Republic of Rwanda | |
|---|---|
Motto: "Ubumwe, Umurimo, Gukunda Igihugu" "Unity, Work, Patriotism" | |
 Location of Rwanda (dark blue) – in Africa (light blue & dark grey) | |
| Capital and largest city | Kigali 1°56′38″S 30°3′34″E / 1.94389°S 30.05944°E |
| Official languages | |
| Ethnic groups (1994) | |
| Demonym(s) |
|
| Government | Unitary dominant-party presidential constitutional republic |
| Paul Kagame | |
| Édouard Ngirente | |
| Legislature | Parliament |
| Senate | |
| Chamber of Deputies | |
| Independence from Belgium | |
• Independence | 1 July 1962 |
| 18 September 1962 | |
| 26 May 2003 | |
| Area | |
• Total | 26,338 km2 (10,169 sq mi) (144th) |
• Water (%) | 5.3 |
| Population | |
• 2019 estimate | 12,374,397[2] (76th) |
• 2012 census | 10,515,973[3] |
• Density | 470/km2 (1,217.3/sq mi) (22nd) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2020 estimate |
• Total | $33.455 billion[4] |
• Per capita | $2,641[4] |
| GDP (nominal) | 2020 estimate |
• Total | $11.061 billion[4] |
• Per capita | $873[4] |
| Gini (2016) | 43.7[5] medium |
| HDI (2019) |  0.543[6]low · 160th |
| Currency | Rwandan franc (RWF) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (CAT) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +250 |
| ISO 3166 code | RW |
| Internet TLD | .rw |
Rwanda
Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley, where the African Great Lakes region and East Africa converge. One of the smallest countries on the African mainland, its capital city is Kigali. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is highly elevated, giving it the soubriquet "land of thousand hills", with its geography dominated by mountains in the west and savanna to the east, with numerous lakes throughout the country. The climate is temperate to subtropical, with two rainy seasons and two dry seasons each year. Rwanda has a population of over 12.6 million living on 26,338 km2 of land, and is the most densely populated mainland African country.