Eastern Province, Rwanda

Last updated

Muhazi Beach Resort Muhazi beach Resort.jpg
Muhazi Beach Resort
Eastern Province
Intara y'Iburasirazuba
Rwanda EastProvDists.png
Country Rwanda
Capital Rwamagana
Districts
Government
  Governor Pudence Rubingisa (14 December 2023-)
Area
[1]
   Province 9,458 km2 (3,652 sq mi)
Population
 (2022 census) [2]
   Province 3,563,145
  Density380/km2 (980/sq mi)
   Urban
745,935
   Rural
2,817,210
Other settlements Kibungo, Nyagatare, Nyamata, Gahini, Kabarore, Kagitumba
HDI (2021)0.526 [3]
low · 2nd of 5

Eastern Province ( in Kinyarwanda : Intara y'Iburasirazuba; French : Province de l'Est; Dutch : Oostelijke Provincie) is the largest, the most populous and the least densely populated of Rwanda's five provinces. It was created in early January 2006 as part of a government decentralization program that re-organized the country's local government structures.

Contents

It has seven districts: Bugesera, Gatsibo, Kayonza, Ngoma, Kirehe, Nyagatare and Rwamagana. The capital city of the Eastern Province is Rwamagana.

The Eastern Province comprises the former provinces of Kibungo and Umutara, most of Kigali Rural, and part of Byumba.

The Akagera National Park is situated is this province.

Religion in Eastern Province (2012 Census)[ citation needed ]

   Roman Catholic (38.4%)
   Protestant (43.7%)
   Muslim (2.6%)
   Jehovah Witness (0.7%)
  No Religion (2.6%)
  Other (0.2%)
  Not Stated (1.1%)

History

It is not known when the territory of present day Rwanda was first inhabited, but it is thought that humans moved into the area following the last ice age either in the Neolithic period, around ten thousand years ago, or in the long humid period which followed, up to around 3000 BC. [4] [5] Archaeological excavations have revealed evidence of sparse settlement by hunter gatherers in the late Stone Age, followed by a larger population of early Iron Age settlers, who produced dimpled pottery and iron tools. [4] [6] [7] By the 17th century it is thought that most of Rwanda was inhabited, with a fairly even spread of population across the hills of the country. [8]

List of the Eastern Province Districts by Population (2012)

Rank in Eastern Province
Districts
,
2012 [9]
Rank in
Rwanda
Districts
,
2012
District
Population
15 August 2012
Population,
15 August 2002
Population Change
2002-2012

(%)
Population Density
2012

(km2)
Population Density
Rank,
Eastern Province
2012
12 Nyagatare 466,944255,10483.02436
23 Gatsibo 433,997283,45653.12755
39 Bugesera 363,339266,77536.22824
410 Kayonza 346,751209,72365.31797
513 Ngoma 340,983235,10944.03902
615 Kirehe 338,562229,46848.62883
726 Rwamagana 310,238220,50240.74551
Total-Eastern Province2,660,8141,700,13753.0275-

Notes and references

  1. Area Calculation (see below)
  2. Citypopulation.de Population of Eastern Province
  3. "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  4. 1 2 Briggs and Booth 2006 p6
  5. Chrétien p44
  6. Dorsey p36
  7. Chrétien p45
  8. Vansina p16
  9. "2012 Population and Housing Census (Provisional Results) | National Institute of Statistics Rwanda". Archived from the original on 6 December 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.

Cited texts

  • Briggs, Philip & Booth, Janice (2006) Rwanda - The Bradt Travel Guide. 3rd ed. London: Bradt Travel Guides. ISBN   1-84162-180-3
  • Chrétien, Jean-Pierre (2003) The Great Lakes of Africa: Two Thousand Years of History Hardcover ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN   1-890951-34-X
  • Dorsey, Learthen (1994) Historical Dictionary of Rwanda. Scarecrow Press. ISBN   0-8108-2820-0
  • Ministry of Local Government, Republic of Rwanda (MINALOC): "Eastern Province". Performance contracts in Year 2009-2010 (July 2009-June 2010). Accessed 2010-03-11.
  • Munyakazi, Augustine & Ntagaramba, Johnson Funga (2005). Atlas of Rwanda French ed. Oxford: Macmillan Education. ISBN   0-333-95451-3

Area calculation

  • Pixel sizes for provinces taken from traced maps: North = 28,547; East = 81,548; South = 50,844; West = 51,798; Kigali = 6,129
  • Total Pixel size for Rwanda = 28,547 + 81,548 + 50,844 + 51,798 + 6,129 = 218,866
  • => Eastern Province % of total area: 81,548 / 218,866 = 37.26%
  • Total area of Rwanda = 26,338 km2 (10,169 sq mi)
    • "Rwanda". The World Facebook. United States Central Intelligence Agency. 4 March 2010. Accessed 11 March 2010.
  • => Area of Eastern Province = 26,338 km2 (10,169 sq mi) x 37.26% = 9,813 km2 (3,789 sq mi)

1°45′S30°30′E / 1.750°S 30.500°E / -1.750; 30.500

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rwanda</span> Country in East Africa

Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is highly elevated, giving it the sobriquet "land of a thousand hills", with its geography dominated by mountains in the west and savanna to the southeast, with numerous lakes throughout the country. The climate is temperate to subtropical, with two rainy seasons and two dry seasons each year. It is the most densely populated mainland African country; among countries larger than 10,000 km2, it is the fifth-most densely populated country in the world. Its capital and largest city is Kigali.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kigali</span> Capital and the largest city of Rwanda

Kigali is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali is a relatively new city. It has been Rwanda's economic, cultural, and transport hub since it was founded as an administrative outpost in 1907, and became the capital of the country at independence in 1962, shifting focus away from Huye.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Rwanda</span>

Rwanda is located in East Africa, to the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at the co-ordinates 2°00′S30°0′E.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cabo Delgado Province</span> Province of Mozambique

Cabo Delgado is the northernmost province of Mozambique. It has an area of 82,625 km2 (31,902 sq mi) and a population of 2,320,261 (2017). As well as bordering Mtwara Region in the neighboring country of Tanzania, it borders the provinces of Nampula and Niassa. The region is an ethnic stronghold of the Makonde tribe, with the Makua and Mwani as leading ethnic minorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matanzas Province</span> Province of Cuba

Matanzas is one of the provinces of Cuba. Major towns in the province include Cárdenas, Colón, Jovellanos and the capital of the same name, Matanzas. The resort town of Varadero is also located in this province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Las Tunas Province</span> Province of Cuba

Las Tunas is one of the provinces of Cuba. Major towns include Puerto Padre, Amancio, and the capital city, Las Tunas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provinces of Rwanda</span>

The provinces of Rwanda are divided into districts (akarere) and municipalities (umujyi). Prior to January 1, 2006, Rwanda was composed of 12 provinces. The Rwandan government decided to establish new provinces in an attempt to address issues that arose from the Rwandan genocide. The new provinces were to be "ethnically-diverse administrative areas".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volcanoes National Park</span> National park in Rwanda

Volcanoes National Park is a national park in northwestern Rwanda. It covers 160 km2 (62 sq mi) of rainforest and encompasses five of the eight volcanoes in the Virunga Mountains, namely Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga and Sabyinyo. It borders Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. It is home to the mountain gorilla and the golden monkey, and was the base for the primatologist Dian Fossey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rwamagana</span> Place in Eastern Province, Rwanda

Rwamagana is a city and capital of both the Rwamagana District and the Eastern Province in Rwanda

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kibungo</span> Town and sector in Eastern Province, Rwanda

Kibungo is a town and sector in the Republic of Rwanda. It is the political, administrative and commercial capital of Ngoma District. In 1998, Kibungo became the site of at least four of Rwanda's last 22 executions. All of the convicts were executed for crimes related to the 1994 genocide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhanga</span> City in Southern Province, Rwanda

Muhanga is a city in Rwanda, in the Muhanga District, in Southern Province. The city is situated 5,945 feet (1,812 m) above sea level.

Nyagatare is a town in the North East of Rwanda. With a population of more than 100,000, it is one of the most populous settlements in the Eastern Province along with Rwamagana and Kibungo.

The Banyarwanda are a Bantu ethnolinguistic supraethnicity. The Banyarwanda are also minorities in neighboring DR Congo, Uganda and Tanzania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhanga District</span> District in Rwanda

Muhanga is a district (akarere) in Rwanda. It is found in southern province and its administrative centre is located in the city of Muhanga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gasabo District</span> District in Rwanda

Gasabo is a district (akarere) in Kigali city, the capital of Rwanda. The headquarter of Gasabo is located in Remera Sector. The district also includes large areas of the city itself, including Kacyiru, Kimironko, Remera, Nyarutarama and Kimihurura.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of Rwanda</span>

The wildlife of Rwanda comprising its flora and fauna, in prehistoric times, consisted of montane forest in one third the territory of present-day Rwanda. However, natural vegetation is now mostly restricted to the three national parks and four small forest reserves, with terraced agriculture dominating the rest of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gahini</span> Sector and village in Eastern Province, Rwanda

Gahini is a sector and village in Kayonza District, Eastern Province, Rwanda. It is situated on a hill, at an altitude of 1,520 metres (4,990 ft) above sea-level, close to the eastern edge of Lake Muhazi and 73 kilometres (45 mi) by road from the capital, Kigali. The village is the centre of one of the nine dioceses of the Eglise Episcopale au Rwanda, the Anglican church of Rwanda, and one of the four Rwandan sites chosen by the Church Missionary Society, who built a large mission, hospital and schools in the village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Muhazi</span>

Lake Muhazi is a long thin shallow lake in the east of Rwanda. The bulk of the lake lies in the Eastern Province, with the western end forming the border between the Northern and Kigali Provinces. It is a flooded valley lake, lying predominantly in an east to west direction, but with numerous offshoots in a north to south direction, formerly the location of tributaries. The lake has a concrete dam at the western end, constructed in 1999 to replace an earth dam which had existed since time immemorial. The lake empties into the Nyabugogo River, which flows southwards to Kigali where it meets the Nyabarongo River, part of the upper Nile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I&M Bank Rwanda</span> Rwandan bank

I&M Bank Rwanda Plc., is a commercial bank in Rwanda that is licensed by the National central Bank of Rwanda(central bank). It is the second largest bank in Rwanda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Rwanda</span>

The culture of Rwanda is varied. Unlike many other countries in Africa, Rwanda has been a unified state since precolonial times, populated by the Banyarwanda people who share a single language and cultural heritage. Eleven regular national holidays are observed throughout the year, with others occasionally inserted by the government.