Historical Dictionary of Rwanda (Historical Dictionaris of Africa)
Edition: New edition
Publisher: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.; Scarecrow Press
Published: December 28, 2007
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 256
ISBN-13: 9780810853133
Subjects: African history; Central Africa - History; History; History - General History; History: World; Africa - General; History / Africa; Africa - Central; Dictionaries; Rwanda
Description: "Blessed with natural beauty and rich vegetation, Rwanda is often called the "land of a thousand hills." A proud people, the Banyarwanda (Rwandans) possess a centric view of the world, believing that Imana (God) favors Rwanda, as conveyed through the saying "Imana yirirwa ahandi igataha i Rwanda" (God spends the day someplace else but goes back home to Rwanda to sleep) and the fact that Rwanda means "the universe." However, this idyllic view of Rwanda sharply contrasts with the sad history of ethnic strife that has unfolded in the country since the 1950s: the 1959 Hutu revolution followed by years of anti-Tutsi pogroms, undemocratic regimes, the civil war of 1990-1994, and, more significantly, the April-July 1994 genocide against the Tutsi and Hutu who opposed the killings." "This updated edition of Historical Dictionary of Rwanda, through its chronology, introduction, appendixes, maps, bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on important people, places, events, and institutions and significant political, economic, social, and cultural aspects, is an invaluable reference on this central African country."--Jacket.