Rwanda: landmarks, animals & facts for kids

Rwanda is a small, landlocked country in East-Central Africa, just south of the equator. It borders Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and its capital is Kigali. Because its land is covered in green, rolling hills, Rwanda is often called the 'land of a thousand hills'.

Rwanda is best known for its rare mountain gorillas, which live in the misty bamboo forests of the Virunga volcanoes. On the globe you can find Volcanoes National Park, where gorilla families roam the slopes of old volcanoes on the border with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Geography and nature

Rwanda sits high up, and most of it is more than 1,000 metres above sea level, which keeps the climate mild. In the north-west, the Virunga volcanoes rise to Mount Karisimbi, about 4,500 metres tall. Lake Kivu, a large, deep lake, forms much of the western border. Nyungwe Forest in the south-west is an ancient rainforest with chimpanzees and many kinds of monkeys, while Akagera National Park in the east is a savanna where lions, rhinos, elephants and giraffes live. Tea and coffee grow on the hillsides.

People, languages and culture

Almost all Rwandans speak Kinyarwanda, and English, French and Swahili are also official languages. Most people are Christian. Traditional dance is an important art: in the intore dance, performers in grass headdresses leap to the beat of drums. Imigongo is a local art of bold, geometric patterns made with cow dung and painted in black, red and white. On the last Saturday morning of each month, many people join umuganda, a community clean-up and work day.

History in a nutshell

For centuries Rwanda was a kingdom ruled by a king, or mwami. In the late 1800s it became part of German East Africa, and after the First World War Belgium took control. Rwanda became independent on 1 July 1962. In 1994 the country suffered a genocide against the Tutsi, in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed in about 100 days. Since then Rwanda has worked to rebuild, and every year people remember the victims and talk about peace and unity.