Detailed Map

Full Name
Rwandese Republic

Area
26,338 sq km

Capital City
Kigali

People
Hutu 84%, Tutsi 15%, Twa (Pygmoid) 1%

Languages
Kinyarwanda (official), French (official), Kiswahili

Government
Republic; Presidential Multi-Party System

President
Paul Kagame

Rwanda is a relatively teensy East African country of 16,534 sq km. It's bordered by the equally teensy Burundi to the south, the larger Uganda to the north, the getting-pretty-big Tanzania to the east, and the enormous, embattled mass of Congo (Zaïre) to the west. Rwanda is not called the 'Land of a Thousand Hills' for nothing - due its mostly mountainous landscape includes the volcanic Virunga range in the northwest.


Grassy bits predominate in Rwanda, but there are small tracts of rainforest scattered around the western and north-eastern edges of the country and tropical savannah in the east.
Gorilla trekking is the famous activity of choice in the Parc National des Volcans, where Dian Fossey spent 18 years studying the impressive and fascinating animals.