Gitega

Province

Gitega (formerly Kitega ) is the second largest city in the East African state of Burundi and capital of the province of Gitega, one of the seventeen provinces of the country. Gitega was the capital ( King City) of the former Kingdom of Burundi, the predecessor of today's Republic of Burundi.

Gitega in 2007 had a population of about 23,000 inhabitants. The city is located about 60 km east of the capital, Bujumbura, at an altitude of 1725 m on the river Luvironza, one of the headwaters of the Nile. Until the outbreak of ethnic conflict in 1972 Gitega residence of the kings of the Batusi was ( Tutsi ).

Gitega is located in the center of Burundi, is an important commercial center of the country and an important road junction. In Gitega we find the Burundi National Museum.

Gitega is also the seat of a Catholic archbishopric, which has a partnership with the German diocese of Eichstätt.