Bujumbura

Bujumbura, formerly Usumbura, is the largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. In late December 2018, Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza announced that he would follow through on a 2007 promise to return Gitega its former political capital status, with Bujumbura remaining as economical capital and center of commerce. A vote in the Parliament of Burundi made the change official on 16 January 2019, with all branches of government expected to move to Gitega within three years.

Bujumbura grew from a small village after it became a military post in German East Africa in 1889. After World War I it was made the administrative center of the Belgian League of Nations mandate of Ruanda-Urundi. The name was changed from Usumbura to Bujumbura when Burundi became independent in 1962. Since independence, Bujumbura has been the scene of frequent fighting between the country's two main ethnic groups, with Hutu militias opposing the Tutsi-dominated Burundi army.

Bujumbura is on the north-eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika, the second deepest lake in the world after Lake Baikal. The city also lies at the mouth of the Ruzizi River and two smaller rivers (Muha and Ntahangwa).

Bujumbura features a tropical savanna climate (Köppen: Aw)[5] with distinct wet and dry seasons. Its wet season is from October to April, while the dry season covers the remaining five months. Despite being located close to the equator, Bujumbura is not nearly as warm as one might expect, due to its altitude. Average temperatures are constant throughout the course of the year with the high temperature at around 29 °C (84 °F) and the low temperature at around 19 °C (66 °F).