Rwanda
POPULATION 7,398,074
ROMAN CATHOLIC 65 percent
AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS 23 percent
PROTESTANT 10 percent
MUSLIM 1 percent
OTHER 1 percent
Country Overview
Introduction
The Rwandese Republic, located in Central Africa, is surrounded by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi. The land is green and hilly. In pre-colonial times Rwanda was a land of migration: cattle-herders (called Tutsi) and cultivators (Hutu) displaced the original inhabitants, who were hunter-gatherers (Twa). The group's indigenous religions emphasized rituals to benefit these occupations. The Tutsi and Hutu together created an ubwiru (centralized ruling institution) based on Hutu monarchical symbols, including the ideas of a divine kingship, a sacred fire, royal drums, agricultural rituals, and royal burial customs. The ubwiru operated through a clan system; 14 major and many minor clans included members of all three occupational groups (Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa). Clan members sought protection from enemies, paying their patrons (clan leaders, who were cattle owners) in cattle or produce. Cattle remained the central symbol of prosperity; cattle owners could raise armies and became important in the royal courts.
By 1899, when Rwanda and Burundi were incorporated into German East Africa, their centralized monarchies had operated for centuries. In Rwanda a mwami (king) ruled a state dominated politically by a Tutsi clan, the Nyiginya.
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