republic · Horn and East Africa

Republic of Burundi

1966 CE – present · capital Gitega

The republic that replaced Burundi's monarchy in 1966, marked by military rule, mass killings and civil war before a fragile peace from 2000.

Origins

In November 1966 Captain Michel Micombero deposed the young king Ntare V, ending the Kingdom of Burundi and proclaiming a republic. Power rested with a Tutsi-dominated army and the single party UPRONA, founded by the independence hero Prince Louis Rwagasore, who had been assassinated in 1961.

Rule and society

After a Hutu rebellion in 1972 the army killed perhaps 100,000 to 200,000 Hutu, mainly the educated, in the killings known as the Ikiza. Further coups brought Jean-Baptiste Bagaza in 1976 and Pierre Buyoya in 1987. In 1993 Melchior Ndadaye became the first elected Hutu president, but his assassination months later started a civil war that killed some 300,000 people.

To the present

The Arusha Accords of 2000 and a 2005 constitution introduced ethnic power-sharing, and Pierre Nkurunziza ruled from 2005 to 2020, his disputed third term sparking a crisis in 2015. The political capital moved to Gitega in 2019, and Evariste Ndayishimiye succeeded Nkurunziza in 2020.

Lineage

Kingdom of Burundi 1680 CE – 1966 CERepublic of Burundi

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Republic of Burundi. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/republic-of-burundi
MLA
“Republic of Burundi.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/republic-of-burundi. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Republic of Burundi.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/republic-of-burundi.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Republic of Burundi’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/republic-of-burundi (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻