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 the genocide of roughly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and ended the killing in July 1994, but approximately 2 million Hutu refugees - many fearing Tutsi retribution - fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and the former Zaire.

Since then, most of the refugees have returned to Rwanda, but several thousand remained in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (the former Zaire) and formed an extremist insurgency bent on retaking Rwanda, much as the RPF tried in 1990.

Despite substantial international assistance and political reforms - including Rwanda's first local elections in March 1999 and its first post-genocide presidential and legislative elections in August and September 2003 - the country continues to struggle to boost investment and agricultural output, and ethnic reconciliation is complicated by the real and perceived Tutsi political dominance.

Kigali's increasing centralization and intolerance of dissent, the nagging Hutu extremist insurgency across the border, and Rwandan involvement in two wars in recent years in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to hinder Rwanda's efforts to escape its bloody legacy.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 9,907,509 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2007 est.)

---

Age structure: 0-14 years: 41.9% (male 2,082,474/female 2,065,251) 15-64 years: 55.7% (male 2,748,189/female 2,765,767) 65 years and over: 2.5% (male 98,796/female 147,032) (2007 est.)

---

Median age: total: 18.6 years male: 18.4 years female: 18.8 years (2007 est.)

---

Population growth rate: 2.766% (2007 est.)

---

Birth rate: 40.16 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

---

Death rate: 14.91 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

---

Net migration rate: 2.41 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

---

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.008 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.994 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.672 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

---

Infant mortality rate: total: 85.27 deaths/1,000 live births male: 90.41 deaths/1,000 live births female: 79.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

---

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 48.99 years male: 47.87 years female: 50.16 years (2007 est.)

---

Total fertility rate: 5.37 children born/woman (2007 est.)

---

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 5.1% (2003 est.)

---

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 250,000 (2003 est.)

---

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 22,000 (2003 est.)

---

Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: very high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne disease: malaria (2007)

---

Nationality: noun: Rwandan(s) adjective: Rwandan

---

Ethnic groups: Hutu (Bantu) 84%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 15%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%

---

Religions: Roman Catholic 56.5%, Protestant 26%, Adventist 11.1%, Muslim 4.6%, indigenous beliefs 0.1%, none 1.7% (2001)

---

Languages: Kinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu vernacular, French (official), English (official), Kiswahili (Swahili) used in commercial centers

---

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 70.4% male: 76.3% female: 64.7% (2003 est.) People - note: Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa

Rwanda is a poor rural country with about 90% of the population engaged in (mainly subsistence) agriculture. It is the most densely populated country in Africa and is landlocked with few natural resources and minimal industry. Primary foreign exchange earners are coffee and tea. The 1994 genocide decimated Rwanda's fragile economic base, severely impoverished the population, particularly women, and eroded the country's ability to attract private and external investment. However, Rwanda has made substantial progress in stabilizing and rehabilitating its economy to pre-1994 levels, although poverty levels are higher now. GDP has rebounded and inflation has been curbed. Despite Rwanda's fertile ecosystem, food production often does not keep pace with population growth, requiring food imports. Rwanda continues to receive substantial aid money and obtained IMF-World Bank Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative debt relief in 2005-06. Rwanda also received Millennium Challenge Account Threshold status in 2006. Kigali's high defense expenditures have caused tension between the government and international donors and lending agencies. Energy shortages, instability in neighboring states, and lack of adequate transportation linkages to other countries continue to handicap growth.

---

GDP (purchasing power parity): $13.7 billion (2006 est.)

---

GDP (official exchange rate): $1.968 billion (2006 est.)

---

GDP - real growth rate: 5.8% (2006 est.)

---

GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,600 (2006 est.)

---

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 39.4% industry: 23.3% services: 37.3% (2006 est.)

---

Labor force: 4.6 million (2000)

---

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 90% industry and services: 10%

---

Unemployment rate: NA%

---

Population below poverty line: 60% (2001 est.)

---

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 4.2% highest 10%: 24.2% (1985)

---

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 28.9 (1985)

---

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.7% (2006 est.)

---

Investment (gross fixed): 19.8% of GDP (2006 est.)

---

Budget: revenues: $560.9 million expenditures: $654 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)

---

Agriculture - products: coffee, tea, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums), bananas, beans, sorghum, potatoes; livestock

---

Industries: cement, agricultural products, small-scale beverages, soap, furniture, shoes, plastic goods, textiles, cigarettes

---

Industrial production growth rate: 7% (2001 est.)

---

Electricity - production: 93 million kWh (2004)

---

Electricity - consumption: 196.5 million kWh (2004)

---

Electricity - exports: 10 million kWh (2004)

---

Electricity - imports: 120 million kWh (2004)

---

Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2004 est.)

---

Oil - consumption: 5,400 bbl/day (2004 est.)

---

Oil - exports: NA bbl/day

---

Oil - imports: NA bbl/day

---

Oil - proved reserves: 0 bbl (1 January 2005)

---

Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

---

Natural gas - consumption: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

---

Natural gas - proved reserves: 56.63 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)

---

Current account balance: -$104.1 million (2006 est.)

---

Exports: $135.4 million f.o.b. (2006 est.)

---

Exports - commodities: coffee, tea, hides, tin ore

---

Exports - partners: China 10.2%, Germany 9.6%, US 4.3% (2006)

---

Imports: $390.4 million f.o.b. (2006 est.)

---

Imports - commodities: foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, steel, petroleum products, cement and construction material

---

Imports - partners: Kenya 19.7%, Germany 7.8%, Uganda 6.9%, Belgium 5% (2006)

---

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $422.8 million (2006 est.)

---

Debt - external: $1.4 billion (2004 est.)

---

Economic aid - recipient: $425 million (2003)

---

Currency (code): Rwandan franc (RWF)

---

Exchange rates: Rwandan francs per US dollar - 560 (2006), 610 (2005), 574.62 (2004), 537.66 (2003), 476.33 (2002)

---

Fiscal year: calendar year