The Republic of Rwanda (pronounced /ruːˈændə/ or /rəˈwɑːndə/ in English, or in Kinyarwanda) is a small landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of east-central Africa, bordered by Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. Home to approaching 10 million people, Rwanda supports the densest population in continental Africa, most of whom engage in subsistence agriculture. A verdant country of fertile and hilly terrain, the small republic bears the title "Land of a Thousand Hills" (French: Pays des Mille Collines ; Kinyarwanda: Igihugu cy'Imisozi Igihumbi ).
The country has received considerable international attention due to its 1994 genocide, in which between 800,000 and one million people were killed. In 2008, Rwanda became the first country in history to elect a national legislature in which a majority of members were women. Three quarters of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day. Rwanda is, as of November 2009, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, making the country one of only two in the Commonwealth without a British colonial past.
History
Main article: History of RwandaIt is not known when the territory of present day Rwanda was first inhabited, but it is thought that humans moved into the area following the last ice age either in the Neolithic period, around ten thousand years ago, or in the long humid period which followed, up to around 3000 BC. Archaeological excavations have revealed evidence of sparse settlement by hunter gatherers in the late stone age, followed by a larger population of early Iron age settlers, who produced dimpled pottery and iron tools. These early inhabitants were the ancestors of the Twa, a group of aboriginal Pygmy hunter-gatherers, who still live in Rwanda today. Eventually these settlers were joined by Bantu farmers from the west, known as the Hutus. The exact dates of this are not certain, with estimates varying from 700 BC up to the beginning of the Christian era, around 1 AD. The Hutus, with their sedentary farming lifestyle, soon outnumbered the Twas and began to take over their traditional hunting grounds, forcing them to retreat into the forests. Later a third group, the cattle raising Tutsi, migrated to the area. The Tutsi were generally taller than the Hutus and the Twas, and were distinct in physical appearance. It is not known when the Tutsi arrived and from where they came, but there is evidence that they were of Cushitic origin, coming from the Horn of Africa. Over time, the distinction between the three groups became blurred and some sources question whether they are truly of separate racial or ethnic stock.
Considerable controversy surrounds the origins and the organization of Rwandan society before the arrival of Europeans, however, and the Rwandan government disputes European historical records and scientific evidence of migrations and cultural society within the region. Even in pre-colonial Rwanda, however, the Kinyarwanda language was widely spoken. A traditional local justice system called Gacaca predominated in much of the region as an institution for resolving conflict and rendering justice. The Tutsi king (mwami) became the ultimate judge and arbiter for those cases over which he had jurisdiction. Through this system, stability was achieved in large areas of what is now Rwanda.
Colonial era
After signing treaties with chiefs in the Tanganyika region in 1884-1885, Germany claimed Tanganyika, Rwanda and Burundi as its own territory. Count von Götzen met the Tutsi Mwami (king) for the first time in 1894. However, with only 2,500 soldiers in East Africa, Germany did little to change societal structures in much of the region, especially in Rwanda. After the Mwami's death in 1895, a period of unrest followed. Germans and missionaries then began to enter the country from Tanganyika in 1897-98..
By 1899 the Germans exerted some influence by placing advisors at the courts of local chiefs. Much of the Germans' time was spent fighting uprisings in Tanganyika, especially the Maji Maji war of 1905-1907. On May 14, 1910 the European Convention of Brussels fixed the borders of Uganda, Belgian Congo, and German East Africa which included Tanganyika and Ruanda-Urundi. In 1911, the Germans helped the Tutsi put down a rebellion of Hutus in the northern part of Rwanda who did not wish to submit to central Tutsi control.
In 1916, during World War I, Belgian forces advanced from the Congo into Germany's East African colonies. After Germany lost the War, Belgium accepted the League of Nations Mandate of 1923 to govern Ruanda-Urundi along with the Congo, while Great Britain accepted Tanganyika and other German colonies. After World War II Ruanda-Urundi became a United Nations (UN) "trust territory" administered by Belgium. The Belgian involvement in the region was far more direct than German involvement and extended its interests into education and agricultural supervision. The latter was especially important in the face of two droughts and subsequent famines in 1928-29 and in 1943. These famines forced large migrations of Rwandans to neighboring Congo. In 1933 ethnic identification cards were used to classify one's ethnicity.
The Belgian colonizers also accepted the existing class system, featuring a minority Tutsi upper class and lower classes of Hutus and Tutsi commoners. However, in 1926 the Belgians abolished the local posts of "land-chief", "cattle-chief" and "military chief," and in doing so they stripped the Hutu of their limited local power over land. In the 1920s, under military threat, the Belgians finally helped to bring the northwest Hutu kingdoms, who had maintained local control of land not subject to the Mwami, under the Tutsi royalty's central control. These two actions disenfranchised the Hutu. Large, centralized land holdings were then divided into smaller chiefdoms.
The fragmenting of Hutu lands angered Mwami Yuhi IV, who had hoped to further centralize his power enough to rid himself of the Belgians. In 1931 Tutsi plots against the Belgian administration resulted in the Belgians deposing the Tutsi Mwami Yuhi. This caused the Tutsis to take up arms against the Belgians, but because of their fear of the Belgians' military superiority, they did not openly revolt.
The Roman Catholic Church and Belgian colonial authorities considered the Hutus and Tutsis different ethnic races based on their physical differences and patterns of migration. However, because of the existence of many wealthy Hutu who shared the financial (if not physical) stature of the Tutsi, the Belgians used an expedient method of classification based on the number of cattle a person owned. Anyone with ten or more cattle was considered a member of the aristocratic Tutsi class. From 1935 on, "Tutsi", "Hutu" and "Twa" were indicated on identity cards. The Roman Catholic Church, being the primary educator in the country, subscribed to and reinforced the differences between Hutu and Tutsi, developing separate educational systems for each. In the 1940s and 1950s the vast majority of students were Tutsi. In 1943, Mwami Mutari III became the first Tutsi monarch to convert to Catholicism.
The Belgian colonialists continued to depend on the Tutsi aristocracy to collect taxes and enforce Belgian policies. It maintained the dominance of the Tutsi in local colonial administration and expanded the Tutsi system of labor for colonial purposes. The United Nations later decried this policy and demanded a greater self-representation of the Hutu in local affairs. In 1954 the Tutsi monarchy of Ruanda-Urundi demanded independence from Belgian rule. At the same time it agreed to abolish the system of indentured servitude ( ubuhake and uburetwa ) the Tutsis had practiced over the Hutu until then.
In the 1950s and early 1960s, a wave of Pan-Africanism swept through Central Africa, with leaders such as Julius Nyerere in Tanzania and Patrice Lumumba in the Congo. Anti-colonial sentiment stirred throughout central Africa, and a socialist platform of African unity and equality for all Africans was forwarded. Nyerere himself wrote about the elitism of educational systems, which Hutus interpreted as an indictment of the elitist educations provided for Tutsis in their own country.
Encouraged by the Pan-Africanists, Hutu advocates in the Catholic Church, and by Christian Belgians (who were increasingly influential in the Congo), Hutu sentiment against the aristocratic Tutsi was increasingly inflamed. The United Nations mandates, the Tutsi overlord class, and the Belgian colonialists themselves added to the growing unrest. The Hutu "emancipation" movement was soon spearheaded by Gregoire Kayibanda, founder of PARMEHUTU, who wrote his "Hutu Manifesto" in 1957. The group quickly became militarized. In reaction, in 1959 the UNAR party was formed by Tutsis who desired an immediate independence for Ruanda-Urundi, to be based on the existing Tutsi monarchy. This group also became quickly militarized. Skirmishes began between UNAR and PARMEHUTU groups. Then in July 1959, the Tutsi Mwami (King) Mutara III Charles was believed by Rwandan Tutsis to have been assassinated when he died following a routine vaccination by a Flemish physician in Bujumbura. His younger half-brother then became the next Tutsi monarch, Mwami (King) Kigeli V.
In November 1959, Tutsi forces beat up a
Brussels hotels, cheap hotels, lodgings, accommodation - hotel ...
Brussels hotels - cheap hotel lodgings and reservations by all-hotels(tm) - Brussels discount hotels and accommodation - Instant online hotel reservations
Brussels Hotels | Cheap Hotels in Brussels | Discount Hotels in ...
Hotels in Brussels:-A1 Brussels Hotels offers online hotel booking for Cheap , budget Hotels in Brussels Belgium and hotels brussels balcony you can get 70% discount on all hotel ...
Cheap hotels in Brussels, Belgium | Cheap Brussels hotel reviews
Cheap hotels in Brussels reviewed by EuroCheapo.com. Our editors visit and review cheap Brussels hotels, plus photos, Brussels and Belgium info, and budget travel tips.
Brussels Hotels - Cheap Accommodation Deals in Brussels
Brussels hotels from as low as 47. With 138 hotels in Brussels you'll find the perfect accommodation for your Brussels stay.
344 hotels in Brussels, Belgium. Compare prices of accommodation in ...
Whether you look for a hotel in the very centre of Brussels or in some more quiet area, we have them all. From 1-star cheap hotels to 5-stars luxury hotels, Europe-Cities.com is ...
Cheap Hotels in Marolles, Brussels: EuroCheapo's Guide to Cheap ...
Cheap hotels in Marolles EuroCheapo's Guide to Cheap Hotels in Brussels Neighborhood Description. Marolles is the old working-class neighborhood in central Brussels, located five ...
Cheap Brussels Hotels - Discount Hotels in Brussels from Hotels Cheap ...
Call 800-311-4307 for cheap Brussels hotels. Brussels Hotels Cheap provides guaranteed lowest rates and quality customer service on exclusive Brussels hotel deals.
Brussels, Hotels in Brussels, Apartments in Brussels
Instead of staying in a hotel room, Book one of our luxury apartments in Brussels.
Brussels cheap hotels, hostels, apartments and b&bs, Brussels30
Brussels30, cheap hotels, hostels, apartments and b&bs in Brussels. Save on the hotel. Spend on the fun.
Brussels Boutique Budget Hotels | Brussels Cheap Hotel Reviews
We find the cheap hotels in Brussels and give you reviews, photos and information so you can choose the budget hotel of choice.