Rwanda
Rwanda officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a sovereign state in Central and East Africa and
one of the smallest countries on the African mainland. Located a few degrees south of the
Equator, Rwanda is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of
the 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. The climate is temperate to subtropical, with two rainy seasons and two dry
seasons each year. The population is young and predominantly rural, with a density among the
highest in Africa. 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 Twa are a forest-dwelling pygmy people descended from Rwanda’s earliest inhabitants.
Scholars disagree on the origins of and differences between the Hutu and Tutsi; some believe
differences are derived from former social castes within a single people, while others believe the
Hutu and Tutsi arrived in the country separately, and from different locations. Christianity is the
largest religion in the country; the principal language is Kinyarwanda, spoken by most
Rwandans, with English and French serving as official languages. Rwanda has a presidential
system of government. The president is Paul Kagame of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, who took
office in 2000. Rwanda today has low corruption compared with neighbouring countries,
although human rights organisations report suppression of opposition groups, intimidation and
restrictions on freedom of speech. The country has been governed by an ordered administrative
hierarchy since pre-colonial times; there are five provinces delineated by borders drawn in 2006.
Rwanda is one of only two countries with a female majority in the national parliament. Hunter
gatherers settled the territory in the stone and iron ages, followed later by Bantu peoples. The
population coalesced first into clans and then into kingdoms. The Kingdom of Rwanda
dominated from the mid-18th century, with the Tutsi kings conquering others militarily,
centralising power and later enacting anti-Hutu policies. Germany colonised Rwanda in 1884 as
part of German East Africa, followed by Belgium, which invaded in 1916 during the First World