Burundi is a small, very hilly country in the middle of Africa, a bit to the east. It has no coast. Rwanda sits above it, Tanzania along the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. More than ten million people live there, packed into a small space, so it feels crowded even though the land looks green and rural. Older learner books still say the capital is Bujumbura, a city on a huge lake called Lake Tanganyika. That is still the biggest city and the place with most of the business, and it is the name you will meet in many tests. Though actually, the government later made Gitega the political capital, so careful new writing may use both names. Most people speak Kirundi; French is also used in school and government, from the years when Belgium ruled the country. English is growing but is not the everyday language. Burundi is one of the poorer countries in the world. News stories often mention old fighting between groups called Hutu and Tutsi — the same groups you hear about in Rwanda, next door. The people are Burundians.