Burundi P-33e 10 Francs 2007 UNC—Map of Burundi—Unity, Work, Progress

Banknote Characteristics

• Varieties: P-33e issued on two dates:
  • 2005-Feb-05
  • 2007-Nov-01, Signatures Gaspard Sindayigaya (Governor) & Leonard Sentore (2nd Vice Governor) — this note
• Front: Coat of arms over map of Burundi at centre. Text in French and Kirundi. Green print; pink underprint; black serial numbers.
• Back: Value in guilloche at upper right and lower left. Text in French and Kirundi. Green print; yellow underprint.
• Color: Green, pink, yellow
• Watermark: Not attested
• Composition: Paper
• Size: 107 × 54 mm
• Issuing entity: Bank of the Republic of Burundi
• Printer: De La Rue
• Demonetized: 29 August 2015
• Currency: Burundian franc (1962–date)

About Burundi

• Capital: Gitega (political); Bujumbura (economic)
• Population: ~13.5 million — similar to Illinois or Greece
• Area: 27,834 km² — similar to Maryland or Albania
• GDP (PPP): ~$10.5 billion USD (IMF 2026)
• GDP per capita (PPP): ~$730 USD (IMF 2026) — among the lowest in the world
• Main exports: Coffee, tea, gold, tin ore
• Borders: Congo (DRC) (west), Rwanda (north), Tanzania (east and south)
• Landlocked: Yes — access to Lake Tanganyika provides a regional trade route
• Languages:
  • Kirundi — 99% (official; Ethnologue 2023)
  • French — ~10% fluent (official; language of government and education)
  • Swahili — widely used in trade and border areas
  • English — official since 2014; limited everyday use; growing in education
• Sovereignty:
  • Kingdom of Burundi (pre-colonial, ~1680–1890)
  • German East Africa (1890–1916)
  • Belgian Ruanda-Urundi (1916–1962)
  • Kingdom of Burundi, independent (1962–1966)
  • Republic of Burundi (1966–date)

Burundi Unfiltered

• Burundi is the second most densely populated country in Africa.
• It has no coastline, no oil, and no diamonds.
• One of the world's lowest GDP per capita — and one of the most agriculturally self-sufficient nations on the continent.
• Coffee is the primary export. The hills are green. The country is beautiful in a way that doesn't make the news.
  
• Prince Louis Rwagasore was assassinated in 1961 — weeks before independence. He never saw the country he helped create.
• Burundi emerged from a twelve-year civil war in the mid-2000s. This note was printed in the first years of reconstruction.
• This series ran from 1981 to 2007 — through coups, civil war, and five different signature combinations. The note outlasted the governments that signed it.

Ten Francs, One Map, and a Nation's Entire Self-Portrait

The P-33 series ran for over two decades. The 10 Franc note was the workhorse of everyday Burundian commerce — passed between hands at markets, bus stops, and roadside stalls until it wore out.

The coat of arms over the map on the obverse is not decorative. It is a statement. Burundi is a landlocked country smaller than Maryland, surrounded by Congo (DRC), Rwanda, and Tanzania. Putting the map on the currency is a way of saying: we know exactly where we are.

Unité, Travail, Progrès. Unity, Work, Progress. The motto appears on both sides of the note — in French and in Kirundi — the two languages of official life and everyday life, side by side.

The 2007-Nov-01 date is the final issue of this series. Demonetized on 29 August 2015, it closed a chapter that opened in 1981.

Own the Last Issue of Burundi's Longest-Running Note

This is the P-33e — the 2007 final issue of Burundi's 10 Franc series, in Uncirculated condition. Crisp, unhandled, signed by Governor Gaspard Sindayigaya and 2nd Vice Governor Leonard Sentore.

A small note. A long story.