Bururi Province is one of the eighteen provinces of Burundi. It was formerly Burundi's largest province until the communes of Burambi, Buyengero and Rumonge were transferred to the province of Rumonge when it was created in 2015.

Location

Bururi Province is in the southeast of Burundi. It looks over Lake Tanganyika to the west. It is south of Bujumbura Rural Province and Mwaro Province, west of Gitega Province and Rutana Province, and north of Makamba Province. The west coastal strip is in the Imbo natural region. Further inland it covers part of the Mumirwa natural region, Mugamba natural region and Bututsi natural region.

Overview

Bururi Province was created on 26 September 1960 as part of national political and administrative reforms initiated by the Belgian colonial administration in Ruanda-Urundi. Burundi became independent in 1962 and the province was retained in the new national constitution.

The provincial capital is Bururi. Bururi Province is home to the Bururi Forest Nature Reserve, a remnant Afromontane tropical forest. The Ruvyironza River, which rises in Bururi Province, is the southernmost source of the Nile.

Bururi is famous for the number of military and political leaders to have been born there, including three consecutive presidents (Michel Micombero, Jean-Baptiste Bagaza and Pierre Buyoya) following the country's independence.

Communes

It is divided administratively into the following communes:

• Commune of Bururi
• Commune of Matana
• Commune of Mugamba
• Commune of Rutovu
• Commune of Songa
• Commune of Vyanda