Gitega [key], city, capital of Burundi and of Gitega prov., central Burundi. It is an administrative, trade, and communications center. Construction materials are manufactured, and there are cinchona plantations in the surrounding region. Gitega is the seat of an agricultural university and the National Museum. Gitega, then known as Kitega, served as the administrative center for Urundi (Burundi) in Belgian-administered Ruanda-Urundi. The city's central location led Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza to propose (2007) moving the national capital there from Bujumbura, and in 2019 the government approved the move, which is expected to be completed by 2021.
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