Rwanda is a small country in east-central Africa. It's capital is Kigali. Rwanda is one of Africa's most densely populated countries. Also, it is one of the poorest countries since there are few industries and many more people than the land can support. Rwanda's population is about 8.75 million. There are two main ethnic groups: the Hutus (also called Bahutu) and the other is the Tutsis (also called Watutsi). Approximately 90% are Hutus and 9% Tutsis. The Hutus are mainly farmers who raise crops, cattle or grow coffee for Rwanda's main export, but many of them moved to nearby countries for a better job and lifestyle. The Tutsis have higher positions than the Hutus. For over one hundred years the Tutsis dominated the Hutus economically and politically because when Belgian troops took over they thought that the Tutsis were stronger, smarter and more respectable, so they began to control government agencies and businesses.
French and Kinyarwanda are the official languages, most of the people speak Kinyarwanda, a Bantu language, and most are Roman Catholic. A small percent of the people practice African religion. The Roman Catholic Church runs the schools, but there are not enough classrooms for all of the children. Almost half of the adults in the country can't read or write.
Coffee is the main export followed by Tea and pyrethrum (insecticide). Exporting and importing is hard and expensive for Rwanda because they have little manufacturing industries and no railroads. Rwanda's economic status was is still fairly low compared to other countries.
