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Rwanda

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: African Countries;
Countries

   SOS Children works in Rwanda. For more information see SOS Children in
   Rwanda, Africa
                           Repubulika y'u Rwanda
   République Rwandaise
   Republic of Rwanda

   Flag of Rwanda Coat of arms of Rwanda
   Flag           Coat of arms
   Motto: Ubumwe, Umurimo, Gukunda Igihugu
   "Unity, Work, Patriotism"
   Anthem: Rwanda nziza
   Location of Rwanda
   Capital
   (and largest city)    Kigali
                         1°57′S 30°4′E
    Official languages   French, English, Kinyarwanda
   Government            Republic
    - President          Paul Kagame
    - Prime Minister     Bernard Makuza
       Independence      from Belgium
    - Date               July 1, 1962
                                   Area
    - Total              26,338 km² ( 148th)
                         10,169 sq mi
    - Water (%)          5.3
                                Population
    - July 2005 estimate 9,038,000^1 ( 86th)
    - 2002 census        8,128,553
    - Density            320/km² ( 27th)
                         829/sq mi
        GDP ( PPP)       2005 estimate
    - Total              $11.24 billion ( 130th)
    - Per capita         $1,300 ( 160th)
        HDI  (2003)      0.450 (low) ( 158th)
         Currency        Rwandan franc ( RWF)
         Time zone       CAT ( UTC+2)
    - Summer ( DST)      not observed ( UTC+2)
       Internet TLD      .rw
       Calling code      +250
   ^1 Estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects
   of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life
   expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population
   and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age
   and sex than would otherwise be expected.

   Rwanda IPA: [ɾ(g)wɑndɑ], officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a small
   landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of east-central Africa,
   with a population of approximately 8 million. It is bordered by Uganda,
   Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. Its fertile
   and hilly terrain, which gives it the title "Land of a Thousand Hills"
   (French: Pays des Mille Collines /pei de mil kɔ.lin/) (Igihugu
   cy'Imisozi Igihumbi in Kinyarwanda), supports the densest populations
   in continental 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. Dependence on subsistence agriculture, high (and increasing)
   population density, decreasing soil fertility and uncertain climate
   make Rwanda a country where chronic malnutrition is widespread and
   poverty endemic.

History

   As early as the 15th century there were three groups of people, the
   Hutu, the Tutsi, and the Twa living in Rwanda. The Tutsi, from further
   north, conquered the area, and became the ruling power, and forced the
   Hutu into a feudal type system that was strictly enforced. The Twa, the
   smallest minority group, were court jesters and often exploited. John
   Speke became the first European to visit Rwanda, and in 1895 the
   Rwandans accepted German rule to become part of German East Africa. The
   Germans, however, were at first completely dependent on the existing
   government; they did nothing to develop the country economically. The
   German authority kept the indigenous administration system by applying
   the same type of indirect rule established by the British Empire in the
   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 harsh than that of the Germans. However, the
   Belgian colonizers did realize the value of native rule. Backed by
   Christian churches, the Belgians used the minority Tutsi upper class
   over lower classes of Tutsis and Hutus. Belgian-forced labor policies
   and stringent taxes were mainly enforced by the Tutsi upper class, whom
   the Belgians used as buffers against people's anger, thus further
   polarising the Hutu and the Tutsi. Many young peasants, in order to
   escape tax harassment and hunger, migrated to neighboring countries.
   They moved mainly to Congo but also to Ugandan plantations, looking for
   work.

   After World War II Rwanda became a UN trust territory with Belgium as
   the administrative authority. In 1959, King Mutara III Charles was
   assassinated and his younger brother became the Abega clan monarch,
   King Kigeli V. In 1961, King Kigeli V was in Kinshasa to meet with
   Secretary-General of the United Nations Dag Hammarskjold when Dominique
   Mbonyumutwa, with the support of the Belgian government, led a coup
   d'état. The coup resulted in the overthrow of King Kigeli V to Uganda –
   the Hutu gained more and more power. Upon Rwanda's independence on July
   1, 1962, they virtually held it all.

   Gregoire Kayibanda was the first president (1962 - 1973), followed by
   Juvenal Habyarimana (1973 - 1994). The latter, who many view as a
   ruthless dictator, was unable to find a solution to increasing social
   unrest, the calls for democracy and the long-running problem of Rwandan
   Tutsi refugees. Rwanda had by the 90s up to one million refugees
   scattered around neighbouring countries, the majority of them in Uganda
   and Burundi.

   In 1990, the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) invaded
   Rwanda from Uganda. During the course of the fighting, top Rwandan
   government officials, mainly Hutu, began secretly training young men
   into informal armed bands called Interahamwe ("coming together").
   Government officials also launched a radio station that began
   anti-Tutsi propaganda. The military government of Juvénal Habyarimana
   responded to the RPF invasion with pogroms against Tutsis, whom it
   claimed were trying to re-enslave the Hutus. In August 1993 the
   government and the RPF signed a cease-fire agreement known as the
   Arusha accords in Arusha, Tanzania to form a power sharing government,
   but fighting between the two sides continued. The United Nations sent a
   peacekeeping force named the United Nations Assistance Mission for
   Rwanda ( UNAMIR), under the leadership of Canadian Lieutenant-General
   Roméo Dallaire. UNAMIR was vastly underfunded and under-staffed. More
   details of this aspect of the conflict are starkly explained in
   Dallaire's 2003 book Shake Hands With the Devil.

   During the armed conflict, the RPF was blamed for the bombing of
   Kigali. These attacks were actually carried out by the Hutu army as
   part of a campaign to create a reason for a political crackdown and
   ethnic violence. On April 6, 1994, President Habyarimana was
   assassinated when his Falcon 50 trijet was shot down while landing in
   Kigali. It remains unclear who was responsible for the assassination —
   most credible sources point to the Presidential Guard, spurred by Hutu
   nationalists fearful of losing power, although others believe that
   Tutsi rebels were responsible, possibly with the help of Belgian
   mercenaries. Over the next three months, the military and Interahamwe
   militia groups killed between 500,000 and 1,000,000 Tutsis and Hutu
   moderates in the Rwandan Genocide. The RPF continued to advance on the
   capital, and occupied the northern, the east and the southern parts of
   the country by June. Thousands of civilians were killed in the
   conflict. U.N. member states refused to answer UNAMIR's requests for
   increased troops and money. Meanwhile, French troops were dispatched to
   stabilize the situation under Opération Turquoise, but this only
   resulted in an exacerbation of the situation, with the evacuation
   limited to foreign nationals.

   On July 4, 1994, the war ended as the RPF entered the capital Kigali.
   In the resulting Great Lakes refugee crisis over 2 million Hutus fled
   the country after the war, fearing Tutsi retribution. Most have since
   returned, although some Hutus remained in the Democratic Republic of
   the Congo, including some militia members that became involved in the
   First Congo War and Second Congo War. In 1996, after repeated
   unsuccessful appeals to the UN and the international community to deal
   with the security threat posed by the remnants of the defeated
   genocidal forces on its eastern border, Rwanda invaded eastern Zaire in
   an effort to eliminate the Interahamwe groups operating there. This
   action, and the simultaneous one by Ugandan troops, contributed to the
   outbreak of the First Congo War and the eventual fall of longtime
   dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.

   Rwanda today is struggling to heal and rebuild, and showing signs of
   rapid development, but some Rwandans continue to struggle with the
   legacy of genocide and war. In 2004, a ceremony was held in Kigali at
   the Gisozi Memorial (sponsored by the Aegis Trust and attended by many
   foreign dignitaries) to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the
   genocide, and the country observes a national day of mourning each year
   on April 7. Rwandan genocidal leaders are on trial at the International
   Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in the Rwandan National Court system,
   and, most recently, through the informal Gacaca village justice
   program. The current Rwandan government, led by Paul Kagame, has been
   praised by many for establishing security and promoting reconciliation
   and economic development, but is also criticised by some for being
   overly militant and opposed to dissent. The country now plays host to
   many international travelers and is regarded as a safe place for
   tourists.

   With new independent radio stations, Rwanda is finally attempting a
   free press, but some wonder how free the media really is with
   journalists disappearing and being apprehended whenever articles
   question the government.

Politics

   After its military victory in July 1994, the Rwandan Patriotic Front
   organized a coalition government based on the 1993 Arusha accords, and
   political declarations by the parties. The National Movement for
   Democracy and Development – Habyarimana's party that instigated and
   implemented the genocidal ideology – along with the CDR (another Hutu
   extremist party) were banned, with most of its leaders either arrested
   or in exile.

   A new constitution was adopted by referendum and promulgated in 2003.
   The first post-war presidential and legislative elections were held in
   August and September 2003, respectively. The RPF-led government has
   continued to promote reconciliation and unity amongst all Rwandans as
   enshrined in the new constitution that forbids any political activity
   or discrimination based on race, ethnicity or religion.

   By law, at least a third of the Parliament representation must be
   female. It is believed that women will not allow the mass killings of
   the past to be repeated. In a survey conducted recently Rwanda tops the
   survey on number of women in the Parliament with as much as 49 percent
   female representation.

Administrative divisions

   Map of Rwanda
   Enlarge
   Map of Rwanda

   Rwanda is divided into five provinces (intara) and subdivided into
   thirty districts (akarere). The provinces are:
     * North Province
     * East Province
     * South Province
     * West Province
     * Kigali Province

   Prior to 1 January 2006, Rwanda was composed of twelve provinces, but
   these were abolished in full and redrawn as part of a program of
   decentralization and reorganization.

Geography

   Satellite image of Rwanda, generated from raster graphics data supplied
   by The Map Library
   Enlarge
   Satellite image of Rwanda, generated from raster graphics data supplied
   by The Map Library
   Satellite image of Rwanda
   Enlarge
   Satellite image 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.
   Nyungwe Forest
   Enlarge
   Nyungwe Forest

   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
   (2,740 m). On the western slopes of this ridgeline, the land slopes
   abruptly toward Lake Kivu and the Ruzizi River valley, and constitutes
   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 milles collines). Recently, a British led
   exploration announced that they had located the longest headstream of
   the River Nile in Nyungwe Forest .

Climate

   Rwanda is a tropical country; its high elevation makes the climate
   temperate. In the mountains, frost and snow are possible. The average
   daily temperature near Lake Kivu, at an altitude of 4,800 feet
   (1,463 m) is 73° F (23° C). Rwanda is considered the lightning capital
   of the world, due to intense daily thunderstorms during the two rainy
   seasons (February–May and September–December). Annual rainfall averages
   31 inches (830  mm) but is generally heavier in the western and
   northwestern mountains than in the eastern savannas.

Transport

   A row of minibus share taxis waiting to depart in Kigali.
   Enlarge
   A row of minibus share taxis waiting to depart in Kigali.
   The road to Ruhengeri.
   Enlarge
   The road to Ruhengeri.

   The transport system in Rwanda centres primarily around the road
   network, with paved roads between the capital, Kigali and most other
   major cities and towns in the country. Rwanda is also linked by road
   with other countries in East Africa, via which the majority of the
   country's imports and exports are made. The country has an
   international airport at Kigali, serving one domestic and several
   international destinations, and also has limited water transport
   between the port cities on Lake Kivu. A large amount of investment in
   the transport infrastructure has been made by the government since the
   1994 genocide, with aid from the European Union, China, Japan and
   others.

   The principal form of public transport in the country is the share
   taxi, with express routes linking the major cities and local services
   serving most villages along the main roads of the country. Coach
   services are available to various destinations in neighbouring
   countries.

   In 2006, Chinese proposed to fund a study for the building of a railway
   link from Bujumbura in Burundi to Kigali in Rwanda to Isaki in
   Tanzania. [railwaysafrica.com RA 2/2006]

Economy

   A Rwandan market.
   Enlarge
   A Rwandan market.

   Rwanda is a rural country with about 90% of the population engaged in
   (mainly subsistence) agriculture. It is landlocked with few natural
   resources and minimal industry. Primary exports are coffee and tea,
   with the addition in recent years of minerals (mainly Coltan, used in
   manufacture of electronic and communication devices such as mobile
   phones) and flowers. Tourism also is a growing sector, notably around
   ecotourism (Nyungwe Forest, Lake Kivu)and the world famous and unique
   mountain gorillas in the Virunga park. It has a low gross national
   product (GNP), and it has been identified as a Heavily Indebted Poor
   Country (HIPC). In 2005, its economic performance and governance
   achievements prompted International Funding Institutions to cancel
   nearly all its debts.

   According to the World Food Programme, it is estimated that 60% of the
   population live below the poverty line and 10-12% of the population
   suffer from food insecurity every year.

Demographics

   All Rwandans speak Kinyarwanda and share the same culture and
   religions. It is difficult to establish exactly what words like "Tutsi"
   and "Hutu" meant before the arrival of European colonists, because
   there was no written history. Europeans greatly changed the meanings of
   those terms. In the 21st century a number of Rwandans reject the idea
   of sub-races and simply identify themselves as "Rwandans".

Geographic locale

   Flag of Uganda  Uganda
   Flag of Democratic Republic of the Congo  Democratic Republic of the
   Congo North Flag of Tanzania  Tanzania
   West    Flag of Rwanda  Rwanda     East
   South
   Flag of Burundi  Burundi

   Countries of Central Africa

   Burundi • Central African Republic • Chad • Democratic Republic of the
   Congo • Rwanda
   Countries of Africa

   Sovereign states: Algeria • Angola • Benin • Botswana • Burkina Faso •
   Burundi • Cameroon • Cape Verde • Central African Republic • Chad •
   Democratic Republic of the Congo • Republic of the Congo • Comoros •
   Côte d'Ivoire • Djibouti • Egypt ^1 • Equatorial Guinea • Eritrea •
   Ethiopia • France ^2 • Gabon • The Gambia • Ghana • Guinea-Bissau •
   Guinea • Kenya • Lesotho • Liberia • Libya • Madagascar • Malawi • Mali
   • Mauritania • Mauritius • Morocco • Mozambique • Namibia • Niger •
   Nigeria • Portugal ^2 • Rwanda • Senegal • Seychelles • Sierra Leone •
   Somalia • South Africa • Spain ^2 • Sudan • Swaziland • São Tomé and
   Príncipe • Tanzania • Togo • Tunisia • Uganda • Yemen ^3 • Zambia •
   Zimbabwe

   Dependencies: British Indian Ocean Territory (UK) • French Southern
   Territories (France) • Mayotte (France) • Réunion (France) • Saint
   Helena ^4 (UK)

   Unrecognized countries: Somaliland • Western Sahara •

   ^1  Partly in Asia. ^2  Mostly in Europe. ^3  Mostly in Asia.
   ^4 Includes the dependencies of Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha.
   Member states of the African Union

   Algeria • Angola • Benin • Botswana • Burkina Faso • Burundi •
   Cameroon • Cape Verde • Central African Republic • Chad • Comoros •
   Democratic Republic of the Congo • Republic of the Congo •
   Côte d'Ivoire • Djibouti • Egypt • Eritrea • Ethiopia •
   Equatorial Guinea • Gabon • The Gambia • Ghana • Guinea •
   Guinea-Bissau • Kenya • Lesotho • Liberia • Libya • Madagascar •
   Malawi • Mali • Mauritania • Mauritius • Mozambique • Namibia • Niger •
   Nigeria • Rwanda • São Tomé and Príncipe • Senegal • Seychelles •
   Sierra Leone • Somalia • South Africa • Sudan • Swaziland • Tanzania •
   Togo • Tunisia • Uganda • Western Sahara  (SADR) • Zambia • Zimbabwe
   Francophonie
   Members: Belgium • Benin • Bulgaria • Burkina Faso • Burundi • Cambodia
   • Cameroon • Canada • New Brunswick • Quebec • Ontario • Cape Verde •
   Central African Republic • Chad • Comoros • Côte d'Ivoire • Cyprus •
   Democratic Republic of the Congo • Djibouti • Dominica • Egypt •
   Equatorial Guinea • France • French Guiana • Gabon • Ghana • Guadeloupe
   • Guinea • Guinea-Bissau • Haiti • Laos • Lebanon • Madagascar • Mali •
   Martinique • Mauritania • Mauritius • Morocco • Niger • Republic of the
   Congo • Romania • Rwanda • Saint Lucia • São Tomé and Príncipe •
   Senegal • Seychelles • Saint-Pierre and Miquelon • Switzerland • Togo •
   Tunisia • Ukraine • Vanuatu • Vietnam

   Observers: Armenia • Austria • Croatia • Czech Republic • Georgia •
   Hungary • Lithuania • Mozambique • Poland • Serbia • Slovakia •
   Slovenia • Ukraine
   Niger-Congo-speaking nations
   Kordofanian

   Flag of Sudan  Sudan
   Mande

   Flag of The Gambia  The Gambia • Flag of Guinea  Guinea • Flag of
   Guinea-Bissau  Guinea-Bissau • Flag of Mali  Mali • Flag of Mauritania
    Mauritania • Flag of Senegal  Senegal • Flag of Sierra Leone  Sierra
   Leone
   Atlantic-Congo

   Atlantic

   Flag of Benin  Benin • Flag of Burkina Faso  Burkina Faso • Flag of
   Cameroon  Cameroon • Flag of Central African Republic  Central African
   Republic • Flag of Chad  Chad • Flag of Côte d'Ivoire  Côte d'Ivoire •
   Flag of The Gambia  The Gambia • Flag of Guinea  Guinea • Flag of
   Guinea-Bissau  Guinea-Bissau • Flag of Liberia  Liberia • Flag of Mali
    Mali • Flag of Mauritania  Mauritania • Flag of Niger  Niger • Flag of
   Senegal  Senegal • Flag of Sierra Leone  Sierra Leone • Flag of Sudan
   Sudan • Flag of Togo  Togo

   Ijoid: Flag of Nigeria  Nigeria - Dogon: Flag of Mali  Mali
   Volta-Congo

   Senufo: Flag of Benin  Benin • Flag of Côte d'Ivoire  Côte d'Ivoire •
   Flag of Mali  Mali

   Gur: Flag of Benin  Benin • Flag of Burkina Faso  Burkina Faso • Flag
   of Côte d'Ivoire  Côte d'Ivoire • Flag of Ghana  Ghana • Flag of Mali
   Mali • Flag of Nigeria  Nigeria • Flag of Togo  Togo

   Adamawa-Ubangi: Flag of Cameroon  Cameroon • Flag of Central African
   Republic  Central African Republic • Flag of Chad  Chad • Flag of
   Nigeria  Nigeria

   Kru: Flag of Burkina Faso  Burkina Faso • Flag of Côte d'Ivoire  Côte
   d'Ivoire • Flag of Liberia  Liberia

   Kwa: Flag of Benin  Benin • Flag of Côte d'Ivoire  Côte d'Ivoire • Flag
   of Ghana  Ghana • Flag of Nigeria  Nigeria • Flag of Togo  Togo
   Benue-Congo

   Bantu

   Flag of Angola  Angola • Flag of Botswana  Botswana • Flag of Burundi
   Burundi • Flag of Cameroon  Cameroon • Flag of Democratic Republic of
   the Congo  Democratic Republic of the Congo • Flag of Republic of the
   Congo  Republic of the Congo • Flag of Equatorial Guinea  Equatorial
   Guinea • Flag of Gabon  Gabon • Flag of Kenya  Kenya • Flag of Nigeria
    Nigeria • Flag of Malawi  Malawi • Flag of Mozambique  Mozambique •
   Flag of Namibia  Namibia • Flag of Rwanda  Rwanda • Flag of Somalia
   Somalia • Flag of South Africa  South Africa • Flag of Swaziland
   Swaziland • Flag of Tanzania  Tanzania • Flag of Uganda  Uganda • Flag
   of Zambia  Zambia • Flag of Zimbabwe  Zimbabwe

   Yoruba and Igbo: Flag of Nigeria  Nigeria
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda"
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