is a natural process; whereas ''learning'' a language is a conscious one. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lingala
Lingala (or Ngala, Lingala: ) is a Bantu languages, Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser degree as a trade language or because of emigration in neighbouring Angola or Central African Republic. Lingala has 20 million native speakers and about another 20 million second-language speakers, for an approximate total of 40 million speakers. A significant portion of both Congolese diasporas speaks Lingala in their countries of immigration like Belgium, France or the Congolese Americans, United States. History Before 1880, Bangi language, Bobangi was an important trade language on the western sections of the Congo River, between Stanley Pool (Kinshasa) and the confluence of the Congo and Ubangi River, Ubangi rivers (Republic of Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo). When the first Europeans and their West- and East-African troops start ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loanword
A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term that is well established in the linguistic field despite its acknowledged descriptive flaws: nothing is taken away from the donor language and there is no expectation of returning anything (i.e., the loanword). Loanwords may be contrasted with calques, in which a word is borrowed into the recipient language by being directly translated from the donor language rather than being adopted in (an approximation of) its original form. They must also be distinguished from cognates, which are words in two or more related languages that are similar because they share an etymological origin in the ancestral language, rather than because one borrowed the word from the other. Examples and related terms A loanword is distinguished from a calque (or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francophonie
The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important as part of the conceptual rethinking of cultures and geography in the late 20th century. When used to refer to the French-speaking world, the Francophonie encompasses the countries and territories where French is official or serves as an administrative or major secondary language, which spans 50 countries and dependencies across all inhabited continents. The vast majority of these are also member states of the (OIF), a body uniting countries where French is spoken and taught. Denominations Francophonie, francophonie and francophone space are syntagmatic. This expression is relevant to countries which speak French as their national language, may it be as a mother language or a secondary language. These expressions are sometimes misunde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German East Africa
German East Africa (GEA; ) was a German colonial empire, German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Portuguese Mozambique, Mozambique. GEA's area was , which was nearly three times the area of present-day Germany and almost double the area of metropolitan Germany at the time. The colony was organised when the German military was asked in the late 1880s to put down a revolt against the activities of the German East Africa Company. It ended with German Empire, Imperial Germany's defeat in World War I. Ultimately the territory was divided amongst Britain, Belgium and Portugal, and was reorganised as a League of Nations mandate, mandate of the League of Nations. History Like other colonial powers, the Germans expanded their empire in the Africa Great Lakes region, ostensibly to explore the region's rich resources and its people. Unlike other imp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
