Rwanda

Repubulika y'u Rwanda République du Rwanda Republic of Rwanda
Coat of arms of Rwanda Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Ubumwe, Umurimo, Gukunda Igihugu "Unity, Work, Patriotism"
Anthem: Rwanda nziza
Capital (and largest city)	Kigali 1°57′S 30°4′E
Official languages	Kinyarwanda, French, English
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	9,038,0001
- 2002 census	8,128,553
- Density	320/km² 829/sq mi
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
- Total	$11.24 billion
- Per capita	$1,300
HDI  (2004)	0.450 (low)
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, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a small landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of east-central Africa, with a population of approximately eight 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", supports the densest populations in sub-Saharan Africa. The country is well known to the outside world for the infamous 1994 Rwandan genocide that resulted in the deaths of up to one million people. Since then, the government has been making some efforts to bring the people together, but the country still faces numerous problems. 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

Although the Twa were the original people living in the area, possibly as far back as 30,000 B.C.E., by the fifteenth century the Hutu and Tutsi had moved in. The Hutus primarily were farmers who lived on hilltops, and the Tutsi were warriors and herders who lived on the hillsides and in the valleys. In the nineteenth century, that evolved into a feudal-type system with sharp social divisons in which Tutsis dominated.

Because of its mountainous terrain, Rwanda was spared the onslaughts of invaders and slave traders. John Hanning Speke was the first European to visit Rwanda. In 1895 the Rwandan king accepted German rule to maintain his power, and the area became part of German East Africa. The Germans did nothing to develop the country economically. They 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, Belgium took over with a League of Nations mandate. Belgian rule in the region was far more direct and harsh than German rule. The Belgian colonizers did realize the value of native rule, however. Backed by Christian churches, the Belgians favored 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 the people's anger, thus further polariZing the Hutu and the Tutsi. Many young peasants, 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 United Nations (UN) trust territory administered by Belgium. 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 UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld when Dominique Mbonyumutwa, with the support of the Belgian government, led a coup d'état. The coup overthrew King Kigeli V and 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, whom many view as a ruthless dictator, was unable to find a solution to increasing social unrest, calls for democracy, and the long-running problem of Rwandan Tutsi refugees. By the 1990s, Rwanda had up to one million refugees scattered around neighboring countries, mostly in Uganda and Burundi.

In 1990, the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) invaded Rwanda from Uganda. During the fighting, top Rwandan government officials, mainly Hutu, began secretly training young men into informal armed bands called Interahamwe (a Kinyarwanda term roughly meaning "those who fight together"). Government officials also launched a radio station that began anti-Tutsi propaganda. The military government of 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 UN sent a peacekeeping force known as the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). UNAMIR was vastly underfunded and understaffed.

During the armed conflict, the RPF was blamed for the bombing of the capital 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, but others believe that Tutsi rebels were responsible, possibly with the help of Belgian mercenaries.

Over the next three months, with logistical and military assistance and training from France, the military and Interahamwe militia groups killed between half a million and one million Tutsis and Hutu moderates in the Rwandan genocide. The RPF continued to advance on the capital, and occupied the northern, eastern, and southern parts of the country by June. Thousands of civilians were killed in the conflict. UN member states refused to answer UNAMIR's requests for increased troops and money. Meanwhile, French troops were dispatched to stabilize the situation, but this only exacerbated the situation, with the evacuation limited to foreign nationals.

On July 4, 1994, the war ended as the RPF entered Kigali. Over two million Hutus fled the country, fearing Tutsi retribution. Most have since returned, but some remained in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including some militia members who later took part in the First and Second Congo Wars. 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, in 1996 Rwanda invaded eastern Zaire in an effort to eliminate the Interahamwe groups operating there. This action, and a 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 struggles to heal and rebuild, and shows 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, in the Rwandan National Court system, and, most recently, through the informal Gacaca village justice program. Recent reports highlight a number of reprisal killings of survivors for giving evidence at gacaca.

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 criticized by some for being too militant and opposing dissent.

With new independent radio stations and other media arising, Rwanda is attempting a free press, but there are reports of 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.

After the 1994 genocide, General Kagame took power and became a Tutsi president. The Hutu people living in refugee camps were attacked by Tutsi forces.

A new constitution was adopted by referendum and promulgated in 2003. The first postwar presidential and legislative elections were held in August and September 2003, respectively. The RPF-led government has continued to promote reconciliation and unity among 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. Rwanda topped a recently conducted global survey on the percentage of women in Parliament with as much as 49 percent female representation.

Map of Rwanda

Rwanda is divided into five provinces and subdivided into thirty districts.

Geography

Satellite image of Rwanda, generated from raster graphics data supplied by The Map Library

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 center 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 (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 known as "Land of a Thousand Hills". In 2006, a British-led exploration announced that they had located the longest headstream of the Nile River in Nyungwe Forest.

Climate

Though 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 in. (830 mm) but is generally heavier in the western and northwestern mountains than in the eastern savannas.

A row of minibus share taxis, the principal form of public transport, waiting to depart in Kigali.

The road to Ruhengeri.

Economy

A Rwandan market.

Rwanda is a rural country with about 90 percent of the population engaged in 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 the 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 Program, it is estimated that 60 percent of the population live below the poverty line and 10-12 percent of the population suffer from food insecurity every year.

In 2006, China proposed funding a study for building a railway link from Bujumbura in Burundi to Kigali in Rwanda to Isaki in Tanzania.

Demographics

Most Rwandans speak Kinyarwanda. 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 twenty-first century a number of Rwandans reject the idea of sub-races and simply identify themselves as "Rwandans".

Most Rwandans (56.5 percent)are Roman Catholic. Other Christians make up another 37 percent. Muslims now comprise 14 percent of the population.

Due to the widespread involvement of both Roman Catholic and Protestant clergy in the Rwandan genocide and the shelter and protection given to members of both ethnic groups of all religions by Muslims, widespread conversion occurred, causing the Muslim population to jump from 4 to 14 percent.

Culture

The family unit, or inzu, is the most important unit in Rwandan culture. Usually its members live together on a rural homestead. Marriage has a high value, with many arranged by fammilies. The groom's family must pay a dowry to the bride's family.

A rich oral tradition has been passed on through epic poetry, storytelling, and public speaking. Nearly every celebration has music and dancing.

Women weave mats and baskets, while men make drums, pipes, bowls, and other useful items out of wood.

Soccer is the most popular sport.

Rwanda in Films

Mountain gorilla in Rwanda

• Gorillas in the Mist (1988): Feature film dramatizing the work of American ethologist Dian Fossey, who studied gorillas in Rwanda's mountain forests until her murder there in 1985.
• Hotel Rwanda (2004): Feature film dramatizing the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who housed over a thousand threatened Tutsi refugees during the 1994 genocide.
• Shooting Dogs (2005): Dramatic feature film based on the true story of a Catholic priest and a young idealistic English teacher caught in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
• Sometimes In April (2005): Dramatic feature film focusing on the experiences of an intermarried Hutu-Tutsi family during the 1994 genocide.
• Un dimanche à Kigali (2006).
• 100 Days of Slaughter (2004).
• Shake Hands With the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire (2004): Documentary chronicling Canadian Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire's perspective on the 1994 genocide in Rwanda ten years later. Dallaire returns to Rwanda to reflect on the changes since his last stay there.
• Shake Hands with the Devil (2006): Dramatic feature film adaptation of the autobiographical book by Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire.
• Back Home (2006): Documentary directed by J.B. Rutagarama, a survivor of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. A personal journey toward understanding what led to the genocide and forgiving those who murdered his family.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Philip Curtin et al., African History: From Earliest Times to Independence, 2nd ed., 1995. Addison Wesley Longman, New York, NY. ISBN 0582050707
• John Iliffe, Africans: The History of a Continent, 1996. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY. ISBN 0521484227
• Christina Fisanick, ed., The Rwanda Genocide, 2004. Greenhaven Press, Farmington Hills, MI. ISBN 0737719869
• Louise Mushikiwabo and Jack Kramer, Rwanda Means the Universe: A Native's Memoir of Blood and Bloodlines, 2006. St. Martin's Press, New York, NY. ISBN 9780312209599

Further reading

• L'Afrique Hundreds of photographs of and articles about Rwanda
• Bradt Tavel Guide: Rwanda Janice Booth and Philip Briggs
• Lonely Planet: East Africa
• Land of a Thousand Hills : My Life in Rwanda Rosamund Halsey Carr and Ann Howard Halsey
• Rwanda: The Land God Forgot (2002) by Meg Guillebaud detailing the history of the Christian church in Rwanda, analyzing some of the causes behind the genocide and the path to future.
• Left To Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza

External links

Government

• Official government site, (English) The Republic of Rwanda
• Republic of Rwanda unofficial
• Rwanda Parliament (Kinyarwanda, French, English) official site

News

• AllAfrica.com — Rwanda news headline links
• IRIN News for Rwanda, from the United Nations

Overviews

• Rwanda newsLocal news for Rwanda
• BBC News Country Profile — Rwanda
• CIA World Factbook — Rwanda
• Guardian Unlimited — Special Report: Rwanda
• Open Directory Project — Rwanda directory category
• US Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports — Rwanda
• US State Department — Rwanda includes Background Notes, Country Study and major reports

Tourism

• L'Afrique dot com Hundreds of photos and articles (in English and French)
• Rwanda National Tourist Board (ORTPN) official site
• Rwanda Safari and Travel Guide Guide for Africa
• National Museum of Rwanda official site
• The Rwanda Online Video Guide Chawbacon.org allows you to download and watch video clips (129) about Rwanda. They provide a visual representation of information provided by traditional guides like The Bradt Travel Guide and Lonely Planet. All aspects from guest rooms to game parks are presented in 10 MB or less.

Other

• Voices of Rwanda Rwanda Testimony Film Project
• Survivors Fund Representing and supporters survivors of the Rwandan genocide
• Photos of Miss Rwanda (L'Afrique)
• Rwanda online Rwanda directory and Portal.
• International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda official site
• Global Issues — Conflict in Rwanda
• Rwanda Development Gateway
• Rwanda: Articles
• Rwanda: a history of Empire and exploitation 1894–1990
• ASSIST a.s.b.l. Rwandan NGO serving vulnerable children and youth
• The 800,000 Project Information on a humanitarian art-in-action installation piece memorializing the victims of the Rwandan genocide and raising funds to establish local water wells
• Project RwandaFurthering the economic development of Rwanda through initiatives based on the bicycle as a tool and symbol of hope. Our goal is use the bike to help boost the Rwandan economy as well as re-brand Rwanda as a beautiful and safe place to do business and visit freely
• UNESCO Nairobi office on HIV/AIDS in Rwanda
• RWANDA The enduring legacy of the genocide and war

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 · Egypt¹ · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Ethiopia · Gabon · The Gambia · Ghana · Guinea-Bissau · Guinea · Kenya · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Madagascar · Malawi · Mali · Mauritania · Mauritius · Morocco · Mozambique · Namibia · Niger · Nigeria · Rwanda · Senegal · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Somalia · South Africa · Spain² · Sudan · Swaziland · São Tomé and Príncipe · Tanzania · Togo · Tunisia · Uganda · Zambia · Zimbabwe

Dependencies  |  Unrecognized
British Indian Ocean Territory (UK) · French Southern and Antarctic Lands (France) · Mayotte (France) · Réunion (France) · St. Helena³ (UK)  |  Puntland · Somaliland · Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

¹ Partly in Asia.  ² Mostly in Europe.  ³ Includes the dependencies of Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha.

Template:Former German colonies

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

Niger-Congo-speaking nations

Kordofanian

 Sudan

Mande

Gambia  Guinea

Guinea-Bissau  Mali

Mauritania  Senegal

Sierra Leone

Atlantic-Congo

Atlantic  Benin  Burkina Faso  Cameroon  CAR Ijoid  Nigeria

Chad  Côte d'Ivoire  Gambia  Guinea Dogon  Mali

Guinea-Bissau  Liberia  Mali

Mauritania  Niger  Senegal

Sierra Leone  Sudan  Togo

Volta-Congo

Senufo  Benin  Côte d'Ivoire  Mali

Gur  Benin  Burkina Faso  Côte d'Ivoire  Ghana  Mali  Nigeria  Togo

Adamawa-Ubangi  Cameroon  CAR  Chad  Nigeria

Kru  Burkina Faso  Côte d'Ivoire  Liberia

Kwa  Benin  Côte d'Ivoire  Ghana  Nigeria  Togo

Benue-Congo

Bantu  Angola  Botswana  Burundi  Cameroon  DRC Yoruba and Igbo  Nigeria

Rep. of the Congo  Equatorial Guinea  Gabon  Kenya

Nigeria  Malawi  Mozambique  Namibia

Rwanda  Somalia  South Africa  Swaziland

Tanzania  Uganda  Zambia  Zimbabwe

CAR = Central African Republic DRC = Democratic Republic of the Congo

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