Gitega Province

Gitega is one of the five provinces of Burundi. Its capital is Gitega, which is also the political capital. It has a population of 725,223 as of 2008 and an area of .

History

thumb|Gitega Province before 2025

After Burundi attained full independence on 1 July 1962, there was a military coup d'état in which the king was overthrown and monarchy disbanded in 1966. When King Ntare V tried to reinstate his kingdom, he was assassinated in 1972 at the Royal Palace of Gitega.

On 26 April 1996, army attacks at Buhoro killed some 230 civilians. On 21 October, some 70 Tutsi students were burnt alive at Kibimba. In March 2007, President Pierre Nkurunziza announced that Burundi had plans to transfer the capital from Bujumbura to Gitega. According to him, the central location of the city makes it "an ideal place to better serve the majority of the population". The capital was moved on 24 December 2018.

Geography

Gitega Province is located in central Burundi. It has an area of and has a population density of 366.5 individuals per square kilometre.

Commune of Bugendana
Commune of Bukirasazi
Commune of Buraza
Commune of Giheta
Commune of Gishubi
Commune of Gitega
Commune of Itaba
Commune of Makebuko
Commune of Mutaho
Commune of Nyanrusange
Commune of Ryansoro

Demographics

Gitega Province is one of the seventeen provinces of Burundi and Gitega is its capital city. The province has a population of 725,223 and the Gitega Commune the largest population of 155,005; the least populous commune is Ryansoro with a population of 35,835. As of June 2000, 21,350 people were located in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, housed in 16 settlements within the province.

Climate

The climatic condition in Gitega, the capital of the province is moderate with an average annual high of 18 degrees c and a low of . The average annual rainfall is .