Part of the German protectorate of Ruanda-Urundi (1884), Burundi was made a Belgian mandate territory in 1919, and the kingdom of Burundi achieved independence on 1 July 1962. Four years later King Ntare V was deposed by General Michel Micombero, a minority Tutsi leader, who proclaimed the country a republic on 29 November 1966 and gave rise to a government under the control of the Union for National Progress (UPRONA).
The following years saw the Tutsi military forces consolidate their power over the majority Hutus, suppressing any attempt at rebellion (the years 1971-1975 saw more than 100 000 victims, the majority of which were Hutu civilians, with thousands more killed in 1988). Only in the early 1990s did President Pierre Buyoya initiate a cautious process of liberalization with the first multi-party elections (1993) won by the Front for Democracy (FRODEBU), the main Hutu party. However, the assassination of the Hutu President Melchior Ndadaye (21 October 1993) a few months later started a new wave of bloodshed which further intensified after the killing of new Hutu President Cyprien Ntaryamira, assassinated on 6 April 1994.
A first step towards reconciliation was taken with the writing of a constitution by the Transitional National Assembly in 1998. Following this, the rebel forces set up a political party (CNDD-FDD), winning all the elections since 2005.
In accordance with the 2005 Constitution, amended in 2018 to strengthen the powers of the President and the government, ethnic quotas have been established that call for 60% Hutu and 40% Tutsi in institutional roles. The President of the Republic is elected by direct suffrage for seven years. The Parliament is made up of two chambers; the National Assembly (100 elected members and others appointed to guarantee ethnic and women representation) and the Senate (36 members elected by indirect vote, 3 chosen based on their ethnicity and up to 4 former presidents) with a five-year term.

The country relies on declining international aid and is sensitive to the price of imported goods, which can cause high inflation and lowering the population’s purchasing power. The main products are coffee and tea, which account for most of its exports. Locally-consumed produce includes bananas, cassava, sweet potatoes, dry beans and maize. There is a significant amount of livestock farming and fishing on Lake Tanganyika. Gold, tungsten, tantalite and, recently, rare earths are the main mineral resources. There are small textile plants, shoe and cigarette factories, sugar and cement plants and breweries.