Germany colonised Rwanda in 1884 as part of German East Africa, followed by Belgium, which invaded in 1916 during World War I.
Germany colonised Rwanda in 1884 as part of German East Africa, followed by Belgium, which invaded in 1916 during World War I.
The Hutu population revolted in 1959.
They massacred numerous Tutsi and ultimately established an independent, Hutu-dominated republic in 1962.
A 1973 military coup saw a change of leadership, but the pro-Hutu policy remained.
The Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front launched a civil war in 1990.
The presidents of Rwanda and Burundi, both Hutus, were killed when their aircraft was shot down on 6 April 1994.
Social tensions erupted in the 1994 genocide that followed, in which Hutu extremists killed an estimated 500,000–1,000,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu.
The RPF ended the genocide with a military victory. Rwanda's developing economy suffered heavily in the wake of the 1994 genocide, but has since strengthened.
Traditional arts and crafts are produced throughout the country, including imigongo, a unique cow dung art. Rwanda has been governed as a unitary presidential system with a bicameral parliament ruled by the Rwandan Patriotic Front since 1994.
The president is Paul Kagame of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), who has served continuously since 2000.
The country has been governed by a strict administrative hierarchy since precolonial times; there are five provinces delineated by borders drawn in 2006.
All text is taken from Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License .
Page generated on 2021-08-05