Rwanda: Political System
According to CANCERMATTERS.NET, Rwanda is a presidential republic. The bicameral parliament consists of the House of Representatives with 53 elected and 27 indirectly elected members and the Senate with at least 52 indirectly elected members. Parliamentary elections take place every eight years. The head of state is directly elected every seven years. See AbbreviationFinder for more information about Rwanda politics, and acronyms as well.
Immediately after the Hutu murder of the Tutsi in 1994, only around 15% of the 100 residents of the country were men. As a result, women held and still hold leadership positions at almost every level of government administration, including state television; this even applies to the chairmen of the village courts. In the House of Representatives, women take up around 50% of the seats!
The official name of the country is:
| République du Rwanda Republic of Rwanda |
National anthem
From 1962 to 2001 “Rwanda rwacu” was the national anthem of Rwanda. It was based on an old folk song, text and music are from Michael Habarurema and “Abanyuramatwi”, a society for spiritual songs. On December 31, 2001, Rwanda changed its signs and symbols as a sign of breaking with its bloody past. Faustin Murigo wrote the text of the new national anthem, the music of Bosco Hashakaimana is in the African musical style.
| In Kinyarwanda (in Latin letters) | In a free English translation |
| Rwanda nziza gihugu cyacuWuje imisozi, ibiyaga n’ibirunga
Ngobyi iduhetse gahorane ishya. Rekatukurate tukuvuge ibigwi Wowe utubumbiye hamwe twese Abanyarwanda uko watubyaye Berwa, sugira, singizwa iteka.Horana Imana murage mwiza Ibyo tugukesha ntibishyikirwa: Umuco dusangiye uraturanga Ururimi rwacu rukaduhuza Ubwenge, umutima, amaboko yacu Nibigukungahaze bikwiye Nuko utere imbere ubutitsa. Abakurambere b’intwari Bitanze batizigama Baraguhanga uvamo ubukombe Utsinda ubukoroni na mpatsebihugu Byayogoje Afurika yose None uraganje mu bwigenge Tubikomeyeho uko turi twese. Komeza imihigo rwanda dukunda Duhagurukiye kukwitangira Ngo amahoro asabe mu bagutuye Wishyire wizane muri byose Urangwe n’ishyaka, utere imbere Uhamye umubano n’amahanga yose Maze ijabo ryawe riguhe ijambo |
Rwanda, our beautiful and dear countryAdorned by hills, lakes and volcanoes
home, you will always be full of happiness For us, your children: Banyarwanda Let us sing about your splendor and cry out your praise You, motherly breast of all of us, will always be admired and to be covered with praise.Wonderful valuable inheritance, that God protects you You have given us valuable gifts Our common culture identifies us Our one language unites us That our intelligence, our conscience and our powers fill you with a lot of wealth For a constant development. Our brave ancestors gave their body and soul just as they made a great nation out of you. You overcame the colonial-imperialist yoke that had devastated Africa. You acquired the joy of independence so that we could defend it constantly. This, beloved Rwanda, we trust you in dignity so that there will be peace nationwide, That you are free from all hardships and your determination will inspire progress, That you have good relations with all countries And finally that your pride is worthy of your reputation. |
National flag
The national flag (country flag) of Rwanda was officially introduced on October 25, 2001. Based on flag descriptions by Countryaah.com, the colors of the flag are to be interpreted as follows: – Green symbolizes hope for prosperity – Yellow stands for economic development. – Blue symbolizes happiness and peace. The golden sun with its 24 rays represent the light that illuminates the people of Rwanda.
- Check top-mba-universities for public holidays, sports events, UNESCO world heritage sites and major places to visit in Rwanda.
Rwanda: Known People
Elizaphan Ntakirutimana (1924-2007)
The Seventh-day Adventist pastor, born in Kibuye, Rwanda, in 1924, was found guilty of genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda together with his son Gérard. Ntakirutimana reportedly ordered armed forces to kill hundreds of Tutsi refugees, earning him ten years in prison.
Mathias Ntawulikura (born 1964) In
1964, Mathias Ntawulikura, the future Rwandan long-distance runner, was born, who still holds three national records over 3,000 m, 5,000 m and the marathon distance.
Juvénal Habyarimana (1937-1994)
Habyarimana served as President of Rwanda from 1973 until his death. His tenure was marked by the unabashed support of the Hutus. He was killed when his plane – which also contained his Burundian counterpart Cyprien Ntaryamira and army chief Déogratias Nsabimana – was hit by two rockets while approaching Kigali in 1994. The death of Habyarimana prompted radical Hutu to carry out a systematic genocide against Tutsi and moderate Hutu. The end of this genocide resulted in between 800,000 and 1,000,000 deaths.
Rwanda: animals
Mammals
Mountain gorillas
are a special feature mountain gorillas in the Virunga -Vulkanen.
The “Gorillas in the Fog” film, which was awarded the “Golden Globe”, brought the animals into the consciousness of people around the world. The film shows the life and work of the American Dian Fossey (1932-1985) with the gorillas in Rwanda. Fossey was discovered in her hut at the Karisoke Research Center on December 27, 1985 with her head bashed in. The murder was never solved. At her request, which she had expressed before her death, she was buried in the gorilla cemetery she had set up near her hut.
Other mammals In
addition to the mountain gorillas and chimpanzees, vervet monkeys and baboons, there are 9 other species of monkeys, especially in the national parks.
Other animals include antelopes, including eland, buffalo, elas, elephants, hippos, hyenas, impalas, cats, leopards, lions, Maasai giraffes, Nile crocodiles, topis, waterbuck, as well as zebras and civets.
Reptiles
African house snake (Boaedon fuliginosus)
This non-poisonous snake can also be found in
Boomslang (Dipholidus typus)
The boomslang (tree snake) is a very poisonous snake.
You can find a detailed description of the snake here >>>
Dipsadoboa weileri
No other names are known of the non-poisonous snake
Rock python (Python sebae)
The rock python is a large strangler snake.
A detailed description of the rock python can be found here >>>
Gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica)
The Gaboon viper is relatively sluggish and lazy to bite.
But if she bites it means a life-threatening situation.
You can find a detailed description of the snake here >>>
Banded water cobra (Naja annulata)
The banded water cobra belongs to the genus of real cobras.
This cobra reaches a length between 1.50 to 2.10 m – rarely more. It is both diurnal and nocturnal and often stays in the water, where it can dive up to 25 m deep and for 10 minutes. She looks for hiding in crevices at the edge of the water. The snake is divided into the following two subspecies:
– Naja annulata annulata
– Naja annulata stormsi
Common puff adder
The common puff adder (Bitis arietans) is a venomous snake. You can find a detailed description of the snake here >>>
Günther’s Green Tree Snake (Dipsadoboa unicolor)
This snake is non-toxic
Laurent’s green tree-snake (Dipsadoboa viridis)
This snake is non-toxic
Jameson mamba (Dendroaspis jamesoni)
The Jameson mamba belongs to the same genus as the green mamba and is comparably poisonous.
Olive-colored house snake (Boaedon olivaceus)
The olive-colored house snake is a non-poisonous snake.
Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus).
The Nile crocodile is probably the best-known species from the genus of real crocodiles. It is found in large parts of Africa, including Rwanda. However, it has been exterminated in the lower Nile in Egypt. Their body length is around 3 to 4 m.
A detailed description of the Nile crocodile can be found here >>>
insects
In Rwanda you can find ants, bees – including honey bees – numerous butterflies as well as wasps, flies and mosquitoes.
The following are particularly unpleasant:
– The Anopheles mosquito, the carrier of malaria
– The yellow fever mosquito (Egyptian tiger mosquito), the carrier of yellow fever and dengue fever
– The tsetse fly, the carrier of sleeping sickness.
Also worth mentioning are the pair of leeches in fresh water, which lead to schistosomiasis.
Birds
Not to be forgotten are the numerous local birds, around 350 different species of which fly around here. These include hummingbirds, crowned cranes, nectar birds or the beautiful blue, green and red colored Rwenzori Turacos.
Note
The crowned crane is the heraldic animal of Uganda.
Rwanda: plants
Due to the different altitudes, the flora of Rwanda is very diverse. It is not without reason that Rwanda is called the land of 1,000 hills.
The flora ranges from the tropical rainforest in the west to the savannah landscapes in the east. The rainforest turns into bamboo forest in the west. In the highlands, where there is more precipitation, one can find more humid savannahs.
Since Rwanda is heavily populated, more and more forest areas are turning into arable land, and around 80% of the land is now used for agriculture. So it is only in some areas of the central highlands and in the three national parks (Nyungwe National Park, Virunga Volcanoes National Park, Akagera National Park) nor the original vegetation of the land
in the floodplain of the Akagera, a source river of the Nile, there are marsh grasses, Papyrus plants and water hyacinths.
In Nyungwe National Park, the largest contiguous mountain rainforest in East Africa, around 1,500 different plant species grow, including 150 species of orchids. An exotic species of orchid is the Liparis harketii, which occurs only here and was named after Morten Harket, the singer of a-ha and orchid lover.
Acacia trees dominate the grass, shrub and bush savannahs of Akagera National Park.
The crops grown in the country include beans, potatoes, corn, tobacco and tea.
