FACTS

Republic of Rwanda

Official Languages: Kinyarwanda, English, French

Population 11.2 million

Area 26,338 sq km (10,169 sq miles)

Christianity Major Religions

Life expectancy 54 years (men), 57 years (women)

Currency Rwandan franc

UN, World Bank, CIA World Factbook

LEADERS

President: Paul Kagame

Paul Kagame has run Rwanda since his rebel army ended the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people in 1994.

He was sworn in as vice-president and defence minister in the new, post-genocide government in July 1994, but was widely seen as the real power in Rwanda.

In 2000 parliament elected him president. He won presidential elections in 2003 and again in 2010, and gained approval by referendum to stand for an unprecedented third term in 2017 - which he won.

Kagame has received many honours and accolades during his presidency. These include honorary degrees from the American University of the Pacific,[332] Oklahoma Christian University, and the University of Glasgow,[334] the Andrew Young Medal for Capitalism and Social Progress by Georgia State University,[335] and a Clinton Global Citizen Award.

MEDIA

Various television networks, newspapers, and radio stations operate within Rwanda

TIMELINE

Some key dates in Rwanda's history

1890 - The kingdoms of Ruanda and neighbouring Urundi (Burundi) incorporated into German East Africa.

1961 - Rwanda proclaimed a republic.

1963 - About 20,000 Tutsis are killed following an incursion by Tutsi rebels based in Burundi. Fighting between the two ethnic groups continues intermittently over the next three decades.

1994 - President Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundi's President Cyprien Ntaryamira are killed in a rocket attack on their plane. Mr Habyarimana's death triggers 100-day orgy of violence, perpetrated mainly by Hutus against Tutsis and moderate Hutus. About 800,000 people are killed. Hutu militias flee to Zaire, taking with them around two million Hutu refugees.

2017 - August - President Kagame re-elected with 98.8% of the vote in polls denounced as unfair by independent observers.