Rwanda

National name

Repubulika y’u Rwanda

Government

Republic

Geography
Rwanda, in east-central Africa, is surrounded by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi. Steep mountains and deep valleys cover most of the country. Lake Kivu in the northwest, at an altitude of 4,829 ft (1,472 m), is the highest lake in Africa.

 Historical Background
 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 driven into exile in neighboring countries, later formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), and began a civil war in 1990. Despite substantial international assistance and political reforms - including Rwanda's first local elections in March 1999 and its first postgenocide presidential and legislative elections in August and September 2003 - the country continues to struggle to boost investment and agricultural output, and ethnic reconciliation is complicated by the real and perceived Tutsi political dominance. Kigali's increasing centralization and intolerance of dissent, the nagging Hutu extremist insurgency across the border, and Rwandan involvement in two wars in recent years in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to hinder Rwanda's efforts to escape its bloody legacy.

Facts & Figures

Name

Rwanda

Capital

Kigali

Government

Republic

Language

Kinyarwanda, French, English

Area

26,338 km2

Population

July 2010 estimate 11,055,976[1] (74th) 2002 census 8,162,715

Currency

Rwandan franc (RWF)

GDP(PPP)

2009 estimate Total $11.260 billion

GDP(nominal)

2009 estimate Total $5.246 billion

Time Zone

CAT (UTC+2) Summer (DST) not observed (UTC+2)