1. Description 1.1 Name(s) of society, language, and language family: The Rundi language, also known as Kirundi and Urundi, is the official language of the country Burundi and is spoken by the Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. Rundi is in the Bantu language family (1/4). 1.2 ISO code (3 letter code from ethnologue.com): The ISO code of the Rundi language is run (2). 1.3 Location (latitude/longitude): The latitude of the Rundi language is -3.00, and the longitude is 30.00 (3). Burundi is located in the eastern central part of Africa, and has a total area of 10,750 square miles. On a high plateau, the altitude of the country ranges from 2,532 feet to 8,760 feet (6). Burundi is slightly smaller than the state of Maryland (19). 1.4 Brief history: Three ethnic groups, Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa, all speak the same language in Burundi. This is very unusual and is “assumed to be the result of the Hutu outnumbering the latter two groups” (5). It is thought the what is now the country of Burundi was originally founded by the Twa people and between the seventh and eleventh centuries, the Hutu people came from the west, outnumbering the Twa and forcing them to “retreat farther into the forested highlands.” The Tutsi people came to present-day Burundi in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and they became the political and economic leaders of this region. As these groups began to interact with each other, they gained a common language, Rundi, and culture .the country eventually became independent in 1962, and Rundi still remains its principle language (6). 1.5 Influence of missionaries/schools/governments/powerful neighbors: The government is not trusted by the Rundi people, and this distrust leads to instances of assassination of political leaders. The government of Burundi provides health care only to people who are employed and earn a wage; this means the country’s problems in health aren’t being handled effectively. The residents of the country and the speakers of Rundi are very poverty-stricken, and the government has no plan in place for helping the people from problems “ranging from unemployment, to illiteracy and lack of education, to AIDS. Missionaries have been more effective in reducing these problems, especially the United Nations. They help with the grave problems of Burundi, such as smallpox, tuberculosis, malaria, malnutrition, and AIDS. Additionally, members of the Catholic and Protestant churches have been missionaries to the area to aid the inhabitants (6). 1.6 Ecology (natural environment): The country of Burundi is on a high plateau, and the lowest point in altitude is Lake Tanganyika at 2,532 feet and the highest point is Mount Heha at 8,760 feet. Forty-four percent of the land can be farmed on, but only 9 percent is currently used for permanent crops. A third of the country is pastureland. Burundi receives an average rainfall of 60 inches a year. The areas of higher altitude in the country are filled with trees; however, there is much deforestation and soil erosion throughout the country because of overgrazing and farming. Much wildlife fills the country including elephants, hippopotamus, crocodiles, buffalo, warthogs, baboons, and antelopes. Unfortunately, the lives of these animals are at stake due to development throughout the country and the lack of national parks, sanctuaries, or areas in which the animals are protected (6). 1.7 Population size, mean village size, home range size, density An estimated 8.7 million people in Burundi surrounding countries such as Uganda speak Rundi (2). The current estimated population of Burundi is 8.3828 million (7). The country’s population density was last reported in 2010 at 326.42 per square mile (8), and it has one of the highest population densities in Africa (6). The people of Burundi belong to different groups: Hutu (84 percent of the population), Tutsi (15 percent), and Twa (1 percent) (5). The Hutus are traditionally farmers, the Tutsi cattle-owning pastoralists, and the Twa hunters and potters (4). With only two urban areas in the entire country, 92 percent of the population of Burundi lives in rural areas. This consists mainly of “family groupings too small to be called villages that are scattered throughout the highlands.” However, there are several market towns near the rural areas that the Rundi speakers go to buy, sell, and trade goods (6). Burundi is “one of the smallest and most densely populated countries in Africa” (14). 2. Economy 2.1 Main carbohydrate staple(s): The diet of the Rundi people is mainly carbohydrates (6). The most common forms of carbohydrates consumed are beans (many kinds, but most common are red kidney beans), and rice. Additional carbohydrate staples include maize, cassava, and sweet potatoes (10). The third most “important staple food” are manioc tubers, which are an “important source of carbohydrates” (11). Other carbohydrate sources include plantains, bananas, and corn (12). 2.2 Main protein-lipid sources: The main sources of food for the Rundi people are carbohydrates, and protein sources, such as meat, account for only 2 percent of the diet. This causes kwashiorkor, a disease due to the lack of lipids and protein, to be common. Near Lake Tanganyika, fish is consumed (6). Because of the massive protein deficiencies in the people, Soya beans are recommended for the Rundi people to consume because they are a perfect substitute for animal proteins.” The Soya beans help make up for the shortages and expensive prices of meat and milk products (13). 2.3 Weapons: Bow and arrow, blowguns?: The Rundi-speaking country of Burundi has, in recent years, been a very war torn country between the Hutu and the Tutsi ethnic groups, and because of this, it is a very dangerous place to travel, and tourism is highly discouraged to this area (9). Though the major civil conflict ended in 2004, there is still much corruption and conflict in this area (16). Because the vast majority of Burundi speaks Rundi, and the majority of its people are of the ethnic groups of Hutu and Tutsi, this causes the country to have a recent history of a civil war. The weapons, unlike traditional, stereotypical African tribes, are very modern. This is because the language encompasses so many people in the country, not just a select few. There is an armed forces in Burundi, which includes infantry, air defense, and artillery battalions, as well as armored squadrons. The armed forces use the most advanced weapons available in this area, such as grenades and firearms (15). 2.4 Food storage: One major form of food storage the Rundi people use is baskets, which store both food and seasonings (6). However, it is very uncommon for the people to store food due to the massive food shortages across the country. Half of the entire population lives in great poverty at less than 1 dollar per day, and 70 percent of this income goes toward food, which is sometimes barely able to feed a family (17). 2.5 Sexual division of production: The main priorities of women are childbearing, childcare, and housework. However, in many rural areas, women also work in agriculture through planting because “their fertility is believed to be transferred to the seeds.” Women are never seen holding high, respected positions, and men handle most of the production of goods (6). 2.6 Land tenure: Originally in effect in the fifteenth century, the Tutsi ethnic groups own the land, and the Hutu worked for them. This is called “cattle clientage,” which means that the Hutu “cared for the land and the cattle but did not own it.” This caused the Hutu people to ultimately become possessions of the Tutsi, which was called ubugabire. When the country of Burundi gained independence in 1962, the ubugabire system gradually decreased by 1977. The majority of land is still owned by the Tutsi today , and the class division still exists in other sectors of the economy as well (6). 2.7 Ceramics: Because the rainy season in Burundi is quite long and there is no farming or harvesting during this time, the Hutu people find a cure to their boredom through art, including ceramics. These ceramics are the tan color of the earth or dyed black (17). The Tutsi people focus more on the art of basketry rather than ceramics. Basket making in this ethnic group is “the most widespread form of artistic expression” (18). 2.8 Specified (prescribed or proscribed) sharing patterns: There are no specified sharing patterns between ethnic groups because of the ethnic conflicts of the Rundi-speaking people. The economy consists mainly of subsistence agriculture, and “commercialization and nationwide distribution of daily necessities and foodstuffs are practically nonexistent.” The imports of Burundi exceed the exports by 266 percent, and the most important good exported is coffee (15). 2.9 Food taboos: The consumption of cow by the Burundi people is highly frowned upon because cows are considered sacred. The Rundi have food customs that are centered around the sacred cows. This includes the fact that milk cannot be heated, boiled, or consumed on the same day a person consumes peas or peanuts. Additionally, a family consumes a cow’s meat when it dies and plants the cow’s horns near their home in order to bring good luck to the family. 2.10 Canoes/watercraft? There is not much use for canoes and watercraft by the Rundi people because the country of Rundi is a landlocked country with only one major body of water: Lake Tanganyika (15). 3. Anthropometry 3.1 Mean adult height (m and f): The Tutsi ethnic group is measured as the tallest people in the world, at an average of 6 feet 6 inches tall (21).