Rwanda

Rwanda is a country of Central Africa, having borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (217 km), Burundi (290 km), Uganda (169 km) and Tanzania (217 km). While it has no ocean coast, it is on the Lake Kivu, which borders on the DRC. Its capital is Kigali.

History

Rwanda became independent in 1962 after colonization by Germany (1899) and Belgium (1919). In 1959, three years before independence, the majority ethnic group, the Hutus, overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. A Hutu-dominated parliament was elected in 1961. Since independence, the country has been riven with ethnic violence, although it is at relative peace. It held its first local elections in 1999 and its first post-genocide presidential and legislative elections in 2003.

1994 genocide

The 1994 war began on 6 April 1994, when the aircraft of the Hutu presidents of Rwanda, Juvenal Habyarimana, in which Cyprien Ntaryamira, the Hutu president of Burundi was also a passenger, was shot down near near Kigali International Airport in Rwanda. United Nations peacekeepers under Canadian Gen. Romeo Dallaire were unable to obtain authorization to capture rebel weapons depots and radio stations. The Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) fought the Hutu government. Between April and June 1994. About 800,000 people were massacred by the army and the extremist Interahamwe militia. The RPF overthrew the regime in June 1994.

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 DRC. Since then, most of the refugees have returned to Rwanda, but several thousand remained in the DRC and formed an extremist insurgency bent on retaking Rwanda, much as the RPF tried in 1990.

Recent stabilization

The DRC and Rwanda restored diplomatic relations in 2009, after conducting joint military operations to oust Hutu insurgents in the Congo.

Kigali Airport has been an African Union logistics base for peace operations in the Darfur Conflict.

Rwanda joined the Commonwealth of Nations in late 2009.

People

It is the most densely populated country in Africa, with an estimated population of 10,746,311 spread over 26,338 sq km.

Ethnically, it is principally Hutu (Bantu) 84% and Tutsi (Hamitic) 15%, with Twa (Pygmy) 1%, Religions are diverse, estimated to be, in 2001, Roman Catholic 56.5%, Protestant 26%, Adventist 11.1%, Muslim 4.6%, indigenous beliefs 0.1%, none 1.7%. The official languages are Kinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu vernacular, French and English (official); Kiswahili (Swahili) is used in commercial centers.

Economy

Rwanda is a poor rural country with about 85% of the population engaged in (mainly subsistence) agriculture and some mineral and agro-processing. Despite Rwanda's fertile ecosystem, food production often does not keep pace with demand, requiring food imports.

In 2008, minerals overtook coffee and tea as Rwanda's primary foreign exchange earner.

Rwanda joined the World Bank in 1963, and obtained Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative debt relief in 2005-06. Since then, the country has financed 70 IDA credits and grants totaling approximately US$1.4 billion. As of the end of July 2009, World Bank support to Rwanda consists of 13 operations, including four loans, nine grants and two trust funds, with a net commitment of US$ 264.4 million.

Rwanda continues to receive substantial aid money and obtained Rwanda also received a Millennium Challenge Account Compact in 2008.