Facts about Rwanda
Rwanda is divided into five provinces and subdivided into thirty districts.
Rwanda is considered the lightning capital of the world, due to intense daily thunderstorms during the two rainy seasons (February–April and November–January).
By the 1990s, Rwanda had up to one million refugees scattered around neighboring countries, mostly in Uganda and Burundi.
Upon Rwanda's independence on July 1, 1962, the Hutu held virtually all power.
Prior to January 1, 2006, Rwanda was composed of twelve provinces, but these were abolished in full and redrawn as part of a program of decentralization and reorganization.
The current Rwandan government has been praised by many for establishing security and promoting reconciliation and economic development, but is also criticized by some for being too militant and opposing dissent.
Rwanda's population density, even after the 1994 genocide, is among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa at 590 people per square mile (230/kmІ).
The divide between the Congo and Nile drainage systems extends from north to south through western Rwanda at an average elevation of almost 9,000 feet (2,740 m).
After Germany's loss in World War I, Belgium took over Rwanda with a League of Nations mandate.
The latter, who many view as a ruthless dictator, was unable to find a solution to increasing social unrest, calls for democracy, and the long-running problem of Rwandan Tutsi refugees.
In 1977, Rwanda joined Burundi and Tanzania in forming an economic community for the management and development of the Kagera River basin.
Rebuilding the educational system continues to be a high priority of the Rwandan government.
During the fighting, top Rwandan government officials, mainly Hutu, began secretly training young men into informal armed bands called Interahamwe (a Kinyarwanda term roughly meaning "those who fight together").
In 1990, the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) invaded Rwanda from Uganda.
Rwanda is a rural country with about 90 percent of the population engaged in subsistence agriculture.
Rwanda was granted United Nations membership on September 18, 1962.
After its military victory in July 1994, the Rwandan Patriotic Front organized a coalition government based on the 1993 Arusha accords and political declarations by the parties.
Rwanda is located near the center of Africa, a few degrees south of the equator.
Rwanda's countryside is covered by grasslands and small farms extending over rolling hills, with areas of rugged mountains that extend southeast from a chain of volcanoes in the northwest.
After World War II, Rwanda became a United Nations (UN) trust territory administered by Belgium.
In 2006, China proposed funding a study for building a railway link from Bujumbura in Burundi to Kigali in Rwanda to Isaki in Tanzania.
In 2006, a British-led exploration announced that they had located the longest headstream of the Nile River in Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda.
Rwandan genocidal leaders were put on trial at the International Criminal Tribunal, in the Rwandan National Court system and through the informal Gacaca village justice program.
Rwanda today struggles to heal and rebuild, and shows signs of rapid development, but some Rwandans continue to struggle with the legacy of genocide and war.
Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a small landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of east-central Africa, with great natural beauty but few exportable resources.
Rwanda's population density, even after the 1994 genocide, is among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa at 590 people per square mile (230/kmІ).
The United Nations sent a peacekeeping force known as the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR).
John Hanning Speke was the first European to visit Rwanda.
Opposition forces may number around 15,000 in the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda, which consists of Hutu rebels.
In 1895 the Rwandan king accepted German rule to maintain his power, and the area became part of German East Africa.
Rwanda topped a recently conducted global survey on the percentage of women in Parliament with as much as 49 percent female representation.
The RPF-led government has continued to promote reconciliation and unity among all Rwandans as enshrined in the new constitution that forbids any political activity or discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or religion.
