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9 Facts about Rwanda
9 Visitor accounts
9 Facts for the visitor
9 Attractions
9 Culture
9 Infrastructure
9 Travel advisory

Services - Facts about Rwanda

In this section you can find information on:

- History
- Geography
- Economy

Information is contained in both fact sheets and detailed summaries.

History
In pre-colonial times, three different races have settled in Rwanda. The Twa, the earliest inhabitants and a type of pygmoid hunter-gatherers, were joined by Hutus, farmers of Bantu origin, and Tutsis, cattle-raisers from the north or northeast. The latter formed the dominant caste under a feudal system based on cattle holding, which can be compared to that of medieval England. Despite the initial differences, all three groups lived in the same area, developed the same language, the same religious practices and the same culture. Consequently, the boundaries of race and social class became less distinct over the years, intermarriage was not uncommon and Hutus could become Tutsis when acquiring a certain amount of cattle. 

In 1899, the Rwandan king submitted to a German protectorate without resistance and, after the First World War, Rwanda and its southern neighbour Burundi were mandated to Belgium by the League of Nations. The colonisers as well as numerous missionaries decided to retain and use the existing power structures, thereby intensifying the Tutsi dominance  and, partly, their elitist consciousness. Hutus who formed the great majority of the population were constantly regarded as ‘second-class citizens’ and, ultimately, identity cards were issued on the basis of certain physical characteristics. 

For largely unexplained reasons, the Belgian military switched its allegiance in 1959 and encouraged an increasingly restive Hutu majority to start a revolt and overthrow the Tutsi monarchy, killing thousands of Tutsis and driving 160,000 into exile in neighbouring countries. Elections supervised by the UN finally lead to the independence of both Rwanda and Burundi on the 1^st July 1962. However, the situation hardly improved and tensions among the ethnic groups deepened into ever-worsening conflict, fuelled by a military coup, the formation of a one-party state and constant raids by Tutsi exiles. In 1990, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), Ugandan-based Tutsi exiles, initiated an open war against the Kigali government, which was accused of failing to democratise and resolve the enormous refugee problems. International pressure led to the signing of a cease-fire in the Tanzanian town Arusha in 1992, spreading the hope for an end of the fighting and political talks. But the hardliners on both sides continued to stir up the masses, hostilities deepened and Kigali radio stations poured forth inflammatory propaganda, identifying Tutsis as ‘the enemy’, in dehumanising and vilifying terms.

The plane crash on the 6^th April 1994 – up until today the source of the attack could not be confirmed – was the final initiation for the Rwandan military and militia groups joined by furious ordinary citizens to carry out the pre-planned rounding up and killing of all Tutsis and moderate Hutus. When the RPF resumed its invasion and finally captured Kigali in July 1994, up to 800,000 people had been murdered, the former Rwandan army had crossed the border into then Zaire (today the Democratic Republic of Congo), another 2 million people had fled to the neighbouring countries and another million were displaced internally.

Possible explanations for these incomprehensible atrocities are manifold and can be found, for example, in Magnarella (2001) or Pottier (2002) – see our literature indications in the services section. But despite an enormous legacy, the country can tell of an incredible success story since 1994 which is probably best described in the words of Clare Short, the former British Secretary for International Development (2003): “I think when you think about 1994 and the terrible suffering and loss of life and destruction of all institutions of the country and the economy, and the fact that the people responsible for the genocide went out into the Congo and have been determined to come back and try to destabilise the country once again; and the levels of poverty and suffering, it is a miracle that Rwanda has managed to achieve what it has achieved.” In only few years, the new Government of National Unity largely accomplished its immediate goals, namely the restoration of peace, the resettlement of displaced people and returned refugees, the promotion of national reconciliation and the revamping of the economy.

Today, poverty and a lack of human development is seen by many as the major threat on the road to lasting peace and continued sustainable development. The government therefore aims at diversifying the economy from agriculture and developing a competitive advantage in products which are not bulky and which require human resources rather than land. Remembering a once thriving tourism industry, the encouragement of tourism development has been set as one of the key objectives of Rwanda’s Vision 2020.  
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Geography 
“If you think of Africa – as many people do – as a flat, brown, sandy land with few trees and little rain, Rwanda comes as a shock to the senses” (D. Waller). Situated literally in the ‘heart’ of Africa, the small, landlocked country is on the border of East and Central Africa. Its neighbours are the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire) to the west, Tanzania to the east, Uganda to the north and Burundi to the south. Despite being situated just one to two degrees south of the Equator, it enjoys a rather mild climate with an average annual temperature of around 24° and regular rainfall with two main rainy seasons from the middle of September to December and from the end of January to May. This is mainly due to the country’s high altitude – Rwanda, the ‘Land of a Thousand Hills’, is predominantly grassy uplands and hills with altitudes ranging from 1,207m to 4,507m above sea level. 

Rwanda’s natural environment is highly varied. Being part of the mountainous spine of Africa that forms the watershed of the Nile and Congo rivers, it is dominated by a central plateau with many hills and depressions, which is surrounded by mountainous forests in the south-west, five volcanoes in the north-west and more moderate eastern slopes that extend, at gradually reducing altitudes, to the plains, swamps and lakes of the eastern border region. 

10% of Rwanda’s area is protected – considerably more than in most other African countries. Volcanoes National Park in the north-west is part of the first African National Park (Parc des Virungas) which was created in 1925 on the territories of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is in these largely untouched bamboo forests that 350 of the last remaining 650 mountain gorillas continue a threatened existence. In south-western Rwanda, Nyungwe National Park plays an important conservation role particularly for birds, primates, some invertebrates such as butterflies and other insects, as well as more than 250 unique plant species, including more than 100 species of orchids. Finally, Akagera National Park in the north-east is considered to be the most complex savannah ecosystem in East Africa, combining wetlands and savannah habitats. Unfortunately, much of the infrastructure was destroyed during the civil war and many of the formerly numerous antelopes, buffalos, impalas, lions and other typical East African savannah animals were killed by soldiers and through increased poaching, so that today the park does not feature as much and as diverse wildlife as the more well-known savannah parks in other East African countries.
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Economy
When arriving at Kigali’s modern and efficient airport, driving on the well-maintained roads, passing recently completed office blocks and even leaving the city realising the ordered and verdant fertility, it is hard to believe that Rwanda is one of the poorest countries in the world. Nevertheless, it suffers from environmental problems and an abject poverty from which there is no obvious means of escape at least for the 59% of the population of 8.1 million that live below the poverty line. Every available square meter of land is needed to grow food for the population, and competition for resources is intense.

With only few natural resources to exploit, the Rwandan economy is almost entirely based on agricultural production of small, semi-subsistence and increasingly fragmented farms. Agriculture contributes 91% of employment, 41% of GDP and 72% of exports. These export products are mainly coffee and tea, but slowly there is also an increasing diversification into a variety of fruits, potatoes and even cut flowers. 

However, economic progress since 1994 has been significant despite the recent global economic downturn with a growth rate of 10% in 2002. Efforts for poverty reduction continue to be praised by many experts including Abdikarim M. Farah, the resident representative of the IMF: “There has been a very positive economic recovery since 1995 that has had a tangible impact on much of the population.” 

Centred on the unique mountain gorillas, tourism has once been the third largest earner of foreign exchange before the civil war, making a substantial contribution to GDP, providing considerable employment and generating funds for conservation programmes. Recently, the return of peace and security lead to a gradual increase in tourism – nevertheless, in a country with the highest population density in sub-Saharan Africa (305 people per km2) conservation of natural resources for tourism is in conflict with the needs of the people for land to cultivate. Therefore, initiatives promoting a more responsible, pro-poor tourism are all the more relevant for the future development of Rwanda’s tourism product.
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