www.HeartsForTheWorld.org
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Rwanda - Facts and History
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Rwanda
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8,648,248 (July 2006 estimate) Note:
Estimates for this country take into
account the effects of excess mortality
due to AIDS.
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298,444,215 (July 2006 estimate)
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Kinyarwanda (official), universal Bantu
vernacular, French (official), English
(official), Kiswahili (Swahili) used in
commercial centers
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English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other
Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific
island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census)
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Christian: Roman Catholic 56.5%,
Protestant 26%, Adventist 11.1%, Muslim
4.6%, indigenous beliefs 0.1%, none
1.7% (2001 estimate)
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Christian: Protestant 52%, Roman
Catholic 24%, Mormon 2%, Jewish 1%,
Muslim 1%, other 10%, none 10% (2002
estimate)
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Literacy rateDefinition: Age 15 and over
can read and write.
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Male: 76.3%Female: 64.7% (2003
estimate)
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Male: 99% Female: 99% (2003 estimate)
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Percentage of population using improved
drinking water sources
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Urban: 92% Rural: 69%(2002 estimate)
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Urban: 100%Rural: 100%(2002 estimate)
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Percentage of population using adequate
sanitation facilities
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Urban: 56% Rural: 38%(2002 estimate)
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Urban: 100%Rural: 100%(2002 estimate)
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Temperate; two rainy seasons (February
to April, November to January); mild in
mountains with frost and snow possible
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Mostly temperate but tropical in Hawaii
and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in
the great plains west of the Mississippi
River and arid in the Great Basin of the
southwest; low winter temperatures in the
northwest are warmed occasionally in
January and February by chinook winds
from the eastern slopes of the Rocky
Mountains.
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Percentage of population urbanized
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Male: 46.26 yearsFemale: 48.38 years
(2006 estimate)
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Male: 75.02 years Female: 80.82 years
(2006 estimate)
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Under-five mortality rate
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Number of people living with HIV/AIDS
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Percentage of population living below $1
a day
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52% (1993-2003 study; note: data differ
from standard definition or refer to only
part of country)
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Sources for statistics: The World Factbook, 2006; The State of the World's Children, 2006
History
According to local belief, Tutsi cattle breeders began arriving in the area from the Horn of Africa in the 15th century and gradually
subjugated the Hutu inhabitants. The Tutsis established a monarchy headed by a mwami (king) and a feudal hierarchy of Tutsi nobles
and gentry. Through a contract known as ubuhake, the Hutu farmers pledged their services and those of their descendants to a Tutsi
lord in return for the loan of cattle and use of pastures and arable land. Thus, the Tutsi reduced the Hutu to virtual serfdom. However,
boundaries of race and class became less distinct over the years as some Tutsi enjoyed few advantages over the Hutu. In 1899, the
mwami submitted to a German protectorate without resistance. Belgian troops from Zaire drove the small number of Germans out of
Rwanda in 1915 and took control of the country.
An increasingly restive Hutu population, encouraged by the Belgian military, sparked a revolt in November 1959, resulting in the
overthrow of the Tutsi monarchy. Two years later, the Party of the Hutu Emancipation Movement (PARMEHUTU) won an overwhelming
victory in a United Nations-supervised referendum.
During the 1959 revolt and its aftermath, more than 160,000 Tutsis fled to neighboring countries. The PARMEHUTU government,
formed as a result of the September 1961 election, was granted internal autonomy by Belgium on January 1, 1962. A June 1962 United
Nations General Assembly resolution terminated the Belgian trusteeship and granted full independence to Rwanda (and Burundi)
effective July 1, 1962.
Gregoire Kayibanda, leader of the PARMEHUTU Party, became Rwanda's first elected president, leading a government chosen from the
membership of the directly elected unicameral National Assembly. Peaceful negotiation of international problems, social and economic
elevation of the masses, and integrated development of Rwanda were the ideals of the Kayibanda regime. Relations with 43 countries,
including the United States, were established in the first 10 years. Despite the progress made, inefficiency and corruption began
festering in government ministries in the mid-1960s.
Rwanda has always been plagued by ethnic-based strife. A peace accord in mid-1993 temporarily ended most of the fighting, but there
was a massive resumption of civil warfare in April 1994. During the three-month-long conflict, an attempted Tutsi genocide killed more
than 500,000 people, and another two million fled as refugees to neighboring countries.
A new constitution was adopted in Rwanda in 1995, but the country still struggles from the devastating effects of the 1994 war.
As of October 2003, Rwanda's refugee population consisted of 28,000 Congolese Tutsis at two camps in Kibuye and Byumba
provinces. In 2001, the government began implementation of a grassroots, village-level justice system, known as gacaca, to address the
enormous backlog of cases. As of October 2003, some 80,000 individuals remained in detention in Rwanda, awaiting gacaca trials on
charges relating to the 1994 genocide.