• Rwanda is a landlocked nation located in Central Africa and bordered by Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania.

• Fast Facts:

  1. Capital: Kigali
  2. Government: republic, presidential, multiparty system
  3. Population: approximately 8 million
  4. Currency: Rwandan Franc (RWF)
  5. Exchange Rate: Rwandan francs per US dollar - 560 (2006)
  6. Official Language: Kinyarwanda, French, and English
  7. Contains world's only surviving population of mountain gorillas

• Brief History

  Despite its small size, Rwanda supports the densest population of any nation in Africa. The nation achieved its independence from Belgium in 1962; three years prior, in 1959 the majority ethnic group, the Hutu, overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. Afterwards, many Tutsi formed a rebel group known as the Rwandan Patriotic Front and periodic unrest plagued the small nation. In 1994, triggered by the shooting down of a jet carrying the Hutu President, Hutu militias engaged in a systematic genocide of all Tutsi and moderate Hutus in the country, killing over 800,000 in the process. After the genocide, Tutsi militias fought back and installed a Tutsi President, Paul Kagame.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Africa | Rwanda Travel and Tourism | Hotel Rwanda | Rwandan Genocide | Republic of Rwanda | Africa | Kigali | Rwandan Patriotic Front | Tutsis | Hutus | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Republic of Rwanda | President Paul Kagame | Prime Minister Bernard Makuza | Zambia | Gabon | Burundi | Refugees | Paris Hilton in Rwanda | DR Congo | Democratic Republic of Congo

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