Rwanda

Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands at the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west.

Rwanda (U Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda (Repubulika y'u Rwanda; Swahili: Jamhuri ya Rwanda; République du Rwanda), is a country in Central and East Africa and one of the smallest countries on the African mainland.

Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan – in Central East Africa, are members of the East African Community (EAC). The first five are also included in the African Great Lakes region. Burundi and Rwanda are at times also considered to be part of Central Africa.

Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania.

Rwanda (U Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda (Repubulika y'u Rwanda; Swahili: Jamhuri ya Rwanda; République du Rwanda), is a country in Central and East Africa and one of the smallest countries on the African mainland.

Central Africa is the core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda.

Rwandans are drawn from just one cultural and linguistic group, the Banyarwanda, although within this group there are three subgroups: the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa.

The Banyarwanda (Kinyarwanda: plural: Abanyarwanda, singular: Umunyarwanda; literally "those who come from Rwanda") are the cultural and linguistic group of people who inhabit mainly Rwanda.

The president is Paul Kagame of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), who took office in 2000. The Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front launched a civil war in 1990.

The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi, Front patriotique rwandais, FPR) is the ruling political party in Rwanda.

The population is young and predominantly rural, with a density among the highest in Africa.

The Republic of Rwanda's Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Sports defines youth as those from age 14 to 35 years.

Rwandans are drawn from just one cultural and linguistic group, the Banyarwanda, although within this group there are three subgroups: the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa.

Historically, they were often referred to as the Watutsi, Watusi, Wahuma, Wahima or the Wahinda. The Tutsi form a subgroup of the Banyarwanda and the Barundi peoples, who reside primarily in Rwanda and Burundi, but with significant populations also found in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania.

Rwandans are drawn from just one cultural and linguistic group, the Banyarwanda, although within this group there are three subgroups: the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa.

The Hutu, also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic or Social group native to the African Great Lakes region of Africa, primarily area now under Burundi and Rwanda.

The Hutu population revolted in 1959.

The Rwandan Revolution, also known as the Social Revolution or Wind of Destruction (muyaga), was a period of ethnic violence in Rwanda from 1959 to 1961 between the Hutu and the Tutsi, two of the three ethnic groups in Rwanda.

The Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front launched a civil war in 1990.

The Rwandan Civil War was a conflict between the Rwandan Armed Forces, representing the government of Rwanda, and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).

Christianity is the largest religion in the country; the principal language is Kinyarwanda, spoken by most Rwandans, with English and French serving as additional official languages.

Kinyarwanda ( or ), known as Urufumbira in Kisoro, Uganda, is an official language of Rwanda and a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language spoken by at least 12 million people in Rwanda, Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjacent parts of southern Uganda (Kirundi dialect is the official language of neighbouring Burundi).

The country has been governed by a strict administrative hierarchy since precolonial times; there are five provinces delineated by borders drawn in 2006.

Prior to January 1, 2006, Rwanda was composed of 12 provinces.

Germany colonised Rwanda in 1884 as part of German East Africa, followed by Belgium, which invaded in 1916 during World War I.

German East Africa (Deutsch-Ostafrika) (GEA) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, and the mainland part of Tanzania.

Rwanda's economy suffered heavily in wake of the 1994 genocide, but has since strengthened.

Rwanda is a developing country that has undergone rapid industrialisation thanks to successful government policy.

Rwandans are drawn from just one cultural and linguistic group, the Banyarwanda, although within this group there are three subgroups: the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa.

Current populations are found in the states of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and the eastern portion of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rwanda is in the African Great Lakes region and is highly elevated; its geography is dominated by mountains in the west and savanna to the east, with numerous lakes throughout the country.

Countries in the African Great Lakes region (sometimes also called Greater Lakes region) include Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

Tourism is a fast-growing sector and is now the country's leading foreign exchange earner.

Rwanda is located in Central Africa (but most residents live on the side of East Africa) and has much history and natural beauty.

The cease-fire ended on 6 April 1994 when Habyarimana's plane was shot down near Kigali Airport, killing him.

On the evening of 6 April 1994, the airplane carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down with surface-to-air missiles as it prepared to land in Kigali, Rwanda.

The international response to the genocide was limited, with major powers reluctant to strengthen the already overstretched UN peacekeeping force.

Its activities were meant to aid the peace process between the Hutu-dominated Rwandese government and the Tutsi-dominated rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).

Rwabugiri conquered several smaller states, expanded the kingdom west and north, and initiated administrative reforms; these included ubuhake, in which Tutsi patrons ceded cattle, and therefore privileged status, to Hutu or Tutsi clients in exchange for economic and personal service, and uburetwa, a corvée system in which Hutu were forced to work for Tutsi chiefs.

Ubuhake is the name given to the social order in Rwanda and Burundi from approximately the 15th century to 1958.

Rwanda is one of only two countries in which mountain gorillas can be visited safely, and visitors pay high prices for gorilla tracking permits.

One population lives in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, and the other in the Virunga Mountains in three adjacent national parks, namely Uganda's Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park, and Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In 1973, Juvénal Habyarimana took power in a military coup.

Juvénal Habyarimana (March 8, 1937 – April 6, 1994) was the 2nd President of the Republic of Rwanda, serving longer than any other president to date, from 1973 until 1994.

When the RPF took over, approximately two million Hutu fled to neighbouring countries, in particular Zaïre, fearing reprisals; additionally, the RPF-led army was a key belligerent in the First and Second Congo Wars.

The First Congo War (1996–1997), also nicknamed Africa's First World War, was a foreign invasion of Zaire led by Rwanda that replaced President Mobutu Sésé Seko with the rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila.

The explorer Gustav Adolf von Götzen was the first European to significantly explore the country in 1894; he crossed from the south-east to Lake Kivu and met the king.

He came to Rwanda in 1894 at the head of a troop of 620 soldiers, becoming the second European to set foot in Rwanda, after Oscar Baumann, and later became the first European to cross the length of Rwanda.