republic · Horn and East Africa

Rwanda

1962 CE – present · capital Kigali

A small, densely populated republic of the Great Lakes, which suffered the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi and has since been rebuilt under the RPF.

Origins

After the Hutu revolution of 1959 to 1961 abolished the Kingdom of Rwanda, the country became independent from Belgian Ruanda-Urundi on 1 July 1962 as a republic led by Gregoire Kayibanda and his Parmehutu party. Hundreds of thousands of Tutsi fled abroad as violence against them recurred.

Rule and society

Kayibanda's First Republic was overthrown in 1973 by Juvenal Habyarimana, who ruled a one-party state. In 1990 the Rwandan Patriotic Front, formed by Tutsi exiles in Uganda, invaded. After Habyarimana's plane was shot down in April 1994, Hutu extremists organised a genocide that killed some 800,000 people, mostly Tutsi, in about 100 days, until the RPF took power in July.

To the present

Under the RPF and Paul Kagame, president since 2000, Rwanda has rebuilt its economy and institutions, held community gacaca courts and switched to English as a main language, while critics point to restrictions on political freedom. It remains a republic with Kigali as capital.

Lineage

Kingdom of Rwanda 1500 CE – 1961 CERuanda-Urundi 1916 CE – 1962 CERwanda

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Rwanda. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/rwanda
MLA
“Rwanda.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/rwanda. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Rwanda.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/rwanda.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Rwanda’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/rwanda (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻