Rwanda ( Republika y'u Rwanda) is a country in Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo. Rwanda geographic coordinates 2 00 S, 30 00 E; area 24,948 sq km; area comparative slightly smaller than Maryland; land boundaries Burundi 290 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 217 km, Tanzania 217 km, Uganda 169 km; coastline 0 km (landlocked); maritime claims none (landlocked); climate temperate; two rainy seasons (February to April, November to January); mild in mountains with frost; terrain mostly grassy uplands and hills; relief is mountainous with altitude declining from west to east; elevation extremes Volcan Karisimbi 4,519 m; natural resources gold, cassiterite (tin ore), wolframite (tungsten ore), methane, hydropower, arable land; land use 47.3% (2001); irrigated land 40 sq km (1998 est.); natural hazards periodic droughts; the volcanic Virunga mountains are in the northwest along the border with Democra; environment current issues deforestation results from uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel; overgrazing; soil exhaustion; soil erosion; widespread poaching; environment international agreements Law of the Sea; geography note landlocked; most of the country is savanna grassland with the population predominantly rural;

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In 1959, three years before independence from Belgium, the majority ethnic group, the Hutus, overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. Over the next several years, thousands of Tutsis were killed, and some 150,000 driven into exile in neighboring countries. The children of these exiles later formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), and began a civil war in 1990. The war, along with several political and economic upheavals, exacerbated ethnic tensions, culminating in April 1994 in the genocide of roughly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and ended the killing in July 1994, but approximately 2 million Hutu refugees - many fearing Tutsi retribution - fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and the former Zaire. Since then, most of the refugees have returned to Rwanda, but about 10,000 that remain in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo have formed an extremist insurgency bent on retaking Rwanda, much as the RPF tried in 1990. Despite substantial international assistance and political reforms - including Rwanda's first local elections in March 1999 and its first post-genocide presidential and legislative elections in August and September 2003, respectively - the country continues to struggle to boost investment and agricultural output, and ethnic reconciliation is complicated by the real and perceived Tutsi political dominance. Kigali's increasing centralization and intolerance of dissent, the nagging Hutu extremist insurgency across the border, and Rwandan involvement in two wars in recent years in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to hinder Rwanda's efforts to escape its bloody legacy. government type republic; presidential, multiparty system; capital Kigali; administrative divisions 12 provinces (in French - provinces, singular - province; in Kinyarwanda - prefigintara for singular and plural); Butare, Byumba, Cyangugu, Gikongoro, Gisenyi, Gitarama, Kibungo, Kibuye, Kigali Rurale, Kigali-ville, Umutara, Ruhengeri; independence 1 July 1962 (from Belgium-administered UN trusteeship); national holiday Independence Day, 1 July (1962); constitution a new constitution was adopted 4 June 2003; legal system based on German and Belgian civil law systems and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; suffrage 18 years of age; universal adult;

people

Rwanda population 8,440,820 estimates for this country explicit; age structure 2.6% (male 87,155/female 128,977) (2005 est.); median age 18.7 years (2005 est.); population growth rate 2.43% (2005 est.); birth rate 40.6 births/1,000 population (2005 est.); death rate 16.32 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.); net migration rate 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.); sex ratio 0.99 male(s)/female (2005 est.); infant mortality rate 96.37 deaths/1,000 live births; life expectancy at birth 48.03 years (2005 est.); total fertility rate 5.49 children born/woman (2005 est.); hiv adult rate 5.1% (2003 est.); hiv people with aids 250,000 (2003 est.); hiv deaths 22,000 (2003 est.); major infectious diseases malaria (2004); nationality Rwandan; ethnic groups Hutu 84%, Tutsi 15%, Twa (Pygmoid) 1%; religions Roman Catholic 56.5%, Protestant 26%, Adventist 11.1%, Muslim 4.6%, indigenous beliefs 0.1%, none 1.7% (2001); languages Kinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu vernacular, French (official), English (official), Kiswahili (Swahili) used in commercial centers; literacy 70.4%; people note Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa;

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