Rwanda’s population has traditionally been composed of Hutu,Tusi and Twa
peoples. however, civil stife at independence and genocidal civil warin 1994
have altered these percentages. the 1991 offical cenus estimated the country’s
population at 7,164,995. Talking into consideration Rwanda’s growth rate, the
population in 1996 should have been between 7.8 and 8 million people, but it is
estimated that less than 5.5 to 6 million people were living in Rwanda in late
1995. Rwanda’s people speak a common language, Kinyarwanda, and share many
cultural traditions. More than half of the population is estimated to be Roman
Catholic and another 5 to 10% Protestant Crisitan. Probaly 30% or more hold
traditional beliefs. There is a small Muslium minority. Traditionally, Rwanda
has been Africa’s least urban country ,although migration to the capital,
Kigali,and provincial towns such as Ruhengeri,Butare,and Gisenyi incerased
thoughout the 1980s and the early1990s. Prior to 1994 it eas also the most
densly populated rural county in the world, with more than 2,110 persons per
sq./km. Education is free and officially compulsory for childern between ages 7
to 15, but Rwanda’s school system was virtually destroyed during the civil war
. Most hospitals, including the university of Rwanda, remained closed in 1995.
Most hospitals were ethier closed or without adequate supplies or medical
personnel. History Hutu agriculturalists migrated into what is now Rwanda during
the 7th to 10th centuries AD, followed by pastoral Tutsi between the 14th nd
16th centuries. A feudal monarchy developed that remained in existence for
centuries before Rwanda was absorbed into German east Africa in 1899. Belgium
occupied the area in 1916 and controlled what are now Rwanda and Burundi until
Rwanda gained its independence. Before European occupation, the kingdom of
Rwanda was a somewhat flexible hierarchy with a tutsi king and elitre dominating
the majority Hutu farmers and small Tutsi underclass, although social mobility
and intermarriage blurred the distintions between the groups. the Twa were at
the very bottom of the social order. Both the Germans and the Belgians retained
the monarchy administer the colony. This arrangement gave th Tusi access to
power and economic resouces and intensified ethnic and class divisions. In the
1940’s, however, many Tusti were driven from Rwanda by the Belgians for
advocating independence. The moderate Tusi King Kigari V, who had ruled for
nearly three decades, died in 1959, and more ethnocentric Tutsi seized power.
This contributed to a series of rebellions by Hutu demanding equal rights in
which tens of thousands of Tutsi perished. In 1991, with the support of the
belgian colonist, the Huntu majority took control of the government, abolishied
the Tutsi monochary, and declared Rwanda a republic. Rwandan independence was
not internationally reconized until July 1,1962, when Rwanda and Burundi
formally gained independence as seperate countries. Government Under it original
constitution, Rwandas government consisted of an elected president and a
legislature, the National Assembly. The coutry’s first president was Gregoire
Kayibanda. He was overthown by the military in 1973, and General Juvenal
Habyalimama became president. The National Assembly was suspended. This was
annouced as the first step toward new legislative elections. Economy Most of
Rwandas’s people are farmers, growing only enough food for thier own use. Food
crops include bananas,cassava, sorghum, and millet. Coffee grown on large
plantationsis the nation’s chief exporter. Other important commercial crops
are cotton, tea, and pyrethrum. Cattle,goats,and sheep are raised. Rwanda has
litte industry . Funiture,soap,bricks, and shoes are made for use in the
country. Some tin and gold are mined for export. But poor transportation makes
mining difficult. Some Rwandese work in the copper mines of the neighboring
Zaire.