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Region:
Eastern Africa
Capital:
Kigali
Population:
7 954 013 (July
2004 est.)
Surface
area:
26 338 square
km
Currency:
franc
GDP
per capita:
$1 300 (2003
est.)
Historic
background:
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
neighbouring
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
exacerbated ethnic
tensions and
in April 1994
in the genocide
of roughly 800,000
Tutsis and moderate
Hutus began.
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.
Rwanda’s
involvement in
two wars in recent
years continue
to hinder Rwanda's
efforts to escape
its bloody legacy.
Economy
– overview:
About
90% of the population
is engaged in
(mainly subsistence)
agriculture.
It is the most
densely populated
country in Africa;
landlocked with
few natural resources
and minimal industry.
Primary foreign
exchange earners
are coffee and
tea. Attempts
to diversify
into non-traditional
agriculture exports
such as flowers
and vegetables
have been stymied
by a lack of
adequate transportation
infrastructure.
Despite Rwanda's
fertile ecosystem,
food production
often does not
keep pace with
population growth,
requiring food
to be imported.
Rwanda continues
to receive substantial
aid money and
was approved
for IMF-World
Bank Heavily
Indebted Poor
Country (HIPC)
initiative debt
relief in late
2000.
United
Nations Membership
date:
18 September
1962
New
York Mission:
Permanent Mission
of the Rwandese
Republic to the
United Nations,
124 East 39th
Street, New York,
N.Y. 10016
Telephone: 212-679-9010
/ 9023 / 9024
Fax: 212-679-9133
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