The Rundi people migrated from the country of Rwanda and speak the Rundi language, commonly known as Kirundi. Rwanda is considered part of Central Africa and is bordered by Burundi to the south, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west.

Rundi is a Bantu language spoken by 9 million people in Burundi and adjacent parts of Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as in Uganda. It is the official language of Burundi. Kirundi is also mutually intelligible with Kinyarwanda, an official language of Rwanda, and the two form part of the wider dialect continuum known as Rwanda-Rundi.

They belong to one of the three major ethnic groups in Rwanda/Burundi: the Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa peoples.