Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Its geography is dominated by mountains in the west and savanna in the southeast. The largest and most notable lakes are mainly in the western and northern regions of the country, and several volcanoes that form part of the Virunga volcanic chain are primarily in the northwest. The climate is considered tropical highland, with two rainy seasons and two dry seasons each year. Its capital and largest city is Kigali, located at the centre of the country, at 1,567 metres above sea level. Rwanda lies a few degrees south of the Equator in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa. Rwanda is bordered by Uganda to the north, Tanzania to the east, Burundi to the south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. With a population of about 14 million people living within a total area of 26,338 square kilometres (10,169 sq mi), of which land accounts for about 93.7%, Rwanda is the 21st most densely populated country in the world, with an average of about 578 people per square kilometre (1,500 per square mile). 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. In the 15th century, one kingdom, under King Gihanga, managed to incorporate several of its close neighbour territories establishing the Kingdom of Rwanda. The Kingdom of Rwanda dominated from the mid-eighteenth century, with its Tutsi kings conquering others militarily, centralising power, and enacting unifying policies. In 1897, Germany colonized Rwanda as part of German East Africa, followed by Belgium, which took control in 1916 during World War I. Both European nations ruled through the Rwandan king 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 led by President Grégoire Kayibanda. A 1973 military coup overthrew Kayibanda and brought Juvénal Habyarimana to power, who retained the pro-Hutu policy. The Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) launched a civil war in 1990. Habyarimana was assassinated in April 1994 by unknown parties. Social tensions erupted in the Rwandan genocide carried out by Hutu Power extremists against the Tutsis. The RPF ended the genocide with a military victory in July 1994. Rwanda has been governed by the RPF as a de facto one-party state since 1994 with former commander Paul Kagame serving as president since 2000. The country has been governed by a series of centralized authoritarian governments since precolonial times. Although Rwanda has low levels of corruption compared with neighbouring countries, it ranks among the lowest in international measurements of government transparency and civil liberties, despite recent gains that have elevated it to the medium category on the Human Development Index. The population is young and predominantly rural; Rwanda has one of the youngest populations in the world. 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 forest-dwelling Central African foragers and are often considered descendants of Rwanda's earliest inhabitants. Christianity is the largest religion in the country; the principal and national language is Kinyarwanda, spoken by native Rwandans, with English, French, and Swahili serving as additional official languages. Rwanda's economy is based on services, agricultural exports, and manufacturing. Coffee and tea are the major cash crops that it exports, although it is surpassed in banana production. Tourism is a fast-growing sector and is now the country's leading foreign exchange earner. As of the most recent survey in 2024, 30.5% of the population is affected by multidimensional poverty with 27.4% under the national poverty line. The country is a member of the African Union, the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations (one of the few members without a historical link to the British Empire), COMESA, the OIF, and the East African Community.
Etymology The name Rwanda derives from the word Ku-aanda, meaning "expansion" or "spreading out from the centre", reflecting the historical growth of the Kingdom of Rwanda.
History
Early history
Modern human settlement of what is now Rwanda dates from, at the latest, the last glacial period, either in the Neolithic period around 8,000 BC, or in the long humid period which followed, up to around 3,000 BC. 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. These early inhabitants were the ancestors of the Twa, aboriginal pygmy hunter-gatherers who remain in Rwanda today. Then by 3,000 BC, Central Sudanic and Kuliak farmers and herders began settling into Rwanda, followed by South Cushitic–speaking herders in 2,000 BC. The forest-dwelling Twa lost much of their habitat and moved to the mountain slopes. Between 800 BC and 1500 AD, a number of Bantu groups migrated into Rwanda, clearing forest land for agriculture. 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. An alternative theory is that the migration was slow and steady, with incoming groups integrating into rather than conquering the existing society. Under this theory, the Hutu and Tutsi distinction arose later and was a class distinction rather than a racial one. The earliest form of social organisation in the area was the clan (ubwoko). The clans were not limited to genealogical lineages or geographical area, and most included Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. From the 15th century, the clans began to merge into kingdoms.
Kingdom of Rwanda
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