Rwanda:
Geography

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Other pages in this profile of Rwanda:
People, Government, Economy, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.


Background	Definition 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 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 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 DRC continue to hinder Rwanda's efforts to escape its bloody legacy.

Location	Definition Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo
Geographic coordinates	Definition 2 00 S, 30 00 E
Map references	Definition Africa
Area	Definition - World rank and map total: 26,338 sq km land: 24,948 sq km water: 1,390 sq km
Area - comparative	Definition slightly smaller than Maryland
Land boundaries	Definition total: 893 km border countries: Burundi 290 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 217 km, Tanzania 217 km, Uganda 169 km
Coastline	Definition 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims	Definition none (landlocked)
Climate	Definition temperate; two rainy seasons (February to April, November to January); mild in mountains with frost and snow possible
Terrain	Definition mostly grassy uplands and hills; relief is mountainous with altitude declining from west to east
Elevation extremes	Definition lowest point: Rusizi River 950 m highest point: Volcan Karisimbi 4,519 m
Natural resources	Definition gold, cassiterite (tin ore), wolframite (tungsten ore), methane, hydropower, arable land
Land use	Definition - World rank and map arable land: 45.56% permanent crops: 10.25% other: 44.19% (2005)
Irrigated land	Definition 90 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources	Definition 5.2 cu km (2003)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)	Definition total: 0.15 cu km/yr (24%/8%/68%) per capita: 17 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards	Definition periodic droughts; the volcanic Virunga mountains are in the northwest along the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo
Environment - current issues	Definition deforestation results from uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel; overgrazing; soil exhaustion; soil erosion; widespread poaching
Environment - international agreements	Definition party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Geography - note	Definition landlocked; most of the country is savanna grassland with the population predominantly rural

Rwanda: Geography

Rwanda:
Geography