In 1959, three years before independence from Belgium, the majority ethnic group, the Hutus, overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. Over the next several years, thousands of Tutsis were killed, and some 150,000 driven into exile in neighboring countries. The children of these exiles later formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), and began a civil war in 1990. The war, along with several political and economic upheavals, exacerbated ethnic tensions, culminating in April 1994 in the genocide of roughly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and ended the killing in July 1994, but approximately 2 million Hutu refugees - many fearing Tutsi retribution - fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire. Since then, most of the refugees have returned to Rwanda, but several thousand remained in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC; the former Zaire) and formed an extremist insurgency bent on retaking Rwanda, much as the RPF tried in 1990. Rwanda held its first local elections in 1999 and its first post-genocide presidential and legislative elections in 2003. Rwanda in 2009 staged a joint military operation with the Congolese Army in DRC to rout out the Hutu extremist insurgency there and Kigali and Kinshasa restored diplomatic relations. Rwanda also joined the Commonwealth in late 2009.

Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo

2 00 S, 30 00 E

Africa

slightly smaller than Maryland

0 km (landlocked)

none (landlocked)

temperate; two rainy seasons (February to April, November to January); mild in mountains with frost and snow possible

mostly grassy uplands and hills; relief is mountainous with altitude declining from west to east

gold, cassiterite (tin ore), wolframite (tungsten ore), methane, hydropower, arable land

90 sq km (2003)

5.2 cu km (2003)

periodic droughts; the volcanic Virunga mountains are in the northwest along the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo

deforestation results from uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel; overgrazing; soil exhaustion; soil erosion; widespread poaching

landlocked; most of the country is savanna grassland with the population predominantly rural

11,055,976

2.818% (2010 est.)

37.26 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

10.19 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

1.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)

4.99 children born/woman (2010 est.)

2.8% (2007 est.)

150,000 (2007 est.)

7,800 (2007 est.)

Hutu (Bantu) 84%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 15%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%

Roman Catholic 56.5%, Protestant 26%, Adventist 11.1%, Muslim 4.6%, indigenous beliefs 0.1%, none 1.7% (2001)

Kinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu vernacular, French (official), English (official), Kiswahili (Swahili) used in commercial centers

3.8% of GDP (2005)

Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa

republic; presidential, multiparty system

4 provinces (in French - provinces, singular - province; in Kinyarwanda - intara for singular and plural) and 1 city* (in French - ville; in Kinyarwanda - umujyi); Est (Eastern), Kigali*, Nord (Northern), Ouest (Western), Sud (Southern)

1 July 1962 (from Belgium-administered UN trusteeship)

Independence Day, 1 July (1962)

new constitution passed by referendum 26 May 2003

based on German and Belgian civil law systems and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

bicameral Parliament consists of Senate (26 seats; 12 members elected by local councils, 8 appointed by the president, 4 appointed by the Political Organizations Forum, 2 represent institutions of higher learning; members to serve eight-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies (80 seats; 53 members elected by popular vote, 24 women elected by local bodies, 3 selected by youth and disability organizations; members to serve five-year terms)

Supreme Court; High Courts of the Republic; Provincial Courts; District Courts; mediation committees

Centrist Democratic Party or PDC [Alfred MUKEZAMFURA]; Democratic Popular Union of Rwanda or UDPR [Adrien RANGIRA]; Democratic Republican Movement or MDR [Celestin KABANDA] (officially banned); Islamic Democratic Party or PDI [Andre BUMAYA]; Liberal Party or PL [Protais MITALI]; Party for Democratic Renewal (officially banned); Rwandan Patriotic Front or RPF [Paul KAGAME]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Vincent BIRUTA]; Solidarity and Prosperity Party or PSP [Pheobe KANYANGE]

IBUKA (association of genocide survivors)

ACP, AfDB, AU, C, CEPGL, COMESA, EAC, EADB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURCAT, NAM, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

three horizontal bands of sky blue (top, double width), yellow, and green, with a golden sun with 24 rays near the fly end of the blue band; blue represents happiness and peace, yellow economic development and mineral wealth, green hope of prosperity and natural resources; the sun symbolizes unity, as well as enlightenment and transparency from ignorance

Rwanda is a poor rural country with about 90% of the population engaged in (mainly subsistence) agriculture and some mineral and agro-processing. In 2008, minerals overtook coffee and tea as Rwanda's primary foreign exchange earner. The 1994 genocide decimated Rwanda's fragile economic base, severely impoverished the population, particularly women, and temporarily stalled the country's ability to attract private and external investment. However, Rwanda has made substantial progress in stabilizing and rehabilitating its economy to pre-1994 levels. GDP has rebounded and inflation has been curbed. Nonetheless, a majority still live below the poverty line of 250 Rwandan francs per day (about US$0.43). Despite Rwanda's fertile ecosystem, food production often does not keep pace with demand, requiring food imports. Rwanda continues to receive substantial aid money and obtained IMF-World Bank Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative debt relief in 2005-06. Rwanda also received a Millennium Challenge Account Compact in 2008. Africa's most densely populated country is trying to overcome the limitations of its small, landlocked economy by leveraging regional trade. Rwanda joined the East African Community and is aligning its budget, trade, and immigration policies with its regional partners. The government has embraced an expansionary fiscal policy to reduce poverty by improving education, infrastructure, and foreign and domestic investment and pursuing market-oriented reforms, although energy shortages, instability in neighboring states, and lack of adequate transportation linkages to other countries continue to handicap growth. The global downturn hurt export demand and tourism while poor rains this year have lowered growth in agriculture.

$10.13 billion (2009 est.)

$9.601 billion (2008 est.)

$8.634 billion (2007 est.)

$5.07 billion (2009 est.)

5.5% (2009 est.)

11.2% (2008 est.)

6% (2007 est.)

$900 (2009 est.)

$900 (2008 est.)

$900 (2007 est.)

4.446 million (2007)

NA%

60% (2001 est.)

46.8 (2000)

28.9 (1985)

19.6% of GDP (2009 est.)

14.2% (2009 est.)

15.4% (2008 est.)

11.25% (31 December 2008)

12.5% (31 December 2007)

16.51% (31 December 2008)

15.84% (31 December 2007)

$233.6 million (31 December 2005)

$227.4 million (31 December 2005)

$NA (31 December 2008)

$209.2 million (31 December 2005)

$NA

coffee, tea, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums), bananas, beans, sorghum, potatoes; livestock

cement, agricultural products, small-scale beverages, soap, furniture, shoes, plastic goods, textiles, cigarettes

7% (2009 est.)

120 million kWh (2007 est.)

231.6 million kWh (2007 est.)

10 million kWh (2007)

130 million kWh (2007 est.)

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

6,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

5,623 bbl/day (2007 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

56.63 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

-$208 million (2009 est.)

-$292 million (2008 est.)

$213 million (2009 est.)

$210 million (2008 est.)

coffee, tea, hides, tin ore

China 9.1%, Thailand 8.6%, Germany 7.3%, US 4.5%, Belgium 4.1% (2008)

$786 million (2009 est.)

$834 million (2008 est.)

foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, steel, petroleum products, cement and construction material

Kenya 15%, Uganda 13.1%, China 6.2%, Belgium 5.2%, Germany 4.5% (2008)

$619 million (31 December 2009 est.)

$596 million (31 December 2008 est.)

$NA

Rwandan francs (RWF) per US dollar - 568.75 (2009), 550 (2008), 585 (2007), 560 (2006), 610 (2005)

16,800 (2008)

1.323 million (2008)

AM 0, FM 10 (two main FM programs are broadcast through a system of repeaters; international FM programming includes the BBC, VOA, and Deutchewelle) (2007)

2 (2004)

.rw

81 (2009)

300,000 (2008)

9 (2009)

Lac Kivu navigable by shallow-draft barges and native craft (2008)

Cyangugu, Gisenyi, Kibuye

Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF), Rwandan Patriotic Air Force (2009)

18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2008)

2.9% of GDP (2006 est.)

fighting among ethnic groups - loosely associated political rebels, armed gangs, and various government forces in Great Lakes region transcending the boundaries of Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda - abated substantially from a decade ago due largely to UN peacekeeping, international mediation, and efforts by local governments to create civil societies; nonetheless, 57,000 Rwandan refugees still reside in 21 African states, including Zambia, Gabon, and 20,000 who fled to Burundi in 2005 and 2006 to escape drought and recriminations from traditional courts investigating the 1994 massacres; the 2005 DROC and Rwanda border verification mechanism to stem rebel actions on both sides of the border remains in place