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 a state-orchestrated genocide, in which Rwandans killed up to a million of their fellow citizens, including approximately three-quarters of the Tutsi population. The genocide ended later that same year when the predominantly Tutsi RPF, operating out of Uganda and northern Rwanda, defeated the national army and Hutu militias, and established an RPF-led government of national unity. Approximately 2 million Hutu refugees - many fearing Tutsi retribution - fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and former 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 did 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. In January 2013, Rwanda assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2013-14 term.

Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo

2 00 S, 30 00 E

Africa

total: 26,338 sq km
country comparison to the world: 149
land: 24,668 sq km
water: 1,670 sq km

slightly smaller than Maryland

total: 893 km
border countries: Burundi 290 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 217 km, Tanzania 217 km, Uganda 169 km

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

lowest point: Rusizi River 950 m
highest point: Volcan Karisimbi 4,519 m

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

arable land: 46.32%
permanent crops: 9.49%
other: 44.19% (2011)

96.25 sq km (2007)

9.5 cu km (2011)

total: 0.15 cu km/yr (33%/11%/55%)
per capita: 17.25 cu m/yr (2005)

periodic droughts; the volcanic Virunga mountains are in the northwest along the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo
volcanism: Visoke (elev. 3,711 m), located on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is the country's only historically active volcano

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

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

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

noun: Rwandan(s)
adjective: Rwandan

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

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

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

12,012,589 (July 2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 74
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected

0-14 years: 42.3% (male 2,561,999/female 2,521,530)
15-24 years: 19.1% (male 1,142,985/female 1,145,500)
25-54 years: 32.2% (male 1,943,017/female 1,929,924)
55-64 years: 3.9% (male 219,111/female 254,064)
65 years and over: 2.5% (male 119,086/female 175,373) (2013 est.)

total dependency ratio: 82.8 %
youth dependency ratio: 78.5 %
elderly dependency ratio: 4.3 %
potential support ratio: 23 (2013)

total: 18.7 years
male: 18.4 years
female: 19 years (2013 est.)

2.7% (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 22

35.49 births/1,000 population (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 26

9.41 deaths/1,000 population (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 59

0.95 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 58

urban population: 19.1% of total population (2011)
rate of urbanization: 4.5% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

KIGALI (capital) 909,000 (2009)

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.86 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2013 est.)

22.9
note: median age at first birth among women 25-29 (2010 est.)

340 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)
country comparison to the world: 35

total: 61.03 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 24
male: 64.58 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 57.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2013 est.)

total population: 58.85 years
country comparison to the world: 196
male: 57.34 years
female: 60.4 years (2013 est.)

4.71 children born/woman (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 26

51.6% (2010/11)

10.8% of GDP (2011)
country comparison to the world: 17

0.06 physicians/1,000 population (2010)

1.6 beds/1,000 population (2007)

2.9% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 25

170,000 (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 31

4,100 (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 43

degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever
animal contact disease: rabies (2013)

4.3% (2008)
country comparison to the world: 170

11.7% (2011)
country comparison to the world: 62

4.8% of GDP (2011)
country comparison to the world: 81

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 71.1%
male: 74.8%
female: 67.5% (2010 est.)

total: 11 years
male: 11 years
female: 11 years (2011)

total number: 783,113
percentage: 35 % (2000 est.)

Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa

conventional long form: Republic of Rwanda
conventional short form: Rwanda
local long form: Republika y'u Rwanda
local short form: Rwanda
former: Ruanda, German East Africa

republic; presidential, multiparty system

name: Kigali
geographic coordinates: 1 57 S, 30 03 E
time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

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)

several previous; latest adopted by referendum 26 May 2003, effective 4 June 2003; amended several times, last in 2010 (2013)

mixed legal system of civil law, based on German and Belgian models, and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

18 years of age; universal

chief of state: President Paul KAGAME (since 22 April 2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Pierre Damien HABUMUREMYI (since 7 October 2011)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president

elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term (eligible for a second term); elections last held on 9 August 2010 (next to be held in 2017)
election results: Paul KAGAME elected to a second term as president; Paul KAGAME 93.1%, Jean NTAWUKURIRYAYO 5.1%, Prosper HIGIRO 1.4%, Alvera MUKABARAMBA 0.4%

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)
elections: Senate - NA; Chamber of Deputies - last held on 15 September 2008 (next to be held on 16-18 September 2013)
election results: percent of vote by party - RPF 78.8%, PSD 13.1%, PL 7.5%; seats by party - RPF 42, PSD 7, PL 4, additional 27 members indirectly elected

highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the court president, vice president, and 12 judges; normally organized into 3-judge benches)
judge selection and term of office: judges nominated by the president of the republic, after consultation with the Cabinet and the Superior Council of the Judiciary (a 14-member body of judges, other judicial officials, and legal professionals), and approved by the Senate; court president and vice president appointed for 8-year nonrenewable terms; tenure of other judges NA
subordinate courts: High Court of the Republic; commercial courts including the High Commercial Court; intermediate courts; primary courts; Gacaca and military specialized courts

Centrist Democratic Party or PDC [Agnes MUKABARANGA]

IBUKA (association of genocide survivors)

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

chief of mission: Ambassador Mathilde MUKANTABANA (since 5 July 2013)
chancery: 1714 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone: [1] (202) 232-2882
FAX: [1] (202) 232-4544

chief of mission: Ambassador Donald W. KORAN (since 8 August 2011)
embassy: 2657 Avenue de la Gendarmerie, Kigali
mailing address: B. P. 28, Kigali
telephone: [250] 596-400
FAX: [250] 596-591

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

name: "Rwanda nziza" (Rwanda, Our Beautiful Country)
lyrics/music: Faustin MURIGO/Jean-Bosco HASHAKAIMANA
note: adopted 2001

Rwanda is a poor rural country with about 90% of the population engaged in (mainly subsistence) agriculture and some mineral and agro-processing. Tourism, minerals, coffee and tea are Rwanda's main sources of foreign exchange. Minerals exports declined 40% in 2009-10 due to the global economic downturn. 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 with an average annual growth of 7%-8% since 2003 and inflation has been reduced to single digits. Nonetheless, a significant percent of the population still live below the official poverty line. 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. In recognition of Rwanda's successful management of its macro economy, in 2010, the IMF graduated Rwanda to a Policy Support Instrument (PSI). Rwanda also received a Millennium Challenge Threshold Program 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. Energy shortages, instability in neighboring states, and lack of adequate transportation linkages to other countries continue to handicap private sector growth. The Rwandan Government is seeking to become regional leader in information and communication technologies. In 2010, Rwanda neared completion of the first modern Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Kigali. The SEZ seeks to attract investment in all sectors, but specifically in agribusiness, information and communications technologies, trade and logistics, mining, and construction. The global downturn hurt export demand and tourism, but economic growth has recovered, driven in large part by the services sector, but inflation has grown. On the back of this growth, government is gradually ending its fiscal stimulus policy while protecting aid to the poor.

$15.02 billion (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 142
note: data are in 2012 US dollars

$7.007 billion (2012 est.)

8% (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 20

$1,400 (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 203
note: data are in 2012 US dollars

14.8% of GDP (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 104

household consumption: 88.6%
government consumption: 8.2%
investment in fixed capital: 22.8%
investment in inventories: 0%
exports of goods and services: 13.2%
imports of goods and services: -32.8%

agriculture: 32.1%
industry: 15%
services: 52.8% (2012 est.)

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

7.2% (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 32

4.446 million (2007)
country comparison to the world: 85

agriculture: 90%
industry and services: 10% (2000)

NA%

44.9% (2011 est.)

lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 43.2% (2011 est.)

46.8 (2000)
country comparison to the world: 32

revenues: $1.701 billion
expenditures: $1.781 billion (2012 est.)

24.3% of GDP (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 132

-1.1% of GDP (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 67

21.7% of GDP (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 128

calendar year

6.3% (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 168

7.75% (31 December 2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 20

17.5% (31 December 2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 31

$671.2 million (31 December 2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 155

$1.536 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 157

$557 million (31 December 2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 161

$NA

$-569.2 million (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 106

$512 million (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 172

coffee, tea, hides, tin ore

Kenya 30.5%, Democratic Republic of the Congo 12.2%, China 12.1%, Malaysia 10.7%, US 5.8%, Swaziland 4.9% (2012)

$1.871 billion (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 165

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

Kenya 17.3%, Uganda 15.6%, UAE 8.9%, China 7.2%, India 5.6%, Tanzania 5%, Belgium 4.5%, Canada 4.1% (2012)

$847.8 million (31 December 2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 138

$1.153 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 157

$743.3 million (31 December 2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 100

$12.9 million (31 December 2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 96

Rwandan francs (RWF) per US dollar -

280.2 million kWh (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 176

319.6 million kWh (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 172

3 million kWh (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 90

62 million kWh (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 96

57,250 kW (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 184

52.4% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 150

0% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 169

47.2% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 46

0.4% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 85

10 bbl/day (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 132

0 bbl/day (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 174

0 bbl/day (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 113

0 bbl (1 January 2013 es)
country comparison to the world: 178

0 bbl/day (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 123

5,245 bbl/day (2011 est.)
country comparison to the world: 166

0 bbl/day (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 209

5,302 bbl/day (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 149

0 cu m (2011 est.)
country comparison to the world: 184

0 cu m (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 188

0 cu m (2011 est.)
country comparison to the world: 172

0 cu m (2011 est.)
country comparison to the world: 122

56.63 billion cu m (1 January 2013 es)
country comparison to the world: 64

865,100 Mt (2011 est.)
country comparison to the world: 169

44,400 (2012)
country comparison to the world: 167

5.69 million (2012)
country comparison to the world: 104

general assessment: small, inadequate telephone system primarily serves business, education, and government
domestic: the capital, Kigali, is connected to the centers of the provinces by microwave radio relay and, recently, by cellular telephone service; much of the network depends on wire and HF radiotelephone; combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular telephone density has increased and now exceeds 40 telephones per 100 persons
international: country code - 250; international connections employ microwave radio relay to neighboring countries and satellite communications to more distant countries; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) in Kigali (includes telex and telefax service) (2010)

government owns and operates the only TV station; government-owned and operated Radio Rwanda has a national reach; 9 private radio stations; transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are available (2007)

.rw

1,447 (2012)
country comparison to the world: 168

450,000 (2009)
country comparison to the world: 118

7 (2013)
country comparison to the world: 167

total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 1 (2013)

total: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m:

total: 4,700 km
country comparison to the world: 152
paved: 1,207 km
unpaved: 3,493 km (2012)

(Lac Kivu navigable by shallow-draft barges and native craft) (2011)

lake port(s): Cyangugu, Gisenyi, Kibuye (Lake Kivu)

Rwanda Defense Force (RDF): Rwanda Army (Rwanda Land Force), Rwanda Air Force (Force Aerienne Rwandaise, FAR) (2013)

18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription; Rwandan citizenship is required, as is a 9th grade education for enlisted recruits and an A-level certificate for officer candidates; enlistment is either as contract (5-years, renewable twice) or career; retirement (for officers and senior NCOs) after 20 years of service or at 40-60 years of age (2012)

males age 16-49: 2,625,917
females age 16-49: 2,608,110 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49: 1,685,066
females age 16-49: 1,749,580 (2010 est.)

male: 110,736
female: 110,328 (2010 est.)

1.12% of GDP (2012)
country comparison to the world: 260

Burundi and Rwanda dispute two sq km (0.8 sq mi) of Sabanerwa, a farmed area in the Rukurazi Valley where the Akanyaru/Kanyaru River shifted its course southward after heavy rains in 1965; 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 (DROC), 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

refugees (country of origin): 57,857 (Democratic Republic of the Congo) (2012)
IDPs: undetermined (fighting between government and insurgency in 1998-99; returning refugees) (2012)