Burundi was formerly a colony.
Burundi . For more than 200 of those years , Burundi was an independent kingdom , until the beginning of the 20th century , when Germany colonised the region . Both Germans and Belgians ruled Burundi and Rwanda as a European colony known as Ruanda-Urundi . Despite common misconceptions , Burundi and Rwanda had never been under common rule until the time of European colonisation . Burundi gained independence in 1962 and initially had a monarchy , but a series of assassinations , coups and a general climate of regional instability culminated in the establishment of a republic and one-party state in 1966 .