Republic of Rwanda

World Factbook as of November 2014: "Rwanda is a poor rural country with about 90% of the population engaged in (mainly subsistence) agriculture and some mineral and agro-processing. Tourism, minerals, coffee and tea are Rwanda's main sources of foreign exchange... Despite Rwanda's fertile ecosystem, food production often does not keep pace with demand, requiring food imports. Rwanda continues to receive substantial aid money and obtained IMF-World Bank Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative debt relief in 2005-06. In recognition of Rwanda's successful management of its macro economy, in 2010, the IMF graduated Rwanda to a Policy Support Instrument (PSI)... Rwanda joined the East African Community and is aligning its budget, trade, and immigration policies with its regional partners."

Rwanda Imports food.

Economic growth rate
2011: 7%
2010: 7.5%
2009: 4.1%

Labor force in agriculture
2000: 90%

Export commodities
coffee, tea, hides, tin ore

Export partners
2009: Kenya 36.6%, Democratic Republic of the Congo 14.7%, China 9.1%, Swaziland 5.9%, US 5.3%, Pakistan 4.6%

Income Distribution – GINI index
Ranks 33rd among 140 countries (lower rank number is less equal). Less equal than Britain, which ranks 94th, and the US, which ranks 45th.

Health expenditures
2009: 9% of GDP

People

Living in an urban area
2010: 19%
2008: 18%

Net migration rate
2011: A net gain of 1.0 persons per 1,000 population

Literacy, age 15 and older
Rwan 2003: males 76.3, females 64.7%

Ethnicity
Hutu 84%, Tutsi 15%, Twa 1%

Religions
2001: Roman Catholic 56.5%, Protestant 26%, Adventist 11.1%, Muslim 4.6%, indigenous beliefs 0.1%, none 1.7%

Geography

Central Africa, east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, west of Tanzania, south of Uganda and north of Burundi. 26,338 square kilometers, equivalent to 162 by 162 kilometers or roughly 101 by 101 miles. Capital: Kigali

Government

President has seven-year terms. Eligible for two terms only.

Multi-party democracy. New constitution passed by referendum 26 May 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.

Chief of State: President Paul Kagame. Seven year term. Last election: 9 August 2010. Second term. Eligible for two terms only.

Recent History

1959: the majority ethnic group, the Hutus, overthrow the ruling Tutsi king.

1962: Rwanda was separated from Burundi and gains independence from Belgium. Killings of Tutsis follows. Many become refugees, mostly in Uganda.

1963: Exiled Tutsis from Burundi attack Rwanda. In Rwanda, massacres of Tutsis follow.

1973: Tutsis are purged from universities, accompanied by more killings and more Tutsis fleeing the country. General Juvénal Habyarimana, chief of staff of the army, seizes power. He institutes a one-party (MRND) state and establishes ethnic quotas in all public service jobs and schools. Tutsis are restricted to 9 percent.

1994: A state-orchestrated genocide, in which Rwandans killed up to a million of their fellow citizens, including approximately three-quarters of the Tutsi population.

November 29, 2010: President Paul Kagame has helped resurrect this nation from genocide into one of the most orderly countries in Africa. He regularly joins others in picking up roadside trash. Rwanda is considered one of Africa’s safest and least corrupt countries and it has made enormous strides in building its economy and fighting poverty. Rwanda is favored by aid community, which provided the country with hundreds of millions of dollars every year.