The first kingdom in Burundi was founded in the early 16th century, after Batutsi, said to be descendants of Nilo-Hamitic shepard people, gained power over the agricultural Bahutu, and established a feudal system. The first king, a Tutsi named Ntare I, established the area now known as Burundi in 1675. In the mid 19th century, Europeans began to explore the area surrounding Lake Tanganyika, which lies on the southwest border of Burundi. In 1884, Germany began to take interest in the area that is now Rwanda and Burundi.

Germany occupied the area that is now Burundi in 1903, and in 1910, "Ruanda-Urundi" became completely German-controlled. After World War I, Ruanda-Urundi became a mandate territory of Belgium. After World War II, the area became a Trust Territory. In August of 1949, Belgians recognized the border between Ruanda and Urundi.

Burundian independence was a messy process, as it was for other Belgian colonies. In 1959, serious genocidal violence occurred between the Tutsis and the Hutus, marking the beginning of an ethnic conflict that would plague the area for the years to come. This led to the Belgian issue of a statement of its plans for the future of the area. They worked with the Groupe de Travail (Working Group), which aided in the transition to independence. In 1960, more than twenty political parties formed and elections were planned in Brussels to take place between November 15 and December 8 of that year. In 1962, Ruanda and Urundi were given independence from Belgium and were admitted to the United Nations as the Republic of Rwanda and the Kingdom of Burundi. Days later, Burundi separated from Rwanda, joining the United Nations on September 18, 1962.

Since the severe violence in 1959 between the Hutu and Tutsi, which culminated in a genocide (Hutu eliminating Tutsi) in the early 1990's. Because the Belgians had essentially placed the Tutsi in power, inordinately enhancing the Tutsi ego and fostering within the Hutu an inferiority complex, the responsibility for this crisis lies largely in the hands of western powers. Belgian direct rule of the entire region severely affected the current state of Burundi. By looking at how all the former Belgian colonies are faring as post-colonial states, it is clear that these countries were affected severely by colonialism. Because the Belgian colonialists did little to prepare the countries for independence up until the last moment and did not provide much assistance afterwards, the states were deeply affected by their former colonizers.

In 1993, the Burundian president, Melchior Ndadaye, was killed in a military coup, and his successor was in the same plane as the Rwandese president, which was shot down over Kigali, Rwanda in 1994. This led to a police state in which the Hutu militants exterminated Tutsis and Tutsi sympathizers. Much media attention was given to Rwanda during this crisis, but because the ethnic groups transcend state boundaries, so too did the violence.

When the violence began to lessen, previously defeated president Pierre Buyoya rose to power. A cease-fire was adopted in 1998 and thus began the current transitional government, aimed at bringing peace, stability, and international acknowledgement to Burundi.

The current state of Burundi, which encompasses a hilly 27,830 square kilometers of land and water (slightly smaller than Maryland, United States), houses 6,223,897 Burundians. Burundi is still comprised primarily of the Hutu (85%) and the Tutsi (14%). The Twa (1%) is another ethnic group indigenous to the region, and a very small portion of Burundians are European or South Asian. Though Belgium ruled harshly, it never infiltrated the country in regards to population--unlike the British in Southern Africa. Some argue that Belgian colonial rule influenced the population by way of the genocide by inordinately institutionalizing ethnic differences. This argument, while quite valid and indubitably bearing truth, does not encompass the larger picture. Though the Belgians did influence the nature of the Burundian population, they did so indirectly.

Burundi's capital is Bujumbura.