Rwanda

=History= The Rwandans were primarily a tribal civilization until the 19th century, during which a feudal type system was put into play by Mwami, who claimed to be the decedent of a god who fell to earth. While the germans first discovered Rwanda in 1894, it wasn't until 1910 that the Germans officially took control of the territory. During the German occupation, the citizens were forced to plant coffee, and pay their taxes in cash, instead of the traditional agricultural products, to ensure coffee production. After WWI, control of Rwanda went to Belgium, who slowly transitioned them to govern themselves, and allowed Rwanda to achieve independence in 1962. After becoming independent, Gregoire Kayibanda was elected president, and reigned through consecutive elections until being overthrown in 1973 by Major General Juvenal Habyarimana. He later launched a one party political system, and was re elected in '83 and '88. In 1990, between 5,000 and 10,000 rebels invaded Rwanda and made their president see some sense. Shortly afterwards, close to half a million people were slaughtered by revolutionists, and the French sent in 1,500 troops to set up a safe zone. the revolutionists established a government, and declared the "war" over. After UN intervention and numerous trials, several unnamed members of the government were charged with genocide, and 61 officials received the death sentence. After lots of turmoil, Paul Kagame became the "president" of Rwanda, and proceeded to be just as bad as the government his revolutionists destroyed. In addition, he set up elaborate ways to make his government pay him to pay him, such as buying him a half million dollar plane, and then renting his plane from him for his use.

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=Flag Meaning= The blue stands for happiness and peace. the yellow symbolizes the countries mineral wealth and economic development, and the green stands for their natural resources. The sun is meant to mean unity and transparency of deception.





=Currency= Franc, 601 to the USD.

=Economy= Rwanda exports mainly agriculture and few minerals, as most things are sold inside Rwanda itself. Tourism of the mountains is a huge source of revenue for Rwanda, and almost 90% of the imported items in Rwanda come from somewhere in Africa. China, Belgium, and Germany are the main sites that Rwanda sells to.

=Culture= Rwanda is a republic with a population around 9,997,614 people. 93.5% are Christians, .1% follow traditional African beliefs, 4.6% are Muslim, and 1.7% are atheist. The literacy rate is 70%, and the infant mortality rate is 6.2%. the average life expectancy is 49.8 years. The major languages are Kinyarwanda, French, and English.

=Sources;= http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2861.htm https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Rwandan_franc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda http://www.africandictator.org/?p=1256 http://www.africa.upenn.edu/NEH/rwhistory.htm http://www.worldflags101.com/r/rwanda-flag.aspx