Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central 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 soubriquet "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.
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.
Paul Kagame is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who since 2000 has been the fourth President of Rwanda. He was previously a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel armed force which invaded Rwanda in 1990. The RPF was one of the parties of the conflict during the Rwandan Civil War and the armed force which ended the Rwandan genocide. He was considered Rwanda's de facto leader when he was Vice President and Minister of Defence under President Pasteur Bizimungu from 1994 to 2000 after which the vice-presidential post was abolished.
Roméo Antonius Dallaire is a retired Canadian politician and military officer who was a senator from Quebec from 2005 to 2014, and a lieutenant-general in the Canadian Armed Forces. He notably was the force commander of UNAMIR, the ill-fated United Nations peacekeeping force for Rwanda between 1993 and 1994, and for trying to stop the genocide that was being waged by Hutu extremists against Tutsis. Dallaire is a Senior Fellow at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS) and co-director of the MIGS Will to Intervene Project.
The Rwandan Patriotic Front is the ruling political party in Rwanda.
The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred between 7 April and 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu militias. Although the Constitution of Rwanda states that more than 1 million people perished in the genocide, the actual number of fatalities is unclear, and some estimates suggest that the real number killed was likely lower. The most widely accepted scholarly estimates are around 500,000 to 800,000 Tutsi deaths.
Stephen D. Smith MBE is a Holocaust and genocide specialist who has designed, operated and consulted for many different Holocaust memorial centres. He currently holds the UNESCO Chair on Genocide Education.
Christianity is the largest religion in Rwanda. The most recent national census from 2012 indicates that: 43.7% of Rwanda's population is Catholic, 37.7% is Protestant, 11.8% is Seventh-day Adventist, 2.0% is Muslim, 2.5% claims no religious affiliation, and 0.7% is Jehovah's Witness.
Eric Kabera is a Rwandan journalist and filmmaker and founder and president of Rwanda Cinema Center.
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza is a Rwandan politician who served as chairwoman of the Unified Democratic Forces from 2006 to 2019. As an advocate for democracy and critic of President Paul Kagame, she was the UDF's candidate for the Rwandan 2010 presidential elections, but was ultimately arrested and sentenced to prison. A Sakharov Prize nominee, she served 8 years of a 15-year prison sentence in Kigali Central Prison on charges of terrorism and threatening national security. She currently leads the party Development And Liberty For All, with the focus to campaign for more political space and for development.
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.
Nyamata is a town in the Bugesera District, southeastern Rwanda. Nyamata literally means 'place of milk' from the two Kinyarwanda words nya- 'of' and amata 'milk'. It is the location of the Nyamata Genocide Memorial, commemorating the Rwandan genocide of 1994.
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth is an American rapper and songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he is the only musician outside of the classical and jazz genres to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music. His inclusion of social commentary and political criticism in his songwriting has influenced a rise in social conscience within his generation.
Lee Isaac Chung is an American filmmaker. His debut feature Munyurangabo (2007) was an official selection at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and the first narrative feature film in the Kinyarwanda language.
World Culture Open (WCO) is a non-profit organization that promotes cultural diversity and unprejudiced cultural exchange around the globe. WCO has its regional offices in New York City, Seoul, and Beijing.
Mani Martin is a Rwandan singer, songwriter, actor and performing artist. He has won numerous awards. His unique musical sound that reflects the Afro-fusion, urban and traditional sounds has received National & international attention hence being described by "Rwanda Spectrum Magazine" as one of the best live music performing artists of the Rwandan music scene. Mani sings in Kinyarwanda, Kiswahili, English and French.
The Nyamata Genocide Memorial is based around a former church 30 km (19 mi) south of Kigali in Rwanda, which commemorates the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda. The remains of 50,000 people are buried here.
Juliane Okot Bitek, also known as Otoniya J. Okot Bitek, is a Kenyan-born Ugandan-raised diasporic writer and academic, who lives, studies and works in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She is perhaps best-known for her poetry book 100 Days, a reflection on the 100-day 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsi and Hutu people were killed. She has been a contributor to several anthologies, including in 2019 New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent, edited by Margaret Busby.
The Kigali International Peace Marathon is an annual road-based marathon hosted by Kigali, Rwanda, since 2005. It is a World Athletics Label Road Race and a member of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races. During the race weekend, a half marathon and a 10K fun run are also offered. A night run is also associated with the event, though not held during the same weekend.
George Gitau, is a Kenyan humanitarian leader. George worked for American Leprosy Missions (ALM) as their regional director for Africa from August 2017 to July 2021. Prior to this appointment, he worked for World Vision International as the Rwanda country director for seven years, from March 2010 to July 2017, while residing in Kigali. George had previously worked for Compassion International for thirteen years in a row in a variety of roles, including director of grants for the Africa region from November 2006 to February 2010, country director for Burkina Faso from December 2003 to August 2006, and country director for Kenya from September 1997 to December 2003.
