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Bujumbura grew from a small village after it became a military post in German East Africa in 1889. After World War I it was made the administrative center of the Belgian League of Nations mandate of Ruanda-Urundi . The city's name was changed from Usumbura to Bujumbura when Burundi became independent in 1962. Since independence, Bujumbura has been the scene of frequent fighting between the country's two main ethnic groups, with HutuHutu is the name given to one of the three ethnic groups occupying Burundi and Rwanda. The Hutu people are the largest group by far. 90% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians are Hutu. Culturally, it is something of an artificial division, based more on class militias opposing the TutsiThe Tutsi more correctly the Batutsi are one of three native peoples of the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in central Africa. Large numbers of them were slaughtered in the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. The exact origin of the Tutsis is not certain. Tutsis were-dominated Burundi army.

The University of Bujumbura is located in the city.