(Flag) (Coat of Arms)
National motto: Liberty, Cooperation, Progress
National anthem: Rwanda nziza
Capital	Kigali 1° 57′ S, 30° 4′ E
Largest city	Kigali
Official languages	French, Kinyarwanda, English, Swahili
Government President Prime Minister	republic; pres. multy-p. syst. Paul Kagame Bernard Makuza
Independence  - Date	From Belgium July 1, 1962
Area  - Total  - Water (%)	26,338 km² (144th) 5.3%
Population  - 2004 est.  - ? census  - Density	7,954,013 (91st) unavailable 281/km² (33)
GDP (PPP)  - Total  - Per capita	2003 estimate 10,462 (123) 1,268 (144)
Currency	Rwandan franc (RWF)
Time zone  - Summer (DST)	EET (UTC+2) not observed (UTC+2)
Internet TLD	.rw
Calling code	+250

Rwanda is a small landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of central Africa. It is bordered by Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. Its fertile and hilly terrain, which give it the title "Land of a Thousand Hills", supports one of the densest populations in Africa. It is best known to the outside world for the 1994 Rwandan Genocide that resulted in the deaths of up to one million people. Large flag of Rwanda Image originally derived from the public domain flags of the CIA World Factbook. ... File links The following pages link to this file: Rwanda List of national coats of arms Categories: Images with unknown source ... Flag ratio: 2:3 The flag of Rwanda was adopted on October 25, 2001. ... Here is a list of state mottos for countries and their subdivisions around the world. ... This is a list of national anthems. ... Rwanda Nziza (Our Rwanda) has been the national anthem of Rwanda since January 1, 2002. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... In politics a capital (also called capital city or political capital — although the latter phrase has an alternative meaning based on an alternative meaning of capital) is the principal city or town associated with its government. ... Kigali, population 330,000 (1997), is the capital of Rwanda. ... Rwandas population density, even after the 1994 genocide, is among the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa (230 per sq. ... Kigali, population 330,000 (1997), is the capital of Rwanda. ... An official language is something that is given a unique status in the countries, states, and other territories. ... French (français, langue française) is one of the most important Romance languages, outnumbered in speakers only by Spanish and Portuguese. ... Contents // Categories: Bantu languages | Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo | Languages of Rwanda | Languages of Uganda | Language stubs ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Swahili (also called Kiswahili; see Kiswahili for a discussion of the nomenclature) is an agglutinative Bantu language widely spoken in East Africa. ... This is a list of countries categorized by system of government currently in use. ... This page contains a list of presidents of Rwanda. ... In a broad definition a republic is a state or country that is led by people that dont found their power status on any principle beyond the control of the people living in that state or country. ... For the pop band, see Presidents of the United States of America. ... A multi-party system is a type of party system. ... Paul Kagame (born October 23, 1957) is the president of Rwanda, and was a founder of the Rwandese Patriotic Front and its military commander during the Rwandan Civil War and Rwandan Genocide. ... Bernard Makuza (born 1961) is the current Prime Minister of Rwanda. ... Independence is autonomous self-government of a country by its residents and indigenous population. ... The Kingdom of Belgium (Dutch: Koninkrijk België, French: Royaume de Belgique, German: Königreich Belgien) is a country in Western Europe, bordered by the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France, and the North Sea. ... July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 183 days remaining. ... Here is a list of the countries of the world sorted by area. ... Here is a list of the countries of the world sorted by area. ... This is a list of sovereign states and other territories by population. ... Population density can be used as a measurement of any tangible item. ... This is a list of sovereign states and other territories by population. ... List of countries/dependencies by population density in inhabitants/km². The figures in this table are based on areas including inland water bodies (lakes, reservoirs, rivers. ... This is a list of the worlds economies sorted by their Gross domestic product (GDP) at market or government official exchange rates. ... In economics, purchasing power parity (PPP) is a method used to calculate an alternative exchange rate between the currencies of two countries. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January events January 1 Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. ... Here is a list of countries of the world sorted by their Gross domestic product (GDP), the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year. ... Here is a list of countries of the world sorted by their Gross domestic product (PPP) per capita, the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year, divided by population as of 1 July for the same year. ... The Rwandan franc is a currency used in the African nation of Rwanda. ... ISO 4217 is an international standard describing three letter codes to define the names of currencies established by the International Organization for Standardization or ISO. The first two letters of the code are the two letters of ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes (which are similar to those used... -1... Daylight saving time (also called DST, or Summer Time) is the portion of the year in which a regions local time is advanced by (usually) one hour from its standard official time. ... Eastern European Time (EET) is the time zone 2 hours ahead of UTC. Time zones of Europe, Blue WET or GMT or UTC , Red CET/MET, Green EET, Khaki MSK During summertime, DST (Daylight Saving Time) is in effect in some countries such as Finland and all other member states... UTC also stands for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Coordinated Universal Time or UTC, also sometimes referred to as Zulu time, is an atomic realization of Universal Time or Greenwich mean time, the astronomical basis for civil time. ... UTC also stands for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Coordinated Universal Time or UTC, also sometimes referred to as Zulu time, is an atomic realization of Universal Time or Greenwich mean time, the astronomical basis for civil time. ... The following is a list of currently existing Internet Top-level domains (TLDs). ... .rw is the Internet country code top-level domain ( ccTLD) for Rwanda. ... The Great Lakes of Africa are a series of lakes in and around the Great Rift Valley. ... The Republic of Uganda is a country in east central Africa. ... The Republika yu Burundi (formerly Urundi) is a small landlocked nation in the Great Lakes region of Africa. ... The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a nation in central Africa and the third largest country on the continent. ... The United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania in Swahili) is a country on the east coast of central Africa. ... another name for Rwanda, because of its hilly topography. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... The Rwandan Genocide was a genocide of 937,000 Rwandan Tutsis and Hutu moderates at the hands of Hutu militias and the Hutu-dominated government. ...

History

Prior to European colonization, Rwanda was the site of one of the region's most complex monarchical systems. The earliest known inhabitants of the region now known as Rwanda were the Pygmy and Twa. Later, groups known as Hutus and Tutsis also settled in the same region. The Scramble for Africa was the period between the 1880s and the start of World War I, when colonial empires in Africa were acquired faster than anywhere else on the globe. ... Generally speaking, pygmy (from Greek pygmaios, fist sized, a kind of dwarf in Greek mythology) can refer to any human or animal of unusually small size, for example, the pygmy hippopotamus. ... (For the airline TWA, see Trans World Airlines) The Twa are a pygmy people, of short stature, who were the oldest recorded inhabitants of an area in central Africa that now comprises the nations of Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. ... Hutu is the name given to one of the three ethnic groups occupying Burundi and Rwanda. ... The Tutsi are one of three native peoples of the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in central Africa: the other two being the Twa (or Watwa), a pygmy people, and the original inhabitants; and the Hutu (Wahutu), a Bantu-derived people. ...

In 1895 Rwanda, like Burundi, became a German province. However at early stages the Germans were completely dependent on the original government. The German authority kept the indigenous administration system by applying the same type of indirect rule established by the British Empire in the next Ugandan kingdoms. After Germany's loss in World War I, the protectorate was taken over by Belgium with a League of Nations mandate. Belgian rule in the region was far more direct and far harsher than that of the Germans. Belgian colonizers, backed by Christian churches, mainly Catholics, used Tutsi high class over lower classes of Tutsis and Hutus, creating a wider social gap between social entities than had existed before. Belgian forced labour policies, stringent taxes, were mainly enforced by Tutsi high class, used as buffers against people anger, further polarising the Hutu-Tutsi situation. This situation also led a lot of young peasants to escape tax harassment and hunger by migrating toward neighboring countries. They mainly expatriated to Congo with the Belgian colonial monitoring in mining and agriculture sectors but also freely to Uganda in plantations, looking for work and incomes to pay taxes and to enjoy some well-off. Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... The Kingdom of Belgium (Dutch: Koninkrijk België, French: Royaume de Belgique, German: Königreich Belgien) is a country in Western Europe, bordered by the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France, and the North Sea. ... League of Nations mandates were territories established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919. ...

After World War II Rwanda became a UN trust territory with Belgium as the administrative authority. Through a series of processes, including several reforms, the assassination of King Mutara III Charles in 1959 and the fleeing of the last Nyiginya clan monarch, King Kigeri V, to Uganda, the Hutu gained more and more power and upon Rwanda's independence in 1962, the Hutu held virtually all power. Mutara III (or Rudahigwa) (1912? - 1959) was the Tutsi king of Rwanda between 1931 and 1959. ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Kigeri V was king of Rwanda from 1959-1961. ... The Republic of Uganda is a country in east central Africa. ...

In 1990, the Tutsi-dominated Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) launched military attacks against the Hutu government ruling Rwanda from their base in Uganda. The military government of Juvénal Habyarimana responded with genocidal pogroms against Tutsis, whom 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. Politics of Rwanda Categories: Rwandese political parties | Politics stubs ... Juvénal Habyarimana Juvénal Habyarimana ( March 8, 1937 - April 6, 1994) was president of Rwanda from 1973 until his death in 1994. ... The Arusha Accords (also known as the Arusha Peace Agreement, or the Arusha negotiations) were a set of five accords (or protocols) signed by the Rwandese Patriotic Front and the Government of Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania on 4 August 1993, ending the civil war. ... Arusha is a city in northern Tanzania. ...

In 1994, President Habyarimana was assassinated [1]  (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/rwanda.htm) when his plane was shot down while landing in Kigali, and over the next three months, the military and militia groups killed approximately one million Tutsis and Hutu moderates in the Rwandan Genocide. The RPF launched final attacks, and occupied the northern, the east and the southern parts of the country by June in wide swift turning movement. The 4th July, the war ended as the RPF entered the capital Kigali and while French peacekeeper troops were occupying the south-west part of the country under Opération Turquoise. 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Kigali, population 330,000 (1997), is the capital of Rwanda. ... One million (1000000), one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999999 and preceding 1000001. ... The Rwandan Genocide was a genocide of 937,000 Rwandan Tutsis and Hutu moderates at the hands of Hutu militias and the Hutu-dominated government. ... June is the sixth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four with the length of 30 days. ... July is the seventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ... Opération Turquoise was a French military operation in Rwanda in 1994-1995. ...

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. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a nation in central Africa and the third largest country on the continent. ...

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. ...

After its military victory in July 1994, the Rwandese Patriotic Front organized a coalition government similar to that established by President Juvénal 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. 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Politics of Rwanda Categories: Rwandese political parties | Politics stubs ... Juvénal Habyarimana Juvénal Habyarimana ( March 8, 1937 - April 6, 1994) was president of Rwanda from 1973 until his death in 1994. ... Mouvement Républicain Nationale pour la Démocratie et le Développement (MRND, English: National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development) is a now-defunct political party in Rwanda. ...

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

Provinces

Map of Rwanda

Rwanda is divided into 12 provinces: Province is a name for a secondary, or subnational entity of government in most countries. ...

Butare is one of the twelve provinces of Rwanda. ... Cyangugu or Ciangugu is a prefecture and town in southwestern Rwanda close to the border of Democratic Republic of Congo and close to the shores of Lake Kivu. ... Kigali, population 330,000 (1997), is the capital of Rwanda. ...

Geography

Main article: Geography of Rwanda Rwandas 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. ...

This small country is located near the center 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. In geography, the equator is an imaginary line drawn around a planet, halfway between the poles, where the surface of the roughly spherical planet is parallel to the axis of rotation. ... The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a nation in central Africa and the third largest country on the continent. ... Categories: Africa geography stubs | Great Rift Valley lakes | African lakes ... The Ruzizi River flows from Lake Kivu to Lake Tanganyika in Central Africa. ... The Republic of Uganda is a country in east central Africa. ... The United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania in Swahili) is a country on the east coast of central Africa. ... The Republika yu Burundi (formerly Urundi) is a small landlocked nation in the Great Lakes region of Africa. ... Kigali, population 330,000 (1997), is the capital of Rwanda. ...

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. Therefore the country is also fondly known as "Land of a Thousand Hills" (Pays des mille collines). Northern section of the Great Rift Valley. ... another name for Rwanda, because of its hilly topography. ...

Economy

A Rwandan market

Main article: Economy of Rwanda Market stalls selling cloth in Rwanda. ... Economy - overview: Rwanda is a rural country with about 90% of the population engaged in (mainly subsistence) agriculture. ...

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 Rwandas population density, even after the 1994 genocide, is among the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa (230 per sq. ...

The population consists of three ethnic groups. The Hutus, who represent the main part of the population, mostly cultivators erainsing goats or sheep and few are ceramists like Twa. The Tutsis are a pastoral people dedicated to cattle and sheep raising. 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. However, the whole population shares a genuine common Bantu culture. 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. Hutu is the name given to one of the three ethnic groups occupying Burundi and Rwanda. ... (For the airline TWA, see Trans World Airlines) The Twa are a pygmy people, of short stature, who were the oldest recorded inhabitants of an area in central Africa that now comprises the nations of Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. ... The Tutsi are one of three native peoples of the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in central Africa: the other two being the Twa (or Watwa), a pygmy people, and the original inhabitants; and the Hutu (Wahutu), a Bantu-derived people. ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... (For the airline TWA, see Trans World Airlines) The Twa are a pygmy people, of short stature, who were the oldest recorded inhabitants of an area in central Africa that now comprises the nations of Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. ... The Bantu refer to over 400 different ethnic groups in Africa, from Cameroon to South Africa, united by a common language family, the Bantu languages, and in many cases common customs. ...

Culture

Main article: Culture of Rwanda

• Music of Rwanda
• List of writers from Rwanda

Rwanda is an African nation with a chaotic and bloody recent past. ... African Writers (by country): This is a list of literary figures from the African continent, listed by country, including poets, novelists, childrens writers, essayists, and scholars, listed by country. ...

Miscellaneous topics

• Communications in Rwanda
• Transportation in Rwanda
• Military of Rwanda
• Foreign relations of Rwanda
• Holidays in Rwanda
• List of cities in Rwanda

Telephones - main lines in use: 15,000 (1995) Telephones - mobile cellular: NA Telephone system: telephone system primarily serves business and government domestic: the capital, Kigali, is connected to the centers of the prefectures by microwave radio relay; the remainder of the network depends on wire and HF radiotelephone international: international... Railways: 0 km Highways: total: 12,000 km paved: 1,000 km unpaved: 11,000 km (1997 est. ... The military establishment of Rwanda is comprised of an army and a paramilitary gendarmerie. ... Rwanda has been the center of much international attention since the war and genocide of 1994. ... Holidays in Rwanda Categories: Public holidays by country | Rwanda ... This is a list of cities in Rwanda: Butare Byumba Cyangugu Gitarama Kibungo Kibuye Kigali Ruhengeri Categories: Lists of cities ...

External links

• CIA World Factbook - Rwanda (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/rw.html)
• Updated news about Rwanda from AllAfrica.com (http://allafrica.com/rwanda/)