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Updates: 

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter number I-4, dated 2002-12-10, adds the new Mwaro province to the list. I have inserted the new code for Mwaro province in the table below.

Change Notice 7 to FIPS PUB 10-4 is dated 2002-01-10. It shows that Muramvya province has split into a smaller Muramvya province and Mwaro province. Probably these are the same as the arrondissements of Muramvya and Mwaro, as they stood in 1978. According to a Burundi government press release  dated November 12 (no year), the Burundi parliament voted "this Tuesday" to split the province of Mwaro from Muramvya. It must have happened no later than 2000, because a U.N. map dated 2001-01 shows Mwaro. The same press release adds that the creation of two additional provinces, Bukirasazi and Rumonge, was being considered. Bukirasazi would probably be split from Gitega, and Rumonge from Bururi, if the project goes through.

The government Web site  also says (translated), "Burundi is currently divided into administrative structures among which the province is the largest. The country counts fifteen of them, namely, Bubanza, Bujumbura, Bururi, Cankuzo, Cibitoke, Gitega, Karuzi, Kayanza, Kirundo, Makamba, Muramvya, Muyinga, Ngozi, Rutana, and Ruyigi, to which must be added the urban province of Bujumbura. A governor leads each province. The province is subdivided into communes, each directed by a communal administrator. There are 116 of them. This administrative entity is in turn subdivided into administrative zones, and further into collines (literally, 'hills')." This was evidently written before the creation of Mwaro.

Were there fifteen provinces, or sixteen? Were there separate provinces of Bujumbura urban and Bujumbura rural, both equal in status to the fourteen others, or did they constitute a single Bujumbura province? The standards seem to agree in listing only one Bujumbura province. However, a number of Internet sites are now mentioning the provinces of "Bujumbura Rural" and "Bujumbura Mairie". (One of the meanings of French mairie is "municipal administration".)

My conclusion is that the table of primary subdivisions below probably represents the divisions of Burundi as of 2001-01-01.

Country overview: 

Short name	BURUNDI
ISO code	BI
FIPS code	BY
Languages	Kirundi (rn), French (fr)
Time zone	+2
Capital	Bujumbura

 

The territory which is now Burundi was part of German East Africa at the beginning of the century. In 1919, Ruanda-Urundi was mandated to Belgium. It consisted of two counties: Ruanda in the north and Urundi in the south. It became administratively part of the Belgian Congo on 1926-03-01. The two counties became résidences (residencies). In 1960, the Belgian Congo became independent; Ruanda-Urundi remained a colony. On 1962-07-01, when Ruanda-Urundi attained independence, the two counties became the countries of Rwanda and Burundi. The capital of Ruanda-Urundi, which had been known as Usumbura, changed its name to Bujumbura and became the capital of Burundi.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Burundi
2. Dutch: Burundi, Republiek Burundi (formal)
3. English: Republic of Burundi (formal), Urundi (obsolete)
4. Finnish: Burundi
5. French: Burundi m
6. German: Burundi n
7. Icelandic: Búrúndí
8. Italian: Burundi m
9. Kirundi: Republika y'Uburundi (formal)
10. Norwegian: Burundi, Republikken Burundi (formal)
11. Portuguese: Burundi, República f do Burundi m (formal)
12. Spanish: Burundi, República f de Burundi (formal)
13. Swedish: Burundi

Origin of name: 

Ethnic name Barundi, applied to a country

Primary subdivisions: 

Burundi is divided into seventeen provinces.

Province	HASC	ISO	FIPS	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)
Bubanza	BI.BB	BB	BY09	289,060	1,089	420
Bujumbura Mairie	BI.BM			319,098	87	33
Bujumbura Rural	BI.BU	BJ	BY02	436,896	1,089	420
Bururi	BI.BR	BR	BY10	437,931	2,465	952
Cankuzo	BI.CA	CA	BY11	172,477	1,965	759
Cibitoke	BI.CI	CI	BY12	385,438	1,636	631
Gitega	BI.GI	GI	BY13	628,872	1,979	764
Karuzi	BI.KR	KR	BY14	384,187	1,457	563
Kayanza	BI.KY	KY	BY15	458,815	1,233	476
Kirundo	BI.KI	KI	BY16	502,171	1,703	658
Makamba	BI.MA	MA	BY17	357,492	1,960	757
Muramvya	BI.MV	MU	BY22	252,833	696	269
Muyinga	BI.MY	MY	BY18	485,347	1,836	709
Mwaro	BI.MW	MW	BY23	229,013	840	324
Ngozi	BI.NG	NG	BY19	601,382	1,474	569
Rutana	BI.RT	RT	BY20	244,939	1,959	757
Ruyigi	BI.RY	RY	BY21	304,567	2,339	903
17 provinces				6,490,518	25,807	9,964
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Population: 1999 estimates. Source for populations and areas: Burundi Contacts  Capitals have the same names as their provinces.

Further subdivisions:

See the Communes of Burundi page.

The regions are subdivided into 114 districts, and the districts are subdivided into communes. Before 1979, there were eight provinces, subdivided into 18 arrondissements, which were further divided into 78 communes.

Change history: 

1. 1946: Under the colonial administration, Urundi was divided into seven territoires (territories): Bururi, Hinga, Kitega, Ngozi, Rutana, Ruyigi, and Usumbura. (Source: A. Michiels and N. Laude, Notre Colonie: Géographie et notice historique . Edition Universelle, Brussels, 1946.)
2. 1962: Name of Usumbura changed to Bujumbura.
3. ~1969: Mwisare arrondissement transferred from Bubanza province to Bujumbura province. The provinces then were as listed in this table.

Province	FIPS	Population	Area(km.²)	Arrondissements
Bubanza	BY01	293,221	2,670	Bubanza, Cibitoke
Bujumbura	BY02	386,041	1,255	Bujumbura, Mwisare
Bururi	BY03	398,614	4,680	Bururi, Makamba
Gitega	BY04	612,118	3,320	Bukirasazi, Gitega, Karuzi
Muramvya	BY05	342,722	1,510	Muramvya, Mwaro
Muyinga	BY06	494,140	3,535	Kirundo, Muyinga
Ngozi	BY07	714,476	2,595	Kayanza, Ngozi
Ruyigi	BY08	348,102	5,445	Cankuzo, Rutana, Ruyigi
8 provinces		3,589,434	25,010
FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Population: 1978 census Capitals have the same names as their provinces.

1. ~1979: Eight provinces were regrouped to form 15, as shown in the table of primary subdivisions above (except for Bujumbura and Mwaro). At first glance, it may appear that the new provinces are the same as the old arrondissements. This is not quite accurate. Bukirasazi has disappeared, almost all of it absorbed into Gitega. Mwaro has merged into Muramvya, and Mwisare has merged into Bujumbura. There were also a number of minor adjustments. The commune of Gihogaze was transferred from Gitega to Karuzi. Almost all of Giteranyi commune was transferred from Kirundo to Muyinga. Gitanga and Bukemba communes were transferred from Makamba to Rutana. Busiga commune was transferred from Kayanza to Ngozi. About half of Bukinanyana commune was transferred from Bubanza to Cibitoke.
2. ~1998: Bujumbura province split into Bujumbura Mairie and Bujumbura Rural.
3. ~2000: Mwaro province split from Muramvya (former FIPS code BY05, HASC code BI.MU).

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Bujumbura: Usumbura (obsolete)
2. Gitega: Kitega (obsolete)
3. Karuzi: Karusi (variant)
4. Muyinga: Muhinga (obsolete)