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In 1959, three years before independence from Belgium, the majority ethnic group, the Hutus, overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. Over the next several years, thousands of Tutsis were killed, and some 150,000 driven into exile in neighboring countries. The children of these exiles later formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), and began a civil war in 1990. The war, along with several political and economic upheavals, exacerbated ethnic tensions, culminating in April 1994 in a state-orchestrated genocide, in which Rwandans killed up to a million of their fellow citizens, including approximately three-quarters of the Tutsi population. The genocide ended later that same year when the predominantly Tutsi RPF, operating out of Uganda and northern Rwanda, defeated the national army and Hutu militias, and established an RPF-led government of national unity. Approximately 2 million Hutu refugees - many fearing Tutsi retribution - fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and former Zaire. Since then, most of the refugees have returned to Rwanda, but several thousand remained in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, the former Zaire) and formed an extremist insurgency bent on retaking Rwanda, much as the RPF did in 1990. Rwanda held its first local elections in 1999 and its first post-genocide presidential and legislative elections in 2003. Rwanda in 2009 staged a joint military operation with the Congolese Army in DRC to rout out the Hutu extremist insurgency there, and Kigali and Kinshasa restored diplomatic relations. Rwanda also joined the Commonwealth in late 2009 and assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2013-14 term.

Location

Central Africa, east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, north of Burundi

Natural Resources

gold, cassiterite (tin ore), wolframite (tungsten ore), methane, hydropower, arable land

Population - distribution

one of Africa's most densely populated countries; large concentrations tend to be in the central regions and along the shore of Lake Kivu in the west

11055976
Kinyarwanda only (official, universal Bantu vernacular) 93.2%, Kinyarwanda and other language(s) 6.2%, French (official) and other language(s) 0.1%, English (official) and other language(s) 0.1%, Swahili (or Kiswahili, used in commercial centers) 0.02%, other 0.03%, unspecified 0.3% (2002 est.)
KIGALI (capital) 1.257 million (2015)
Conventional long form
Republic of Rwanda
Conventional short form
Rwanda
Local long form
Republika y'u Rwanda
Local short form
Rwanda
presidential republic
Name
Kigali
Geographic coordinates
1 57 S, 30 03 E
Time difference
UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
Rwanda is a rural, agrarian country with about 35% of the population engaged in subsistence agriculture, and with some mineral and agro-processing. Population density is high but not concentrated in large metropolises – its 13 million people are spread out on a small amount of land (about the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined). 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. Energy shortages, instability in neighboring states, and lack of adequate transportation linkages to other countries continue to handicap private sector growth.
Inflation
5.725%
External debt stocks
US$ 2,243,629,000
Total tax rate (% of commercial profits)
33.0%
Real Interest Rate
16.932%
Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP)
6.257%
Current Account Balance
US$ -1,098,700,358
Labor Force, Total
6,021,459
Employment in Agriculture
75.33%
Employment in Industry
6.75%
Employment in Services
16.25%
Unemployment Rate
2.53%
Imports of goods and services
US$ 2,776,828,543
Exports of goods and services
US$ 1,260,583,969
Total Merchandise Trade
36.26%
FDI, net inflows
US$ 323,205,168
Commercial Service Exports
US$ 469,433,835
coffee, tea, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums), bananas, beans, sorghum, potatoes; livestock
cement, agricultural products, small-scale beverages, soap, furniture, shoes, plastic goods, textiles, cigarettes
Commodities
coffee, tea, hides, tin ore
Partners
Democratic Republic of the Congo 19.8%, US 10.8%, China 10.3%, Swaziland 7.9%, Malaysia 7%, Pakistan 6.2%, Germany 5.9%, Thailand 5.5% (2015)
Commodities
foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, steel, petroleum products, cement and construction material
Partners
Uganda 15.8%, Kenya 11.8%, India 8.7%, China 8.7%, UAE 8.6%, Russia 6.6%, Tanzania 5.1% (2015)
Country Risk Rating
C
A very uncertain political and economic outlook and a business environment with many troublesome weaknesses can have a significant impact on corporate payment behavior. Corporate default probability is high.
Business Climate Rating
C
The business environment is difficult. Corporate financial information is often unavailable and when available often unreliable. Debt collection is unpredictable. The institutional framework has many troublesome weaknesses. Intercompany transactions run major risks in the difficult environments rated C.
  • Geological potential: cassiterite, tungsten, gold
  • Skilled labor force and good infrastructures
  • Considerable progress on governance
  • Highly dependent on international aid and on commodity prices (tea, coffee)
  • Geographically isolated and exposed to the geopolitical tensions of the Great Lakes Region
  • Strong demographic pressure and highest population density in Africa

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