Rwanda

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Rwanda is a country in central Africa. It is bordered by Uganda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. The indigenous population consists of three ethnic groups. The Hutus, who comprise the majority of the population, are farmers of Bantu origin. The Tutsis are a pastoral people who arrived in the area in the 15th century. Until 1959, they formed the dominant caste under a feudal system based on cattleholding. The Twa are thought to be the remnants of the earliest settlers of the region.

Repubulika y'u Rwanda
Republique Rwandaise
Republic of Rwanda

(In Detail) (Full size)
National motto: Liberty, Cooperation, Progress
Official languages	French, Kinyarwanda, English, Swahili
Capital	Kigali
President	Paul Kagame
Prime Minister	Bernard Makuza
Area  - Total  - % water	Ranked 144th 26,338 km² 5.3%
Population  - Total  - Density	Ranked 91st 7,312,756 281/km²
Independence  - Declared	From Belgium July 1, 1962
Currency	Rwandan franc
Time zone	UTC +2
National anthem	Rwanda nziza
Internet TLD	.rw
Calling Code	250

History

Main article: History of Rwanda

The earliest known inhabitants of the region now known as Rwanda were the pygmy Twa. At later stages groups known as Hutus and Tutsis also settled in the same region.

In 1895 Rwanda became a German colony. However at early stages the Germans were completely dependent on the indigenous government. The colonizers favoured Tutsis over Hutus, creating a bigger gap between the two than had existed before. After Germany's loss in World War I, the colony was taken over by Belgium. Belgian rule in the region was far more direct and far harsher than that of the Germans. Belgian forced labour policies were mainly enforced by Tutsis, further polarising the Hutu-Tutsi situation.

After World War II Rwanda became a UN trust territory with Belgium as the administrative authority. Through a series of prosesses such as several reforms, the assasination of King Charles in 1959 and the fleeing of the last Tutsi monarch, King Kigeli V, to Uganda, the Hutu gained more and more power and upon Rwanda's independence in 1962, the Hutu held viritually all power.

In 1990, the Tutsi-dominated Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) invaded Rwanda from their base in Uganda. The military government of Juvenal Habyarimana responded with genocidal programs against Tutsis, who it claimed were trying to re-enslave the Hutus. Fighting continued until 1992, when the government and the RPF signed a cease-fire agreement known as the Arusha accords in Arusha, Tanzania.

In 1994, President Habyarimana was killed in a plane crash and over the next two months, the military and militia groups killed over 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu moderates in the Rwandan Genocide. The RPF launched another invasion, and captured the northern part of the country by July. The war ended as the French peacekeepers secured the southern part of the country.

Over 2 million Hutus fled the country after the war, fearing Tutsi retribution. Most have since returned, although some militias remain in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and have become involved in that country's civil war.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Rwanda

After its military victory in July 1994, the Rwandese Patriotic Front organized a coalition government similar to that established by President Juvenal Habyarimana in 1992. Called the Broad Based Government of National Unity, its fundamental law is based on a combination of the constitution, the 1993 Arusha accords, and political declarations by the parties. Habyarimana's National Movement for Democracy and Development was outlawed.

Political organizing was banned until 2003. The first post-war presidential and legislative elections were held in August and September 2003, respectively.

Prefectures

Rwanda is divided into 12 prefectures:

Geography

Main article: Geography of Rwanda

This small country is located near the centre of Africa, a few degrees south of the Equator. It is separated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo by Lake Kivu and the Ruzizi River valley to the west; it is bounded on the north by Uganda, to the east by Tanzania, and to the south by Burundi. The capital, Kigali, is located in the centre of the country.

Rwanda's countryside is covered by grasslands and small farms extending over rolling hills, with areas of rugged mountains that extend southeast from a chain of volcanoes in the northwest. The divide between the Congo and Nile drainage systems extends from north to south through western Rwanda at an average elevation of almost 9,000 feet. On the western slopes of this ridgeline, the land slopes abruptly toward Lake Kivu and the Ruzizi River valley, and constitute part of the Great Rift Valley. The eastern slopes are more moderate, with rolling hills extending across central uplands at gradually reducing altitudes, to the plains, swamps, and lakes of the eastern border region.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Rwanda

Rwanda is a rural country with about 90% of the population engaged in (mainly subsistence) agriculture. It is the most densely populated country in Africa; is landlocked; and has few natural resources and minimal industry. Primary exports are coffee and tea.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Rwanda

Rwanda's population density, even after the 1994 genocide, is among the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. Nearly every family in this country with few villages lives in a self-contained compound on a hillside. The urban concentrations are grouped around administrative centers.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Rwanda

• Music of Rwanda
• List of writers from Rwanda

Miscellaneous topics

• Communications in Rwanda
• Transportation in Rwanda
• Military of Rwanda
• Foreign relations of Rwanda
• Holidays in Rwanda
• List of cities in Rwanda
• We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families

External links

• Leave None To Tell The Story A book by the Human Rights Watch published online
• Interactive Guide: Rwanda - remembering the genocide - The Guardian

Further reading

• Barnett, Michael. 2002. Eyewitness to a Genocide: The United Nations and Rwanda. Cornell University Press.
• Jean-Pierre Chretien. 2003. Great Lakes of Africa: Two Thousand Years of History. Zone Books. ISBN 189095134X
• Dallaire, Roméo A., 2003. Shake Hands With the Devil : The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, Toronto: Random House Canada. ISBN 0679311718
• Philip Gourevitch. We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda. ISBN 0312243359
• Human Rights Watch. 1999. Leave None Left To Tell The Story (Genocide In Rwanda - The Planning And Execution Of Mass Murder). ISBN 1564321711
• Gérard Prunier. 1995. The Rwanda crisis: history of a genocide. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231104081

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