The Provinces of Rwanda, called intara, are further divided into districts (akarere) and municipalities (umujyi). Prior to January 1, 2006, Rwanda was composed of twelve provinces; however, the Rwandan Government decided to establish new provinces in an attempt to address issues that arose from the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. The first goal was to decentralise power, since it was felt Rwanda's centralised governing system was a contributing factor in aiding the genocide. Second, the new provinces are more multiethnic than the previous twelve, helping to weaken ethnic divisions. Finally, the new provinces will not have the associations the previous twelve did with events from the genocide. January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about political regions. ... 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. ... The skulls of victims show gashes and signs of violence The Rwandan Genocide was the slaughter of an estimated 937,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus, mostly carried out by two extremist Hutu militia groups, the Interahamwe and the Impuzamugambi, during a period of 100 days from April 6th through mid... Multiethnic societies, in contrast to nationalistic societies, integrate different ethnic groups irrespective of differences in culture, race, and history under a common social identity larger than one nation in the conventional sense. ...

Image File history File links Rwanda_Provinces_2006. ...

Provinces

Since January 1, 2006, the five provinces of Rwanda are:

• North Province
• East Province
• South Province
• West Province
• Kigali Province (location of the Capital)

North Province (Province du Nord) is one of Rwandas five provinces. ... East Province (Province de lEst) is one of Rwandas five provinces. ... South Province (Province du Sud) is one of Rwandas five provinces. ... West Province (Province de lOuest) is one of Rwandas five provinces. ... Kigali Province is one of Rwandas five provinces. ...

Previous provinces

Prior to 2006 the provinces were:

.

Administrative division before 2006.

• Butare
• Byumba
• Cyangugu
• Gikongoro
• Gisenyi
• Gitarama
• Kibungo
• Kibuye
• Kigali Rural
• Kigali City
• Ruhengeri
• Umutara

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (740x989, 72 KB) Summary Data can be used freely (no guarantees for their accuracy are given, as this usually depends on the source of the data), reference to the site, though, is welcome. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (740x989, 72 KB) Summary Data can be used freely (no guarantees for their accuracy are given, as this usually depends on the source of the data), reference to the site, though, is welcome. ... Image File history File links Rwanda_Provinces. ... Map showing Butare Province Butare was a province (prefecture) of Rwanda prior to its dissolution in January 2006. ... Map showing the former Byumba Province in Rwanda Byumba Province was one of the 12 former provinces (intara) of Rwanda and was situated in the north of the country, sharing a border with Uganda. ... 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. ... Gikongoro is one of the 12 provinces (intara) of Rwanda and is situated in the southwest of the country. ... Gitarama was one of the former twelve provinces (intara) of Rwanda and was situated in the centre of the country, to the west of the capital Kigali. ... Kibungo was a south-eastern province of Rwanda known for its production of bananas. ... Known in Kinyarwanda as Kigali-Ngali, it is the province which surrounds the city of Kigali. ... Map showing Ruhengeri Province Ruhengeri Province is one of 12 provinces of Rwanda and is located in the north of the country. ... Umutara is one of the 12 provinces (intara) of Rwanda and is situated in the north-east of the country, bordering Uganda to the east and Tanzania to the north. ...

External links

• Ministry of Local Government, Community Development and Social Affairs
• Rwanda redrawn to reflect compass, BBC News, 3 January 2006