Rwanda | Facts & Information

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff
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Facts & Figures

  • Republic of Rwanda

    President: Paul Kagame (2000)

    Prime Minister: Anastase Murekezi (2014)

    Land area: 9,633 sq mi (24,949 sq km); total area: 10,169 sq mi (26,338 sq km)

    Population (2014 est.): 12,337,138 (growth rate: 2.63%); birth rate: 34.61/1000; infant mortality rate: 59.59/1000; life expectancy: 59.26

    Capital and largest city (2011 est.): Kigali, 1.004 million

    Monetary unit: Rwanda franc

    National name: Repubulika y'u Rwanda

    Current government officials

    Languages: Kinyarwanda, French, and English (all official); Kiswahili in commercial centers

    Ethnicity/race: Hutu 84%, Tutsi 15%, Twa (Pygmoid) 1%

    Religions: Roman Catholic 49.5%, Protestant 39.4%, Islam 1.8%, indigenous beliefs 0.1%, none 3.6%, other 0.6% (2002)

    Literacy rate: 71.1% (2010 est.)

    Economic summary: GDP/PPP: $16.37 billion (2013 est.); per capita $1,500. Real growth rate: 7.5%. Inflation: 5.9%. Unemployment: n.a. Arable land: 46.32%. Agriculture: coffee, tea, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums), bananas, beans, sorghum, potatoes; livestock. Labor force: 4.446 million (2007); agriculture 90%, industry and services 10% (2000). Industries: cement, agricultural products, small-scale beverages, soap, furniture, shoes, plastic goods, textiles, cigarettes. Natural resources: gold, cassiterite (tin ore), wolframite (tungsten ore), methane, hydropower, arable land. Exports: $538.3 million (2013 est.): coffee, tea, hides, tin ore. Imports: $1.937 billion (2013 est.): foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, steel, petroleum products, cement and construction material. Major trading partners: Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, China, Swaziland, US, Uganda, UAE, Tanzania, Malaysia, India, Belgium, Canada (2012).

    Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 44,400 (2012); mobile cellular: 5.69 million (2012). Broadcast media: government owns and operates the only TV station; government-owned and operated Radio Rwanda has a national reach; 9 private radio stations; transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are available (2007). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1,447 (2012). Internet users:450,000 (2009).

    Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: total: 4,700 km paved: 1,207 km unpaved: 3,493 km (2012). Waterways: Lac Kivu navigable by shallow-draft barges and native craft. Ports and harbors: Cyangugu, Gisenyi, Kibuye. Airports: 7 (2013).

    International disputes: Burundi and Rwanda dispute two sq km (0.8 sq mi) of Sabanerwa, a farmed area in the Rukurazi Valley where the Akanyaru/Kanyaru River shifted its course southward after heavy rains in 1965; fighting among ethnic groups - loosely associated political rebels, armed gangs, and various government forces in Great Lakes region transcending the boundaries of Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda - abated substantially from a decade ago due largely to UN peacekeeping, international mediation, and efforts by local governments to create civil societies; nonetheless, 57,000 Rwandan refugees still reside in 21 African states, including Zambia, Gabon, and 20,000 who fled to Burundi in 2005 and 2006 to escape drought and recriminations from traditional courts investigating the 1994 massacres; the 2005 DROC and Rwanda border verification mechanism to stem rebel actions on both sides of the border remains in place.

    Major sources and definitions