Louis Papy · 1982
In his joint review of two atlases, Louis Papy gives a strongly favorable account of Atlas du Burundi. Presented by Guy Lasserre, it was produced by geographers teaching at the University of Bujumbura with specialists from other disciplines and support from Burundian and French institutions. Papy praises its color plates, substantial explanatory texts, supplementary maps and sketches, and extensive bibliographies. He highlights the opening satellite-based map and the physical-geography coverage, including relief, atmospheric circulation, soils, vegetation and wildlife. He particularly values Guy Sottaux’s comparison of Belgian, French and American soil terminology and assessment of agricultural suitability. In the historical section, Jacques Marissal and Paul Vérin question the account of a recent Tutsi invasion imposing rule on Hutu cultivators, proposing instead a long coexistence of cultivators and pastoralists; Papy also draws attention to the treatment of the kingdom, colonial administration and social change. His discussion of rural geography emphasizes J. L. Acquier’s mapped examples from the central plateaus, Lake Tanganyika shores and the Rusizi cotton settlements, alongside the atlas’s accounts of food crops, commercial crops and livestock. He reports its warnings about severe soil erosion and notes that restoration and conservation plans had only begun to be implemented. The review also commends the health mapping and Pierre Sirven’s detailed treatment of Bujumbura’s neighborhoods, social structure and markets, while noting coverage of Gitega. Papy concludes that the well-executed color plates warrant direct consultation.
