Rwanda is a poor rural country, situated in the Great Lakes Region, Central Africa with about 90% of the population engaged in (mainly subsistence) agriculture. It is the most densely populated country in Africa (328, 36/inhabitants/sq km) and is landlocked with a total of 893 km of land boundaries. The border countries are:
- Tanzania(East): 217 km
- Democratic Republic of Congo(West): 217 km
- Uganda(North): 169 km
- Burundi(South): 290 km
The country has few natural resources and minimal industry. Primary foreign exchange earners are coffee and tea. The 1994 genocide decimated Rwanda's fragile economic base, severely impoverished the population, particularly women, and eroded the country's ability to attract private and external investment. However, Rwanda has made substantial progress in stabilizing and rehabilitating its economy to pre-1994 levels, although poverty is still rampant. Despite Rwanda's fertile ecosystem, food production often does not keep speed with population growth, requiring food imports. Rwanda continues to receive substantial aid money and obtained IMF-World Bank Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative debt relief in 2005. Nevertheless, the Primary objective of the nation, is among other things, to fight against poverty.
Some statistics:
Population: 8,648,248
Age structure:0-14 years: 41.9% (male 1,817,998/female 1,802,134) 15-64 years: 55.6% (male 2,392,778/female 2,417,467) 65 years and over: 2.5% (male 87,325/female 130,546)
The year 2008 marks the 14th commemoration of the Genocide. It is necessary to remember that more than one million innocent people were murdered during the genocide of 1994, which also left behind many traumatized survivors especially widows and orphans. Moreover, a number of women were infected with HIV/AIDS due to rape.
