Happy Independence Day Rwanda

“If your mouth turns into a knife, it will cut off your lips” - Rwandan Proverb

(Rwanda flag (2001-Present))

Rwanda is located in central Africa.

(Map of where Rwanda is located)

Its capital is Kigali. Kigali is also its largest city. The official languages are Kinyarwanda, French and, English. The country is 10,169 square miles. Rwanda is 100% African. 93.2% of Rwanda practices Christianity, 2% practice Islam and, 4.8% are athiest. The total population is 11,262,564. The climate is tropical. Rwanda is a unitary semi presidential republic.

(Kigali, capital of Rwanda)

Rwanda cuisine consists of bananas, plantains, pulses, sweet potatoes, beans, and cassava.

(Rwanda cuisine)

The major style of music is hip hop, with a blend of rap, ragga, R&B and dance pop.

(A Rwandan rapper)

Rwanda’s most popular sport is soccer.

(Rwanda’s soccer team)

Rwanda was 1st inhabited in 8000 BC.

(Ancient Rwandan carvings)

The people who 1st inhabited the area was the Twa people.

(A Twa family)

In 700 BC the Bantu people moved to Rwanda. In the 15th century the Twa, Tutsi and Hutu people formed kingdoms. In 1700 8 kingdoms existed in Rwanda. The Kingdom of Rwanda reached its greatest extent during the nineteenth century under the reign of King Kigeli Rwabugiri.

(A drawing of King Kigeli Rwabugiri)

In 1884 Germany colonized Rwanda. It was renamed “German East Africa”.

(German East Africa flag (1891-1919))

After WWI Germany was forced to give German East Africa to Belgium. Its name was changed to “Ruanda-Urundi”.

(Ruanda-Urundi flag (1922-1962))

In 1959 began the Rwandan revolution.

(A soldier during the Rwandan revolution)

Hutu activists began killing Tutsi, forcing more than 100,000 to seek refuge in neighbouring countries. In 1961 the pro Hutu Belgians held a referendum in which the country voted to abolish the monarchy. On July 1st, 1962 Rwanda gained its independence.

(Rwanda flag (1961-2001))

Cycles of violence followed with exiled Tutsi attacking from neighbouring countries and the Hutu retaliating with large scale slaughter and repression of the Tutsi. In 1973, Juvénal Habyarimana took power in a military coup.

(Juvénal Habyarimana)

Pro Hutu discrimination continued, but there was greater economic prosperity and a reduced amount of violence against Tutsi. In 1990 the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel group composed mostly of Tutsi refugees, invaded northern Rwanda, initiating the Rwandan Civil War.

(Soldiers during the Rwandan Civil War)

By 1992 the war had weakened Habyarimana's authority, mass demonstrations forced him into a coalition with the domestic opposition and eventually to sign the 1993 Arusha Accords with the RPF. In 1994 Habyarimana's plane was shot down and he was killed in the crash.

(Wreckage from the plane)

After the crash began the Rwandan genocide where 1,000,000 people were killed.

(Victims of the Rwandan genocide)

The Tutsi RPF took control of the country methodically, gaining control of the whole country. The international response to the genocide was limited, with major powers reluctant to strengthen the already overstretched UN peacekeeping force. Within Rwanda, a period of reconciliation and justice began, with the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). In 2011 the poverty rate in Rwanda reduced from 57% to 45%.

(A Rwandan bicycle race)

Today marks the 54th anniversary of Rwanda’s independence and we would like to say happy independence day Rwanda.

Videos of Rwanda Independence

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWfm-tzzwaU  “Rwanda Burundi 1962”
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqxFPUTtM-E  “Rwanda Celebrates 50th Independence Day”

(P.S. sorry for the late post)