Rwanda

**Rwanda**, officially the **Republic of Rwanda**, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley, where the African Great Lakes region and East Africa converge. One of the smallest countries on the African mainland, its capital city is Kigali. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is highly elevated, giving it the soubriquet "land of thousand hills", with its geography 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. Rwanda has a population of over 12.6 million living on 26,338 km2 (10,169 mi2) of land, and is the most densely populated mainland African country.

The population is young and predominantly rural. Rwandans are drawn from just one cultural and linguistic group, the Banyarwanda. However, within this group there are three subgroups: the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa. The Twa are a forest-dwelling pygmy people and are often considered descendants of 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 additional official languages. The sovereign state of Rwanda has a presidential system of government. The president is Paul Kagame of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), who has served continuously since 2000. Today, Rwanda has low levels of 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 a strict administrative hierarchy since precolonial times; there are five provinces delineated by borders drawn in 2006. Rwanda is one of only three countries in the world with a female majority in the national parliament, the two other countries being Bolivia and Cuba.

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-eighteenth 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 World War I. Both European nations ruled through the kings and perpetuated a pro-Tutsi policy. The Hutu population revolted in 1959. They massacred numerous Tutsi and ultimately established an independent, Hutu-dominated republic in 1962. A 1973 military coup saw a change of leadership, but the pro-Hutu policy remained. The Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front launched a civil war in 1990. The presidents of Rwanda and Burundi, both Hutus, were killed when their aircraft was shot down on 6 April 1994. Social tensions erupted in the 1994 genocide that followed, in which Hutu extremists killed an estimated 500,000–1,000,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu. The RPF ended the genocide with a military victory.

Rwanda's developing economy suffered heavily in the wake of the 1994 genocide, but has since strengthened. The economy is based mostly on subsistence agriculture. Coffee and tea are the major cash crops for export. Tourism is a fast-growing sector and is now the country's leading foreign exchange earner. Rwanda is one of only two countries in which mountain gorillas can be visited safely, and visitors pay high prices for gorilla tracking permits. Music and dance are an integral part of Rwandan culture, particularly drums and the highly choreographed *intore* dance. Traditional arts and crafts are produced throughout the country, including *imigongo*, a unique cow dung art.

Rwanda has been governed as a unitary presidential system with a bicameral parliament ruled by the Rwandan Patriotic Front since 1994. The country is member of the African Union, the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, COMESA, OIF and the East African Community.

## History

Main articles: History of Rwanda, German East Africa, and Ruanda-Urundi
Modern human settlement of what is now Rwanda dates from, at the latest, the last glacial period, either in the Neolithic period around 8000 BC, or in the long humid period which followed, up to around 3000 BC.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Archaeological excavations have revealed evidence of sparse settlement by hunter-gatherers in the late Stone Age, followed by a larger population of early Iron Age settlers, who produced dimpled pottery and iron tools.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** These early inhabitants were the ancestors of the Twa, aboriginal pygmy hunter-gatherers who remain in Rwanda today.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Between 700 BC and 1500 AD, a number of Bantu groups migrated into Rwanda, clearing forest land for agriculture.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The forest-dwelling Twa lost much of their habitat and moved to the mountain slopes.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Historians have several theories regarding the nature of the Bantu migrations; one theory is that the first settlers were Hutu, while the Tutsi migrated later to form a distinct racial group, possibly of Nilo-hamitic origin.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** An alternative theory is that the migration was slow and steady, with incoming groups integrating into rather than conquering the existing society.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Under this theory, the Hutu and Tutsi distinction arose later and was a class distinction rather than a racial one.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

The earliest form of social organisation in the area was the clan (*ubwoko*).**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The clans were not limited to genealogical lineages or geographical area, and most included Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** From the 15th century, the clans began to coalesce into kingdoms;**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** by 1700 around eight kingdoms existed in present-day Rwanda.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** One of these, the Kingdom of Rwanda, ruled by the Tutsi Nyiginya clan, became increasingly dominant from the mid-eighteenth century.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The kingdom reached its greatest extent during the nineteenth century under the reign of King Kigeli Rwabugiri. Rwabugiri conquered several smaller states, expanded the kingdom west and north,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and initiated administrative reforms; these included *ubuhake*, in which Tutsi patrons ceded cattle, and therefore privileged status, to Hutu or Tutsi clients in exchange for economic and personal service,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and *uburetwa*, a corvée system in which Hutu were forced to work for Tutsi chiefs.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Rwabugiri's changes caused a rift to grow between the Hutu and Tutsi populations.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The Twa were better off than in pre-Kingdom days, with some becoming dancers in the royal court,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** but their numbers continued to decline.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

The Berlin Conference of 1884 assigned the territory to Germany as part of German East Africa, marking the beginning of the colonial era. The explorer Gustav Adolf von Götzen was the first European to significantly explore the country in 1894; he crossed from the south-east to Lake Kivu and met the king.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The Germans did not significantly alter the social structure of the country, but exerted influence by supporting the king and the existing hierarchy and delegating power to local chiefs.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Belgian forces took control of Rwanda and Burundi in 1916, during World War I, beginning a period of more direct colonial rule.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Belgium ruled both Rwanda and Burundi as a League of Nations mandate called Ruanda-Urundi. The Belgians also simplified and centralised the power structure,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and introduced large-scale projects in education, health, public works, and agricultural supervision, including new crops and improved agricultural techniques to try to reduce the incidence of famine.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Both the Germans and the Belgians promoted Tutsi supremacy, considering the Hutu and Tutsi different races.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** In 1935, Belgium introduced identity cards labelling each individual as either Tutsi, Hutu, Twa or Naturalised. While it had previously been possible for particularly wealthy Hutu to become honorary Tutsi, the identity cards prevented any further movement between the classes.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

 File:Juvénal Habyarimana (1980).jpg
Belgium continued to rule Ruanda-Urundi (of which Rwanda formed the northern part) as a UN Trust Territory after the Second World War, with a mandate to oversee eventual independence.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Tensions escalated between the Tutsi, who favoured early independence, and the Hutu emancipation movement, culminating in the 1959 Rwandan Revolution: Hutu activists began killing Tutsi and destroying their houses,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** forcing more than 100,000 people to seek refuge in neighbouring countries.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** In 1961, the suddenly pro-Hutu Belgians held a referendum in which the country voted to abolish the monarchy. Rwanda was separated from Burundi and gained independence on 1 July 1962,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** which is commemorated as Independence Day, a national holiday. Cycles of violence followed, with exiled Tutsi attacking from neighbouring countries and the Hutu retaliating with large-scale slaughter and repression of the Tutsi.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** In 1973, Juvénal Habyarimana took power in a military coup. Pro-Hutu discrimination continued, but there was greater economic prosperity and a reduced amount of violence against Tutsi.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The Twa remained marginalised, and by 1990 were almost entirely forced out of the forests by the government; many became beggars.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Rwanda's population had increased from 1.6 million people in 1934 to 7.1 million in 1989, leading to competition for land.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

 File:Nyamata Memorial Site 13.jpg
In 1990, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel group composed of nearly 500,000 Tutsi refugees, invaded northern Rwanda from their base in Uganda, initiating the Rwandan Civil War.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The group condemned the Hutu-dominated government for failing to democratize and confront the problems facing these refugees. Neither side was able to gain a decisive advantage in the war,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** but by 1992 it had weakened Habyarimana's authority; mass demonstrations forced him into a coalition with the domestic opposition and eventually to sign the 1993 Arusha Accords with the RPF.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The cease-fire ended on 6 April 1994 when Habyarimana's plane was shot down near Kigali Airport, killing him.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The shooting down of the plane served as the catalyst for the Rwandan genocide, which began within a few hours. Over the course of approximately 100 days, between 500,000 and 1,000,000**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Tutsi and politically moderate Hutu were killed in well-planned attacks on the orders of the interim government.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Many Twa were also killed, despite not being directly targeted.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

The Tutsi RPF restarted their offensive, and took control of the country methodically, gaining control of the whole country by mid-July.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The international response to the genocide was limited, with major powers reluctant to strengthen the already overstretched UN peacekeeping force.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** When the RPF took over, approximately two million Hutu fled to neighbouring countries, in particular Zaïre, fearing reprisals;**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** additionally, the RPF-led army was a key belligerent in the First and Second Congo Wars.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Within Rwanda, a period of reconciliation and justice began, with the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the reintroduction of *Gacaca*, a traditional village court system.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Since 2000 Rwanda's economy,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** tourist numbers,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and Human Development Index have grown rapidly;**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** between 2006 and 2011 the poverty rate reduced from 57% to 45%,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** while life expectancy rose from 46.6 years in 2000**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** to 65.4 years in 2021.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

## Politics and government

Main articles: Politics of Rwanda, Foreign relations of Rwanda, and Military of Rwanda

The President of Rwanda is the head of state,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and has broad powers including creating policy in conjunction with the Cabinet,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** exercising the prerogative of mercy,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** commanding the armed forces,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** negotiating and ratifying treaties,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** signing presidential orders,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and declaring war or a state of emergency.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The President is elected by popular vote every seven years,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and appoints the Prime Minister and all other members of Cabinet.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The incumbent president is Paul Kagame, who took office upon the resignation of his predecessor, Pasteur Bizimungu, in 2000. Kagame subsequently won elections in 2003 and 2010,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** although human rights organisations have criticised these elections as being "marked by increasing political repression and a crackdown on free speech".**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Article 101 of the constitution had previously limited presidents to two terms in office,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** but this was changed in a 2015 referendum, which had been brought following receipt of a petition signed by 3.8 million Rwandans.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Through this change in the constitution, Kagame could stay on as president until 2034.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Kagame was elected for a third term in 2017 with 98.79% of the vote.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

The constitution was adopted following a national referendum in 2003, replacing the transitional constitution which had been in place since 1994.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The constitution mandates a multi-party system of government, with politics based on democracy and elections.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** However, the constitution places conditions on how political parties may operate. Article 54 states that "political organizations are prohibited from basing themselves on race, ethnic group, tribe, clan, region, sex, religion or any other division which may give rise to discrimination".**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The government has also enacted laws criminalising genocide ideology, which can include intimidation, defamatory speeches, genocide denial and mocking of victims.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** According to Human Rights Watch, these laws effectively make Rwanda a one-party state, as "under the guise of preventing another genocide, the government displays a marked intolerance of the most basic forms of dissent".**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Amnesty International is also critical; in its 2014/15 report, Amnesty said that laws against inciting insurrection or trouble among the population had been used to imprison people "for the legitimate exercise of their rights to freedom of association or of expression".**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

The Parliament consists of two chambers. It makes legislation and is empowered by the constitution to oversee the activities of the President and the Cabinet.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The lower chamber is the Chamber of Deputies, which has 80 members serving five-year terms. Twenty-four of these seats are reserved for women, elected through a joint assembly of local government officials; another three seats are reserved for youth and disabled members; the remaining 53 are elected by universal suffrage under a proportional representation system.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Following the 2018 election, there are 49 female deputies,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** down from 51 in 2013;**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Template:As of, Rwanda is one of only three countries with a female majority in the national parliament.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The upper chamber is the 26-seat Senate, whose members are selected by a variety of bodies. A mandatory minimum of 30% of the senators are women. Senators serve eight-year terms.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** (See also Gender equality in Rwanda.)

Rwanda's legal system is largely based on German and Belgian civil law systems and customary law.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The judiciary is independent of the executive branch,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** although the President and the Senate are involved in the appointment of Supreme Court judges.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Human Rights Watch have praised the Rwandan government for progress made in the delivery of justice including the abolition of the death penalty,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** but also allege interference in the judicial system by members of the government, such as the politically motivated appointment of judges, misuse of prosecutorial power, and pressure on judges to make particular decisions.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The constitution provides for two types of courts: ordinary and specialised.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Ordinary courts are the Supreme Court, the High Court, and regional courts, while specialised courts are military courts**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and a system of commercial courts created in 2011 to expedite commercial litigations.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Between 2004 and 2012, a system of *Gacaca* courts was in operation.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** *Gacaca*, a Rwandan traditional court operated by villages and communities, was revived to expedite the trials of genocide suspects.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The court succeeded in clearing the backlog of genocide cases, but was criticised by human rights groups as not meeting legal fair standard.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

Rwanda has low corruption levels relative to most other African countries; in 2014, Transparency International ranked Rwanda as the fifth cleanest out of 47 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and 55th cleanest out of 175 in the world.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The constitution provides for an Ombudsman, whose duties include prevention and fighting of corruption.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Public officials (including the President) are required by the constitution to declare their wealth to the Ombudsman and to the public; those who do not comply are suspended from office.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) has been the dominant political party in the country since 1994. The RPF has maintained control of the presidency and the Parliament in national elections, with the party's vote share consistently exceeding 70%. The RPF is seen as a Tutsi-dominated party but receives support from across the country, and is credited with ensuring continued peace, stability, and economic growth.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Human rights organisation Freedom House claims that the government suppresses the freedoms of opposition groups; in its 2015 report, Freedom House alleged that the RPF had "prevented new political parties from registering and arrested the leaders of several existing parties, effectively preventing them from fielding candidates" in elections.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Amnesty International also claims that the RPF rules Rwanda "without
any meaningful opposition".**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

Rwanda is a member of the United Nations,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** African Union, Francophonie,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** East African Community,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and the Commonwealth of Nations.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** For many years during the Habyarimana regime, the country maintained close ties with France, as well as Belgium, the former colonial power.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Under the RPF government, however, Rwanda has sought closer ties with neighbouring countries in the East African Community and with the English-speaking world. Diplomatic relations with France were suspended in 2006 following the indictment of Rwandan officials by a French judge,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and despite their restoration in 2010, Template:As of relations between the countries remain strained.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Relations with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were tense following Rwanda's involvement in the First and Second Congo Wars;**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** the Congolese army alleged Rwandan attacks on their troops, while Rwanda blamed the Congolese government for failing to suppress Hutu rebels in North and South Kivu provinces.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Relations soured further in 2012, as Kinshasa accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebellion, an insurgency in the eastern Congo.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Template:As of, peace has been restored and relations are improving.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Rwanda's relationship with Uganda was also tense for much of the 2000s following a 1999 clash between the two countries' armies as they backed opposing rebel groups in the Second Congo War,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** but improved significantly in the early 2010s.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** In 2019, relations between the two countries deteriorated, with Rwanda closing its borders with Uganda.

 File:The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inspecting the Guard of Honour, on his arrival, at Kigali International Airport, Rwanda on July 23, 2018. The President of Rwanda, Mr. Paul Kagame is also seen.JPG
The Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) is the national army of Rwanda. Largely composed of former Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) soldiers, it includes the Rwanda Land Force, Rwanda Air Force and specialised units.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** After the successful conquest of the country in 1994 in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, the Rwandan Patriotic Front decided to split the RPF into a political division (which retained the RPF name) and the RDF, a military division which was to serve as the official army of the Rwandan state. Defence spending continues to represent an important share of the national budget, largely due to continuing security problems along the frontiers with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi and lingering concerns about Uganda's intentions towards its former ally. In 2010, the United Nations released a report accusing the Rwandan army of committing wide scale human rights violations and crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the First and Second Congo Wars, charges denied by the Rwandan government.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

## Administrative divisions

Main article: Decentralization in Rwanda
 File:RwandaGeoProvinces.png
Rwanda has been governed by a strict hierarchy since precolonial times.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Before colonisation, the King (*Mwami*) exercised control through a system of provinces, districts, hills, and neighbourhoods.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The current constitution divides Rwanda into provinces (**Lua error in Module:Unicode\_data at line 295: attempt to index upvalue 'singles' (a nil value).**), districts (**Lua error in Module:Unicode\_data at line 295: attempt to index upvalue 'singles' (a nil value).**), cities, municipalities, towns, sectors (**Lua error in Module:Unicode\_data at line 295: attempt to index upvalue 'singles' (a nil value).**), cells (**Lua error in Module:Unicode\_data at line 295: attempt to index upvalue 'singles' (a nil value).**), and villages (**Lua error in Module:Unicode\_data at line 295: attempt to index upvalue 'singles' (a nil value).**); the larger divisions, and their borders, are established by Parliament.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

The five provinces act as intermediaries between the national government and their constituent districts to ensure that national policies are implemented at the district level. The "Rwanda Decentralisation Strategic Framework" developed by the Ministry of Local Government assigns to provinces the responsibility for "coordinating governance issues in the Province, as well as monitoring and evaluation".**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Each province is headed by a governor, appointed by the President and approved by the Senate.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The districts are responsible for coordinating public service delivery and economic development. They are divided into sectors, which are responsible for the delivery of public services as mandated by the districts.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Districts and sectors have directly elected councils, and are run by an executive committee selected by that council.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The cells and villages are the smallest political units, providing a link between the people and the sectors.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** All adult resident citizens are members of their local cell council, from which an executive committee is elected.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The city of Kigali is a provincial-level authority, which coordinates urban planning within the city.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

The present borders were drawn in 2006 with the aim of decentralising power and removing associations with the old system and the genocide. The previous structure of twelve provinces associated with the largest cities was replaced with five provinces based primarily on geography.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** These are Northern Province, Southern Province, Eastern Province, Western Province, and the Municipality of Kigali in the centre.

## Geography

Main articles: Geography of Rwanda and Climate of Rwanda
 File:KageraRuvubu.jpg
At Template:Convert, Rwanda is the world's 149th-largest country,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and the fourth smallest on the African mainland after Gambia, Eswatini, and Djibouti.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** It is comparable in size to Burundi, Haiti and Albania.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The entire country is at a high altitude: the lowest point is the Rusizi River at Template:Convert above sea level.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Rwanda is located in Central/Eastern Africa, and is bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, Uganda to the north, Tanzania to the east, and Burundi to the south.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** It lies a few degrees south of the equator and is landlocked.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The capital, Kigali, is located near the centre of Rwanda.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

The watershed between the major Congo and Nile drainage basins runs from north to south through Rwanda, with around 80% of the country's area draining into the Nile and 20% into the Congo via the Rusizi River and Lake Tanganyika.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The country's longest river is the Nyabarongo, which rises in the south-west, flows north, east, and southeast before merging with the Ruvubu to form the Kagera; the Kagera then flows due north along the eastern border with Tanzania. The Nyabarongo-Kagera eventually drains into Lake Victoria, and its source in Nyungwe Forest is a contender for the as-yet undetermined overall source of the Nile.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Rwanda has many lakes, the largest being Lake Kivu. This lake occupies the floor of the Albertine Rift along most of the length of Rwanda's western border, and with a maximum depth of Template:Convert,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** it is one of the twenty deepest lakes in the world.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Other sizeable lakes include Burera, Ruhondo, Muhazi, Rweru, and Ihema, the last being the largest of a string of lakes in the eastern plains of Akagera National Park.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

 File:RwandaVolcanoAndLake cropped2.jpg
Mountains dominate central and western Rwanda and the country is sometimes called "Pays des mille collines" in French ("Land of a thousand hills"). They are part of the Albertine Rift Mountains that flank the Albertine branch of the East African Rift, which runs from north to south along Rwanda's western border.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The highest peaks are found in the Virunga volcano chain in the northwest; this includes Mount Karisimbi, Rwanda's highest point, at Template:Convert.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** This western section of the country lies within the Albertine Rift montane forests ecoregion.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** It has an elevation of Template:Convert.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The centre of the country is predominantly rolling hills, while the eastern border region consists of savanna, plains and swamps.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

Rwanda has a temperate tropical highland climate, with lower temperatures than are typical for equatorial countries because of its high elevation.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Kigali, in the centre of the country, has a typical daily temperature range between Template:Convert, with little variation through the year.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** There are some temperature variations across the country; the mountainous west and north are generally cooler than the lower-lying east.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** There are two rainy seasons in the year; the first runs from February to June and the second from September to December. These are separated by two dry seasons: the major one from June to September, during which there is often no rain at all, and a shorter and less severe one from December to February.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Rainfall varies geographically, with the west and northwest of the country receiving more precipitation annually than the east and southeast.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Global warming has caused a change in the pattern of the rainy seasons. According to a report by the Strategic Foresight Group, change in climate has reduced the number of rainy days experienced during a year, but has also caused an increase in frequency of torrential rains.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Both changes have caused difficulty for farmers, decreasing their productivity.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Strategic Foresight also characterise Rwanda as a fast warming country, with an increase in average temperature of between 0.7 °C to 0.9 °C over fifty years.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

Template:Weather box

### Biodiversity

Main article: Wildlife of Rwanda
 File:Mountain gorilla from Susa Group in Karisimbi thicket of Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. Emmanuel Kwizera.jpg
 File:Topi in Akagera National Park.jpg
In prehistoric times montane forest occupied one-third of the territory of present-day Rwanda. Naturally occurring vegetation is now mostly restricted to the three National Parks, with terraced agriculture dominating the rest of the country.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Nyungwe, the largest remaining tract of forest, contains 200 species of tree as well as orchids and begonias.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Vegetation in the Volcanoes National Park is mostly bamboo and moorland, with small areas of forest.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** By contrast, Akagera has a savanna ecosystem in which acacia dominates the flora. There are several rare or endangered plant species in Akagera, including *Markhamia lutea* and *Eulophia guineensis*.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

 File:Talk - Flickr - askmeaks.jpg
The greatest diversity of large mammals is found in the three National Parks, which are designated conservation areas.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Akagera contains typical savanna animals such as giraffes and elephants,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** while Volcanoes is home to an estimated one-third of the worldwide mountain gorilla population.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Nyungwe Forest boasts thirteen primate species including common chimpanzees and Ruwenzori colobus arboreal monkeys; the Ruwenzori colobus move in groups of up to 400 individuals, the largest troop size of any primate in Africa.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

Rwanda's population of lions was destroyed in the aftermath of the genocide of 1994, as national parks were turned into camps for displaced people and remaining animals were poisoned by cattle herders. In June 2015, two South African parks donated seven lions to Akagera National Park, reestablishing a lion population in Rwanda.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The lions were held initially in a fenced off area of the park, and then collared and released into the wild a month later.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

There are 670 bird species in Rwanda, with variation between the east and the west.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Nyungwe Forest, in the west, has 280 recorded species, of which 26 are endemic to the Albertine Rift;**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** endemic species include the Rwenzori turaco and handsome spurfowl.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Eastern Rwanda, by contrast, features savanna birds such as the black-headed gonolek and those associated with swamps and lakes, including storks and cranes.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

Recent entomological work in the country has revealed a rich diversity of praying mantises,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** including a new species *Dystacta tigrifrutex*, dubbed the "bush tiger mantis".**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

Rwanda contains three terrestrial ecoregions: Albertine Rift montane forests, Victoria Basin forest-savanna mosaic, and Ruwenzori-Virunga montane moorlands. The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 3.85/10, ranking it 139th globally out of 172 countries.

## Economy

Main article: Economy of Rwanda
 File:MarabaCoffeeDryingRacks.jpg
Rwanda's economy suffered heavily during the 1994 genocide, with widespread loss of life, failure to maintain infrastructure, looting, and neglect of important cash crops. This caused a large drop in GDP and destroyed the country's ability to attract private and external investment.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The economy has since strengthened, with per-capita GDP (PPP) estimated at $2,444 in 2019, compared with $416 in 1994.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Major export markets include China, Germany, and the United States.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The economy is managed by the central National Bank of Rwanda and the currency is the Rwandan franc; in December 2019, the exchange rate was 910 francs to one United States dollar. Rwanda joined the East African Community in 2007, and has ratified a plan for monetary union amongst the five member nations,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** which could eventually lead to a common East African shilling.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

Rwanda is a country of few natural resources,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and the economy is based mostly on subsistence agriculture by local farmers using simple tools.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** An estimated 90% of the working population farms, and agriculture constituted an estimated 32.5% of GDP in 2014.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Farming techniques are basic, with small plots of land and steep slopes.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Since the mid-1980s, farm sizes and food production have been decreasing, due in part to the resettlement of displaced people.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Despite Rwanda's fertile ecosystem, food production often does not keep pace with population growth, and food imports are required,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**But in recent years, with the growth of agriculture, the situation has improved.

Subsistence crops grown in the country include matoke (green bananas), which occupy more than a third of the country's farmland,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** potatoes, beans, sweet potatoes, cassava, wheat and maize.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Coffee and tea are the major cash crops for export, with the high altitudes, steep slopes and volcanic soils providing favourable conditions.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Reports have established that more than 400,000 Rwandans make their living from coffee plantation.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Reliance on agricultural exports makes Rwanda vulnerable to shifts in their prices.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Animals raised in Rwanda include cows, goats, sheep, pigs, chicken, and rabbits, with geographical variation in the numbers of each.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Production systems are mostly traditional, although there are a few intensive dairy farms around Kigali.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Shortages of land and water, insufficient and poor-quality feed, and regular disease epidemics with insufficient veterinary services are major constraints that restrict output. Fishing takes place on the country's lakes, but stocks are very depleted, and live fish are being imported in an attempt to revive the industry.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

 File:Gorilla mother and baby at Volcans National Park.jpg
The industrial sector is small, contributing 14.8% of GDP in 2014.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Products manufactured include cement, agricultural products, small-scale beverages, soap, furniture, shoes, plastic goods, textiles and cigarettes.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Rwanda's mining industry is an important contributor, generating US$93 million in 2008.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Minerals mined include cassiterite, wolframite, gold, and coltan, which is used in the manufacture of electronic and communication devices such as mobile phones.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

Rwanda's service sector suffered during the late-2000s recession as bank lending, foreign aid projects and investment were reduced.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The sector rebounded in 2010, becoming the country's largest sector by economic output and contributing 43.6% of the country's GDP.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Key tertiary contributors include banking and finance, wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants, transport, storage, communication, insurance, real estate, business services and public administration including education and health.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Tourism is one of the fastest-growing economic resources and became the country's leading foreign exchange earner in 2007.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** In spite of the genocide's legacy, the country is increasingly perceived internationally as a safe destination.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The number of tourist arrivals in 2013 was 864,000 people, up from 504,000 in 2010.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Revenue from tourism was US$303 million in 2014, up from just US$62 million in 2000.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The largest contributor to this revenue was mountain gorilla tracking, in the Volcanoes National Park;**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Rwanda is one of only three countries in which mountain gorillas can be visited safely; the gorillas attract thousands of visitors per year, who are prepared to pay high prices for permits.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Other attractions include Nyungwe Forest, home to chimpanzees, Ruwenzori colobus and other primates, the resorts of Lake Kivu, and Akagera, a small savanna reserve in the east of the country.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

### Media and communications

Main article: Telecommunications in Rwanda
The largest radio and television stations are state-run, and the majority of newspapers are owned by the government.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Most Rwandans have access to radio; during the 1994 genocide, the radio station Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines broadcast across the country, and helped to fuel the killings through anti-Tutsi propaganda.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Template:As of, the state-run Radio Rwanda is the largest station and the main source of news throughout the country.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Television access is limited, with most homes not having their own set.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The government rolled out digital television in 2014, and a year later there were seven national stations operating, up from just one in the pre-2014 analogue era.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The press is tightly restricted, and newspapers routinely self-censor to avoid government reprisals.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Nonetheless, publications in Kinyarwanda, English, and French critical of the government are widely available in Kigali. Restrictions were increased in the run-up to the Rwandan presidential election of 2010, with two independent newspapers, *Umuseso* and *Umuvugizi*, being suspended for six months by the High Media Council.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

The country's oldest telecommunications group, Rwandatel, went into liquidation in 2011, having been 80% owned by Libyan company LAP Green.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The company was acquired in 2013 by Liquid Telecom,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** a company providing telecommunications and fibre optic networks across eastern and southern Africa.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Template:As of, Liquid Telecom provides landline service to 30,968 subscribers, with mobile operator MTN Rwanda serving an additional 15,497 fixed line subscribers.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Landlines are mostly used by government institutions, banks, NGOs and embassies, with private subscription levels low.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Template:As of, mobile phone penetration in the country is 72.6%,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** up from 41.6% in 2011.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** MTN Rwanda is the leading provider, with 3,957,986 subscribers, followed by Tigo with 2,887,328, and Bharti Airtel with 1,336,679.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Rwandatel has also previously operated a mobile phone network, but the industry regulator revoked its licence in April 2011, following the company's failure to meet agreed investment commitments.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Internet penetration is low but rising rapidly; in 2015 there were 12.8 internet users per 100 people,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** up from 2.1 in 2007.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** In 2011, a Template:Convert fibre-optic telecommunications network was completed, intended to provide broadband services and facilitate electronic commerce.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** This network is connected to SEACOM, a submarine fibre-optic cable connecting communication carriers in southern and eastern Africa. Within Rwanda the cables run along major roads, linking towns around the country.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Mobile provider MTN also runs a wireless internet service accessible in most areas of Kigali via pre-paid subscription.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

In October 2019, Mara Corporation launched the first African made smartphone in Rwanda.

### Infrastructure

Main articles: Transport in Rwanda, Energy in Rwanda, and Water supply and sanitation in Rwanda
 File:WaterPumpRwanda.jpg
The Rwandan government prioritised funding of water supply development during the 2000s, significantly increasing its share of the national budget.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** This funding, along with donor support, caused a rapid increase in access to safe water; in 2015, 74% of the population had access to safe water,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** up from about 55% in 2005;**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** the government has committed to increasing this to 100% by 2017.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The country's water infrastructure consists of urban and rural systems that deliver water to the public, mainly through standpipes in rural areas and private connections in urban areas. In areas not served by these systems, hand pumps and managed springs are used.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Despite rainfall exceeding Template:Convert annually in most of the country,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** little use is made of rainwater harvesting, and residents are forced to use water very sparingly, relative to usage in other African countries.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Access to sanitation remains low; the United Nations estimates that in 2006, 34% of urban and 20% of rural dwellers had access to improved sanitation.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Kigali is one of the cleanest cities in Africa. Government policy measures to improve sanitation are limited, focusing only on urban areas.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The majority of the population, both urban and rural, use public shared pit latrines.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

Rwanda's electricity supply was, until the early 2000s, generated almost entirely from hydroelectric sources; power stations on Lakes Burera and Ruhondo provided 90% of the country's electricity.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** A combination of below average rainfall and human activity, including the draining of the Rugezi wetlands for cultivation and grazing, caused the two lakes' water levels to fall from 1990 onwards; by 2004 levels were reduced by 50%, leading to a sharp drop in output from the power stations.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** This, coupled with increased demand as the economy grew, precipitated a shortfall in 2004 and widespread loadshedding.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** As an emergency measure, the government installed diesel generators north of Kigali; by 2006 these were providing 56% of the country's electricity, but were very costly.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The government enacted a number of measures to alleviate this problem, including rehabilitating the Rugezi wetlands, which supply water to Burera and Ruhondo and investing in a scheme to extract methane gas from Lake Kivu, expected in its first phase to increase the country's power generation by 40%.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Only 18% of the population had access to electricity in 2012, though this had risen from 10.8% in 2009.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The government's Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy for 2013–18 aims to increase access to electricity to 70% of households by 2017.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

The government has increased investment in the transport infrastructure of Rwanda since the 1994 genocide, with aid from the United States, European Union, Japan, and others. The transport system consists primarily of the road network, with paved roads between Kigali and most other major cities and towns in the country.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Rwanda is linked by road to other countries in the East African Community, namely Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Kenya, as well as to the eastern Congolese cities of Goma and Bukavu; the country's most important trade route is the road to the port of Mombasa via Kampala and Nairobi, which is known as the Northern Corridor.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The principal form of public transport in the country is the minibus, accounting for more than half of all passenger carrying capacity.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Some minibuses, particularly in Kigali,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** operate an unscheduled service, under a shared taxi system,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** while others run to a schedule, offering express routes between the major cities. There are a smaller number of large buses,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** which operate a scheduled service around the country. The principal private hire vehicle is the motorcycle taxi; in 2013 there were 9,609 registered motorcycle taxis in Rwanda, compared with just 579 taxicabs.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Coach services are available to various destinations in neighbouring countries. The country has an international airport at Kigali that serves several international destinations, the busiest routes being those to Nairobi and Entebbe;**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** there is one domestic route, between Kigali and Kamembe Airport near Cyangugu.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** In 2017, construction began on the Bugesera International Airport, to the south of Kigali, which will become the country's largest when it opens, complementing the existing Kigali airport.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The national carrier is RwandAir, and the country is served by seven foreign airlines.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Template:As of the country has no railways, but there is a project underway, in conjunction with Burundi and Tanzania, to extend the Tanzanian Central Line into Rwanda; the three countries have invited expressions of interest from private firms to form a public private partnership for the scheme.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** There is no public water transport between the port cities on Lake Kivu, although a limited private service exists and the government has initiated a programme to develop a full service.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The Ministry of Infrastructure is also investigating the feasibility of linking Rwanda to Lake Victoria via shipping on the Akagera River.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

## Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of Rwanda and Youth in Rwanda

Template:As of, the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda estimates Rwanda's population to be 11,262,564.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The 2012 census recorded a population of 10,515,973.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The population is young: in the 2012 census, 43.3% of the population were aged 15 and under, and 53.4% were between 16 and 64.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** According to the CIA *World Factbook*, the annual birth rate is estimated at 40.2 births per 1,000 inhabitants in 2015, and the death rate at 14.9.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The life expectancy is 67.67 years (69.27 years for females and 67.11 years for males), which is the 26th lowest out of 224 countries and territories.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The overall sex ratio of the country is 95.9 males per 100 females.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

 File:Rwandan children at Volcans National Park.jpg
At Template:Convert,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Rwanda's population density is amongst the highest in Africa.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Historians such as Gérard Prunier believe that the 1994 genocide can be partly attributed to the population density.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The population is predominantly rural, with a few large towns; dwellings are evenly spread throughout the country.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The only sparsely populated area of the country is the savanna land in the former province of Umutara and Akagera National Park in the east.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Kigali is the largest city, with a population of around one million.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Its rapidly increasing population challenges its infrastructural development.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** According to the 2012 census, the second largest city is Gisenyi, which lies adjacent to Lake Kivu and the Congolese city of Goma, and has a population of 126,000.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Other major towns include Ruhengeri, Butare, and Muhanga, all with populations below 100,000.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The urban population rose from 6% of the population in 1990,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** to 16.6% in 2006;**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** by 2011, however, the proportion had dropped slightly, to 14.8%.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

Rwanda has been a unified state since pre-colonial times,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and the population is drawn from just one cultural and linguistic group, the Banyarwanda;**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** this contrasts with most modern African states, whose borders were drawn by colonial powers and did not correspond to ethnic boundaries or pre-colonial kingdoms.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Within the Banyarwanda people, there are three separate groups, the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The CIA *World Factbook* gives estimates that the Hutu made up 84% of the population in 2009, the Tutsi 15% and Twa 1%.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The Twa are a pygmy people who descend from Rwanda's earliest inhabitants, but scholars do not agree on the origins of and differences between the Hutu and Tutsi.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Anthropologist Jean Hiernaux contends that the Tutsi are a separate race, with a tendency towards "long and narrow heads, faces and noses";**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** others, such as Villia Jefremovas, believe there is no discernible physical difference and the categories were not historically rigid.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** In precolonial Rwanda the Tutsi were the ruling class, from whom the kings and the majority of chiefs were derived, while the Hutu were agriculturalists.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The current government discourages the Hutu/Tutsi/Twa distinction, and has removed such classification from identity cards.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The 2002 census was the first since 1933**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** which did not categorise Rwandan population into the three groups.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

### Religion

Main article: Religion in Rwanda
 File:RwamaganaChurch.jpg
The largest faith in Rwanda is Roman Catholicism, but there have been significant changes in the nation's religious demographics since the genocide, with many conversions to evangelical Christianity, and, to a lesser degree, Islam.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** According to the 2012 census, Roman Catholics represented 43.7% of the population, Protestants (excluding Seventh-day Adventists) 37.7%, Seventh-day Adventists 11.8%, and Muslims 2.0%; 0.2% claimed no religious beliefs and 1.3% did not state a religion.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Traditional religion, despite officially being followed by only 0.1% of the population, retains an influence. Many Rwandans view the Christian God as synonymous with the traditional Rwandan God *Imana*.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

### Languages

Main article: Languages of Rwanda
The country's principal language is Kinyarwanda, which is spoken by nearly all Rwandans. The major European languages during the colonial era were German, though it was never taught or widely used, and then French, which was introduced by Belgium from 1916 and remained an official and widely spoken language after independence in 1962.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Dutch was spoken too. The return of English-speaking Rwandan refugees in the 1990s**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** added a new dimension to the country's linguistic diversity.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Kinyarwanda, English, French, and Swahili are all official languages. Kinyarwanda is the national language while English is the primary medium of instruction in secondary and tertiary education. Swahili, the lingua franca of the East African Community,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** is also spoken by some as a second language, particularly returned refugees from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and those who live along the border with the DRC.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** In 2015, Swahili was introduced as a mandatory subject in secondary schools.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Inhabitants of Rwanda's Nkombo Island speak Mashi, a language closely related to Kinyarwanda.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

### LGBT

See also: LGBT rights in Rwanda

Homosexuality is generally considered a taboo topic, and there is no significant public discussion of this issue in any region of the country.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Rwanda, and some cabinet-level government officials have expressed support for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** However, Rwanda does not recognise same-sex marriages, civil unions or similar unions.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

## Culture

Main article: Culture of Rwanda
 File:Rwanda IntoreDancers.jpg
Music and dance are an integral part of Rwandan ceremonies, festivals, social gatherings and storytelling. The most famous traditional dance is a highly choreographed routine consisting of three components: the *umushagiriro*, or cow dance, performed by women;**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** the *intore*, or dance of heroes, performed by men;**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and the drumming, also traditionally performed by men, on drums known as *ingoma*.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The best known dance group is the National Ballet. It was established by President Habyarimana in 1974, and performs nationally and internationally.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Traditionally, music is transmitted orally, with styles varying between the social groups. Drums are of great importance; the royal drummers enjoyed high status within the court of the King (*Mwami*).**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Drummers play together in groups of varying sizes, usually between seven and nine in number.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The country has a growing popular music industry, influenced by African Great Lakes, Congolese, and American music. The most popular genre is hip hop, with a blend of dancehall, rap, ragga, R&B and dance-pop.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

 File:Igiseke.jpg
Traditional arts and crafts are produced throughout the country, although most originated as functional items rather than purely for decoration. Woven baskets and bowls are especially common, notably the basket style of the agaseke.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** *Imigongo*, a unique cow dung art, is produced in the southeast of Rwanda, with a history dating back to when the region was part of the independent Gisaka kingdom. The dung is mixed with natural soils of various colours and painted into patterned ridges to form geometric shapes.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Other crafts include pottery and wood carving.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Traditional housing styles make use of locally available materials; circular or rectangular mud homes with grass-thatched roofs (known as *nyakatsi*) are the most common. The government has initiated a programme to replace these with more modern materials such as corrugated iron.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

Rwanda does not have a long history of written literature, but there is a strong oral tradition ranging from poetry to folk stories. Many of the country's moral values and details of history have been passed down through the generations.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The most famous Rwandan literary figure was Alexis Kagame (1912–1981), who carried out and published research into oral traditions as well as writing his own poetry.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The Rwandan Genocide resulted in the emergence of a literature of witness accounts, essays and fiction by a new generation of writers such as Benjamin Sehene. A number of films have been produced about the Rwandan Genocide, including the Golden Globe-nominated *Hotel Rwanda*, *100 Days*, *Shake Hands with the Devil*, *Sometimes in April*, and *Shooting Dogs*, the last four having been filmed in Rwanda and having featured survivors as cast members.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

Fourteen regular national holidays are observed throughout the year,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** with others occasionally inserted by the government. The week following Genocide Memorial Day on 7 April is designated an official week of mourning.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The victory for the RPF over the Hutu extremists is celebrated as Liberation Day on 4 July. The last Saturday of each month is *umuganda*, a national morning of mandatory community service lasting from 8Template:Nbspam to 11Template:Nbspam, during which all able bodied people between 18 and 65 are expected to carry out community tasks such as cleaning streets or building homes for vulnerable people.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Most normal services close down during *umuganda*, and public transportation is limited.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

### Cuisine

Main article: Cuisine of Rwanda
The cuisine of Rwanda is based on local staple foods produced by subsistence agriculture such as bananas, plantains (known as *ibitoke*), pulses, sweet potatoes, beans, and cassava (manioc).**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Many Rwandans do not eat meat more than a few times a month.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** For those who live near lakes and have access to fish, tilapia is popular.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The potato, thought to have been introduced to Rwanda by German and Belgian colonialists, is very popular.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Ugali, locally known as *Ubugari* (or *umutsima*) is common, a paste made from cassava or maize and water to form a porridge-like consistency that is eaten throughout the African Great Lakes.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** *Isombe* is made from mashed cassava leaves and served with dried fish.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Lunch is usually a buffet known as *mélange*, consisting of the above staples and sometimes meat.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Brochettes are the most popular food when eating out in the evening, usually made from goat but sometimes tripe, beef, or fish.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** In rural areas, many bars have a brochette seller responsible for tending and slaughtering the goats, skewering and barbecuing the meat, and serving it with grilled bananas.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Milk, particularly in a fermented yoghurt form called *ikivuguto*, is a common drink throughout the country.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Other drinks include a traditional beer called Ikigage made from sorghum and *urwagwa*, made from bananas, which features in traditional rituals and ceremonies.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The major drinks manufacturer in Rwanda is Bralirwa, which was established in the 1950s, a Heineken partner, and is now listed on the Rwandan Stock Exchange.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Bralirwa manufactures soft drink products from The Coca-Cola Company, under license, including Coca-Cola, Fanta, and Sprite,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and a range of beers including Primus, Mützig, Amstel, and Turbo King.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** In 2009 a new brewery, Brasseries des Mille Collines (BMC) opened, manufacturing Skol beer and a local version known as Skol Gatanu;**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** BMC is now owned by Belgian company Unibra.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** East African Breweries also operate in the country, importing Guinness, Tusker, and Bell, as well as whisky and spirits.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

### Sport

Main article: Sport in Rwanda
 File:MTB cycling 2012 Olympics M cross-country RWA Adrien Niyonshuti.jpg
The Rwandan government, through its Sports Development Policy, promotes sport as a strong avenue for "development and peace building",**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and the government has made commitments to advancing the use of sport for a variety of development objectives, including education.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The most popular sports in Rwanda are association football, volleyball, basketball, athletics and Paralympic sports.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Cricket has been growing in popularity,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** as a result of refugees returned from Kenya, where they had learned to play the game.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Cycling, traditionally seen largely as a mode of transport in Rwanda, is also growing in popularity as a sport;**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and Team Rwanda have been the subject of a book, *Land of Second Chances: The Impossible Rise of Rwanda's Cycling Team* and a film, *Rising from Ashes*.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

Rwandans have been competing at the Olympic Games since 1984,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and the Paralympic Games since 2004.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The country sent seven competitors to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, representing it in athletics, swimming, mountain biking and judo,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and 15 competitors to the London Summer Paralympics to compete in athletics, powerlifting and sitting volleyball.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The country has also participated in the Commonwealth Games since joining the Commonwealth in 2009.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The country's national basketball team has been growing in prominence since the mid-2000s, with the men's team qualifying for the final stages of the African Basketball Championship four times in a row since 2007.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The country bid unsuccessfully to host the 2013 tournament.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Rwanda's national football team has appeared in the African Cup of Nations once, in the 2004 edition of the tournament,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** but narrowly failed to advance beyond the group stages.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The team have failed to qualify for the competition since, and have never qualified for the World Cup.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Rwanda's highest domestic football competition is the Rwanda National Football League;**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Template:As of, the dominant team is APR FC of Kigali, having won 13 of the last 17 championships.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Rwandan clubs participate in the Kagame Interclub Cup for Central and East African teams, sponsored since 2002 by President Kagame.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

## Education

Main article: Education in Rwanda
 File:OLPC classroom teaching.JPG
Prior to 2012, the Rwandan government provided free education in state-run schools for nine years: six years in primary and three years following a common secondary programme.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** In 2012, this started to be expanded to 12 years.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** A 2015 study suggests that while enrollment rates in primary schools are "near ubiquity", rates of completion are low and repetition rates high.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** While schooling is fee-free, there is an expectation that parents should contribute to the cost of their children's education by providing them with materials, supporting teacher development and making a contribution to school construction. According to the government, these costs should not be a basis for the exclusion of children from education, however.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** There are many private schools across the country, some church-run, which follow the same syllabus but charge fees.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** From 1994 until 2009, secondary education was offered in either French or English; because of the country's increasing ties with the East African Community and the Commonwealth, only the English syllabi are now offered.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The country has a number of institutions of tertiary education. In 2013, the public University of Rwanda (UR) was created out of a merger of the former National University of Rwanda and the country's other public higher education institutions.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.****Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** In 2013, the gross enrollment ratio for tertiary education in Rwanda was 7.9%, from 3.6% in 2006.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The country's literacy rate, defined as those aged 15 or over who can read and write, was 71% in 2009, up from 38% in 1978 and 58% in 1991.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

## Health

Main articles: Healthcare in Rwanda and Health in Rwanda
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The quality of healthcare in Rwanda has historically been very low, both before and immediately after the 1994 genocide.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** In 1998, more than one in five children died before their fifth birthday,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** often from malaria.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

President Kagame has made healthcare one of the priorities for the Vision 2020 development programme,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** boosting spending on health care to 6.5% of the country's gross domestic product in 2013,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** compared with 1.9% in 1996.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The government has devolved the financing and management of healthcare to local communities, through a system of health insurance providers called *mutuelles de santé*.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The *mutuelles* were piloted in 1999, and were made available nationwide by the mid-2000s, with the assistance of international development partners.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Premiums under the scheme were initially US$2 per annum; since 2011 the rate has varied on a sliding scale, with the poorest paying nothing, and maximum premiums rising to US$8 per adult.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Template:As of, more than 90% of the population was covered by the scheme.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The government has also set up training institutes including the Kigali Health Institute (KHI), which was established in 1997**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and is now part of the University of Rwanda. In 2005, President Kagame also launched a program known as *The Presidents' Malaria Initiative*. This initiative aimed to help get the most necessary materials for prevention of malaria to the most rural areas of Rwanda, such as mosquito nets and medication.

In recent years Rwanda has seen improvement on a number of key health indicators. Between 2005 and 2013, life expectancy increased from 55.2 to 64.0,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** under-5 mortality decreased from 106.4 to 52.0 per 1,000 live births,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and incidence of tuberculosis has dropped from 101 to 69 per 100,000 people.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The country's progress in healthcare has been cited by the international media and charities. *The Atlantic* devoted an article to "Rwanda's Historic Health Recovery".**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** Partners In Health described the health gains "among the most dramatic the world has seen in the last 50 years".**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

Despite these improvements, however, the country's health profile remains dominated by communicable diseases,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** and the United States Agency for International Development has described "significant health challenges",**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** including the rate of maternal mortality, which it describes as "unacceptably high",**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** as well as the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** According to the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, travelers to Rwanda are highly recommended to take preventive malaria medication as well as make sure they are up to date with vaccines such as yellow fever.

Rwanda also has a shortage of medical professionals, with only 0.84 physicians, nurses, and midwives per 1,000 residents.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is monitoring the country's health progress towards Millennium Development Goals 4–6, which relate to healthcare. A mid-2015 UNDP report noted that the country was not on target to meet goal 4 on infant mortality, despite it having "fallen dramatically";**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** the country is "making good progress" towards goal 5, which is to reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio,**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.** while goal 6 is not yet met as HIV prevalence has not started falling.**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data' not found.**

## See also

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* Index of Rwanda-related articles
* Outline of Rwanda

## Notes

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## References

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* Virunga Massif Sustainable Tourism Development Plan. International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) (2005).
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* Ministry of Agriculture (MINAGRI), Republic of Rwanda (10 June 2006). Livestock production.
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* Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN), Republic of Rwanda (June 2002). Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.
* Ministry of Infrastructure (MININFRA), Republic of Rwanda (June 2013). Ministry of Infrastructure Final Report on Transport Sector Strategic Plan for EDPRS2.
* Ministry of Infrastructure (MININFRA), Republic of Rwanda (9 August 2017). New Bugesera International Airport construction works kick-off.
* Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC), Republic of Rwanda (2004). Administrative Units.
* Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC), Republic of Rwanda (August 2007). Rwanda Decentralization Strategic Framework.
* Ministry of Sports and Culture, Republic of Rwanda (MINISPOC), Republic of Rwanda (October 2012). Rwanda Sports Development Policy.
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* National Commission for the Fight against Genocide, Republic of Rwanda (15 October 2008). Law No 18/2008 of 23/07/2008 Relating to the Punishment of the Crime of Genocide Ideology.
* National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (February 2012). The third Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey (EICV 3) – Main indicators Report.
* National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (January 2014). Fourth Population and Housing Census, Rwanda, 2012—Final Results: Main indicators report.
* National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (2015). Featured indicators.
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* The success of tourism in Rwanda – Gorillas and more. *African Success Stories Study*. World Bank & SNV Netherlands Development Organisation (April 2010).
* Nile Basin Initiative (2010). Nile Basin Countries.
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* Office of the Ombudsman, Republic of Rwanda. Office of the Ombudsman: Mandate.
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* Organization of African Unity (OAU) (2000). Rwanda – The preventable genocide. *The Report of International Panel of Eminent Personalities to Investigate the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda and Surrounding Events*.
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* Reporters Without Borders (14 April 2010). Two leading independent weeklies suspended for six months.
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* Rwanda Development Board (RDB) (III). Akagera National Park.
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* Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) (Chapter 2) (2009). Chap II. Population, Health and human settlements. *Rwanda State of Environment and Outlook Report*.
* Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) (Chapter 5) (2009). Chap V. Biodiversity and Genetic Resources. *Rwanda State of Environment and Outlook Report*.
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* United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (III) (2015). Millennium Development Goal 5: Improve maternal health.
* United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (IV) (2015). Millennium Development Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
* United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (V) (2013). Human Development Report 2013: Rwanda.
* United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (VI) (2014). Human Development Report 2014: Summary.
* United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (VII) (2015). Human Development Report 2015.
* United States Agency for International Development (USAID) (I) (2008). Rwanda: Water and Sanitation Profile.
* United States Agency for International Development (USAID) (II) (8 December 2014). Health Insurance Expands Care For Rwanda's Poorest.
* United States Agency for International Development (USAID) (III) (2015). Rwanda: Global Health.
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* World Bank (II). Internet users (per 100 people), graph.
* World Bank (III). School enrollment, tertiary (% gross), graph.
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* World Bank (V). Health expenditure, public (% of GDP), 2010–2014.
* World Bank (VI). Health expenditure, public (% of GDP), 1995–1999.
* World Bank (VII). Life expectancy at birth, total (years), graph.
* World Bank (VIII). Mortality rate, under-5 (per 1,000 live births), graph.
* World Bank (IX). Incidence of tuberculosis (per 100,000 people), graph.
* World Bank (X). GDP (current US$), graph.
* World Bank (XI). International tourism, number of arrivals, graph.
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* World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) (2001). Terrestrial Ecoregions: Albertine Rift montane forests (AT0101).
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## External links

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**Government**:

* The Republic of Rwanda (official government site)

**General**:

* Rwanda. *The World Factbook*. Central Intelligence Agency.
* Rwanda profile from the BBC News
* Rwanda Convention Bureau.

**Tourism**:

* Rwanda Tourism (official Rwanda Tourism Board site)

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1. ↑ Template:IPAc-en; Template:Lang-rw Template:IPA-rw

1. ↑ National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (2019). Size of the resident population. National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 World Economic Outlook Database, October 2019. International Monetary Fund.
3. ↑ Template:Cite book
4. ↑ Government of Rwanda: Welcome to Rwanda.
5. ↑ United Nations – List of countries by population (United Nations)
6. ↑ See also Helmut Strizek, "Geschenkte Kolonien: Ruanda und Burundi unter deutscher Herrschaft", Berlin: Ch. Links Verlag, 2006
7. ↑ Template:Cite news
8. ↑ Template:Cite news
9. ↑ Template:Cite news
10. ↑ Christophe Migeon. "Voyage au Rwanda, le pays des Mille Collines" (In French), *Le Point*, 26 May 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
11. ↑ Template:Cite journal
12. ↑ Template:Cite journal
13. ↑ Report for Selected Countries and Subjects.
14. ↑ USD–RWF 2019 Yaohoo (2019).
15. ↑ Template:Cite news
16. ↑ Should You Visit Kigali? A look at the cleanest city in Africa (en-US) (1 April 2019).
17. ↑ No, Rwanda hasn’t dropped French as an official language (en) (2019-05-28).
18. ↑ HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases. United Nations in Rwanda.
19. ↑ Health Information for Travelers to Rwanda. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.