Rwanda
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Motto: Liberty, Cooperation, Progress | |||||
| Anthem: Rwanda nziza | |||||
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| Capital | Kigali |
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| Largest city | Kigali | ||||
| Official language(s) | French, Kinyarwanda, English, Swahili | ||||
| Government | republic; pres. multi-party system Paul Kagame Bernard Makuza |
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| Independence - Date |
From Belgium July 1, 1962 |
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| Area • Total • Water (%) |
26,338 km² (144th) 5.3% |
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| Population • 2004 est. • ? census • Density |
7,954,013 (91st) unavailable 281/km² (33) |
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| GDP (PPP) • Total • Per capita |
2003 estimate 10,462 (123) 1,268 (144) |
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| HDI (2003) | 0.450 (159th) – low | ||||
| Currency | Rwandan franc (RWF) |
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| Time zone • Summer (DST) |
EET (UTC+2) not observed (UTC+2) |
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| Internet TLD | .rw | ||||
| Calling code | +250 |
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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 gives it the title "Land of a Thousand Hills" (French: Pays des Mille Collines), 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. Before this, it was known mostly as the habitat of mountain gorillas.
Contents |
History
- Main article: History of Rwanda
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 were the Twa, a Pygmy people. They were largely replaced and absorbed by Bantu tribes during Bantu migrations.
In 1895 Rwanda became a German province. The Germans, however, were at first completely dependent on the existing government. 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. 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 gradually gained more and more power until, upon Rwanda's independence in 1962, the Hutu held virtually all power.
In 1990, the Tutsi-dominated Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) invaded Rwanda from Uganda. During the course of the fighting, top Rwandese government officials, mainly Hutu, began secretly training young men into informal armed bands called interehamwe ("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 1992 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 General Roméo Dallaire. UNAMIR was vastly underfunded and under-staffed.
During the armed conflict, the RPF was blamed for the bombing of Kigali. These attacks were in reality done by the Hutu army as part of a campaign to create a reason for the genocide that was about to ensue. On April 6 1994, President Habyarimana was assassinated [1] 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 interehamwe 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. 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 resulted in exacerbating the situation and evacuating only foreign nationals.
On July 4th, 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 militias remained in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and became involved in the First Congo War and Second Congo War. In 1996, Rwanda and Uganda invaded eastern Congo in an effort to eliminate the interahamwe groups operating there and to gain influence in the region, sparking the First Congo War.
Today, Rwandans continue to struggle with the legacy of genocide. 2004 marked the ten year aniversary with a ceremony in Kigali. 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 become increasingly militant and opposed to dissent.
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 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.
Political organizing was banned until 2003. The first post-war presidential and legislative elections were held in August and September 2003, respectively.
Provinces
- Main article: Provinces of Rwanda
Rwanda is currently divided into five provinces:
Prior to 1 January 2006, Rwanda was composed of twelve provinces, but these were abolished in full and redrawn to the current setup in an attempt to address issues that arose out of the 1994 genocide.
Geography
Main article: Geography of Rwanda
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.
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 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).
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 1,463 meters (4,800 feet) is 23°C (73°F). 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 80 centimeters (31 in.) but is generally heavier in the western and northwestern mountains than in the eastern savannas.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Rwanda
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. It has a low GNP, resulting in it being listed as a Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC)
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Rwanda
The population consists of three ethnic groups. The Hutus, who represent the main part of the population, are mostly cultivators raising goats or sheep, while a few are ceramists like the 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.
Culture
Main article: Culture of Rwanda
Miscellaneous topics
- Communications in Rwanda
- Foreign relations of Rwanda
- Holidays in Rwanda
- List of cities in Rwanda
- List of Rwandan companies
- Military of Rwanda
- Transportation in Rwanda
- Rwandan Genocide
Further reading
- Bradt Tavel Guide: Rwanda Janice Booth and Philip Briggs
- Land of a Thousand Hills : My Life in Rwanda Rosamund Halsey Carr and Ann Howard Halsey
Note: for books specifically dealing with the Rwandan genocide see Bibliography of the Rwandan Genocide
Films
- Hotel Rwanda (2004) dramatization based on the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who housed over a thousand threatened Tutsis refugees during the 1994 genocide.
- Sometimes In April (2005) dramatization of the 1994 genocide focusing on the experiences of an intermarried Hutu-Tutsi family
See also
External links
Dictionary definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews
Government
- The Republic of Rwanda official government site
- Rwanda Parliament official site
News
- AllAfrica.com - Rwanda news headline links
Overviews
- BBC News Country Profile - Rwanda
- CIA World Factbook - Rwanda
- Guardian Unlimited - Special Report: Rwanda
- Open Directory Project - Rwanda directory project
- US State Department - Rwanda includes Background Notes, Country Study and major reports
Tourism
- Travel guide to Rwanda from Wikitravel
- National Museum of Rwanda official site
Other
- Rwanda online Rwanda directory and Portal.
- International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda official site
- Global Issues - Conflict in Rwanda
- Rwanda Development Gateway
- Rwanda: a history of Empire and exploitation 1894-1990
- ASSIST a.s.b.l. Rwandan NGO serving vulnerable children and youth
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