About Rwanda

BASIC INFORMATION

Full Country Name: The Republic of Rwanda

Country Profile: Rwanda

Basic Information

Area: 26,338 sq km
Population: approximately 8 million
Capital City: Kigali (700,000, 1,000,000 during the day)
Language(s): Kinyarwanda (official), French (official), English (official), Kiswahili ) used in commercial centres and by the Army.
Religion(s): Roman Catholic 42%, Protestant 12%, Muslim 3%, indigenous beliefs and other 37%.
Currency: 1 Rwandan franc = 100 centimes
Head of State: President Paul Kagame (since 22 April 2000, elected December 2003)
Prime Minister: Bernard Makuza (since 8 March 2000)
Foreign Minister: Dr Charles Murigande
Major political parties: Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF); Rwanda Democratic Movement (MDR); the Social Democratic Party (PSD); Liberal Party (PL); Christian Democratic Party (PDC); Islamic Democratic Party (PDI); Rwandan Socialist Party (PSR) and Democratic Union of Rwandan People (UDPR); Congress Progressive Party (PPC)

GEOGRAPHY

Rwanda, a small land-locked mountainous country lying south of the Equator in Central Africa, borders the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi. It has a temperate climate with two rainy seasons (March to May; October to December) .

HISTORY

Rwanda existed as an independent, highly centralised state for several centuries, ruled by a King and noble elite drawn largely from the minority Tutsi (15%) group. It became part of German East Africa in 1899. Following WWI it became part of the Belgian-administered territory of ‘Ruanda-Urundi’, with neighboring Burundi, under a League of Nations mandate. The colonial authorities consolidated the power of the existing Tutsi elite. In an attempt to head off claims for independence from the ruling elite, the Hutu majority were encouraged to participate in the political life of the country. Independence from Belgium followed in 1962, after a Hutu uprising (1959-61) and large-scale massacres of Tutsi. This brought to power a Hutu-dominated Government led by President Kayibanda. Inter-communal violence between Hutu and Tutsi continued until 1973, when Kayibanda was deposed and a more moderate – but still firmly Hutu – Second Republic was declared under President Habyarimana.

Rwanda remained largely peaceful during this period, although Tutsi were still excluded from power and faced widespread discrimination. Many left the country, joining those who had fled the killings of 1959. Power was concentrated in the hands of a single party, the Mouvement Revolutionnaire National pour le Developpment (MRND). Habyarimana and the MRND won several uncontested “elections” through the 1980's.