Rwanda Facts, Religion, Map, Population, Currency, People

Rwanda Facts, Religion, Map, Population, Currency, Videos, Visit, People, Language. Located in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa meet, is the landlocked country of Rwanda (formally known as the Republic of Rwanda). Rwanda is a landlocked country that shares borders with the neighboring countries of Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Rwanda, like its southern neighbor Burundi, has one of the greatest population densities in all of sub-Saharan Africa despite its relatively small land area. Both Rwanda and Burundi have long been ruled by monarchs. However, unlike in Burundi, the kingship in Rwanda fell before independence in 1962 due to a popular uprising led by the Hutu ethnic group. In 1994, ethnic tensions between the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority reached a high point. Rwanda’s economy and social fabric were shattered during that time due to civil conflict and genocide. (For the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, see.) Reconstruction and interethnic harmony have marked the subsequent years.