Facts About Rwanda

Rwanda is a country located in East Africa that is well known for beautiful scenery but also the 1994 genocide. With good governance, Rwanda has demonstrated that any country can endure great adversity and use it as motivation to better the lives of citizens. Rwanda is one of the smallest countries in Africa with a land area of 26,338 square kilometers. Much of the country is composed of beautiful hills hence the name “The land of a thousand hills”. Its capital city is Kigali and the official languages spoken include Kinyarwanda, French, English and Swahili.

The principal currency used is the Rwandan Franc (Rwf). US Dollars and even Uganda Shillings is also used among the population though to a lesser extent. You can read more about how to plan your next Rwanda safari or things to do in Kigali. Let’s discuss other interesting facts you may not know about Rwanda:

Facts About Rwanda

A Land Locked Country with beautiful people: Rwanda is a landlocked nation and therefore has no direct access to a sea port. This is all because it is bordered by four other East African states including Uganda to the north, Tanzania to the East, the Democratic Republic of Congo to the west and Burundi to the south. Being landlocked has not stopped Rwanda from having some of the finest looking women/men in Africa.

Clean and Green Capital: Kigali is arguably the cleanest city in Africa. This comes after the government imposed a total ban on the production and usage of plastic packaging bags and other materials that threaten the environment. The government imposes heavy fines and even imprisonment (for a period between six to twelve months) for any persons caught selling plastic bags or similarly banned material. In addition to that, there is a compulsory community cleaning tradition, commonly known as the “umuganda”. Umuganda is organized once a month by citizens on every last Saturday of the month and has also greatly contributed to the general cleanliness noticed around the country. The president is a frequent participant in this cleaning exercise.

Amazing Natural Physical Features: As already mentioned earlier, Rwanda is blessed with vast physical features ranging from lakes, rivers, Tropical rainforests, hills and mountain ranges. While on a road trip in Rwanda, you cannot miss out on viewing the beautiful Albertine rift which is the western arm of the great East African rift valley covering parts of Uganda, Congo, Burundi, Tanzania and Rwanda. Another very exciting tourism site is the Virunga ranges in the north western part of the country whose highest peak is known as Karisimbi. The peak of Mount Karisimbi is about 15,000 feet above sea level. In addition to the beautiful Ranges, there are various rivers and lakes such as Lake Ihema, lake Rweru and Lake Kivu. Lake Kivu is actually the largest lake in the land and separates Rwanda from DR Congo.

Three Ethnic Groups: Rwanda has three major ethnic groups with the Tutsi and Hutu being the two dominant tribes. There is also the Twa who are the smallest group. Government Statistics has it that the Bahutu are the majority and consist of 85% of the overall population. They are followed by the Batutsi at about 14% and finally the Batwa who make up just 1% of the population. The Twa people mainly live in the forested parts of this country where they survive as hunters and gatherers of wild fruits/vegetables.

Most People Identify as Christian: It should be marked that about 94% of Rwandans identify themselves as Christians. The main religious denominations are Roman Catholics, Protestants, Pentecostals and the Seventh day Adventists. The remaining percentage are Muslim or practice their indigenous religions.

Rwanda has Four National Parks: Rwanda is also famous for its four major national parks namely: Nyungwe National park, Gishwati Mukura National Park, The volcanoes national park and Akagera national park. Each of these national parks in Rwanda are famous for different reasons and let’s see why. The Nyungwe national park is the greenest of them all with very dense Tropical rainforests which actually act as a natural habitat for chimpanzees and 11 types of monkeys. Chimpanzee Trekking in Nyungwe National Park takes you to observe a creature that may have the closest resemblance to man.  The volcanoes national park on the other hand is famous for housing a third of the world’s mountain gorillas. You can be sure to have a fun-filled mountain gorilla trekking experience at the volcanoes national park.

Akagera National Park is the only place where tourists can see all the big 5 (Rhinos, Elephants, Lions, Leopards and Buffaloes). Last but not least is the newly formed Gishwati-Mukura National Park. This park was formed by combining the two separate forest of Gishwati and Makura into one. The forests have been recovered after encroachment and degradation with support from the World Bank. Gishwati-Makura is home to an amazing collection of birds and primates like Chimpanzees or Golden Monkeys. You can read more about what to pack for a safari in Rwanda.

Amazing Culture: Rwanda is also a country with interesting cultural heritage. Music and dance is an essential part of their culture. Did you know that their cultural dance is actually divided into three parts?  I bet you didn’t, but let’s see how it is done. The first part of the dance is the “intore dance” which means the dance of heroes. This dance is only performed by the men but there is also the “umushagiriro dance” or cow dance performed by the women. The ladies dance while trying to portray an image of a cow by lifting their arms in the air to create the shape of a cow horn. Last but not least is the “ingoma” dance. This is where men concentrate their performance on traditional drums. Read about the Iby’iwacu Cultural Village for more information or check out an article about the cultural sites in Rwanda.

Gender Equality and balance in Key Jobs: Rwanda has been ranked as 9^th among the world’s most gender equal countries according to the 2020 global gender gap index. This comes after 61% of the seats in the parliament were taken up by women after the 2018 parliamentary elections hence making it the country with the world’s highest female representation in parliament. It should also be noted that four out of the seven Supreme Court justices of Rwanda are female.

High Population Density: Rwanda is also the second most densely populated country in Africa after Mauritius with an average of 820 people per square mile. History has it that it has been a densely populated land from the very beginning of its existence largely because of the good climate and fertile volcanic soils.  The favorable climate and very fertile soils has made Rwanda an agricultural country which grows crops likes plantains, beans, sweet potatoes, coffee and tea among others.

Commonwealth Country but not colonized by the British: Rwanda is one of the two Commonwealth member states that were never colonized by the British. In other words, they have no historical ties at all with the United Kingdom. The same applies to Mozambique. It should be remembered that Rwanda was colonized by Germany in 1899 and later Belgium in 1919. Rwanda gained her independence on the 1st of July 1962 after being separated from Burundi. In the year of 2009, Rwanda joined the common wealth and became the last member to Join bringing the total number of member states to 56.

Conclusively, Rwanda is one of the most naturally beautiful countries in Africa. The major tourist destinations in Rwanda range from the beautiful hills, the mountains gorillas and the Virunga ranges among others. Rwanda has set an example to other developing countries in Africa by establishing good governance structures, eliminating corruption and building clean towns/cities. A country should not wait to become rich in order to be peaceful or clean. The positive changes in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide has caught the world’s attention and helped her gain favor with developed countries. Rwanda received more grants and support from donors and International Financial Institutions than should be expected considering her size. The capital Kigali now hosts many of the important international conferences that use to be a preserve of neighboring countries. Most of the top companies are building their regional headquarters in Kigali.