Rwanda Facts: Interesting Facts about Rwanda that you should Know
Rwanda is also known as the Republic of Rwanda is found in the central and East Africa. The country borders countries like Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania and DRC. The country lies a few degrees in the southern part of the equator and it is a land locked country, with Kigali as a capital city.
Rwanda covers an area of 26,338 sq. km therefore can accommodate a number of people and in the larges countries it takes the 149th position in the world. The country has two rainy seasons the first staring from February to June and the other one of September to December. There are also two dry seasons which are from June to September and December to February.
Rwanda has a population of over 10 million people and she has 3 groups of people that are the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa. The origin of the Hutu and Tutsi and still is still a disagreement however some scholars say they derived from the tribal in-differences that occurred, others say they derived from social classes.
The Twa are the early pygmy inhabitants of Rwanda who used to live in the forests. The best languages spoken in Rwanda are Kinyarwanda, French, English and Kiswahili.
There different religions in Rwanda and these with their percentages are Roman Catholic 56.5%, Protestant 26%, Adventist 11.1% and Muslim 4.6%. The current leader of Rwanda is President Paul Kagame.
Rwanda has different cultural attractions such the Genocide Memorial Site where many innocent people were killed in 1994, Dian Fossey Tombs where Dian the primatologist used to conserve gorillas from and this has graves for gorillas and Dian Fossey, National Museum where you will find the traditional items of Rwanda, different National Parks such as Nyungwe Forest National Park, Volcanoes National Park, Akagera National Park and so many others.
Rwanda gives tourists on Rwanda safaris the opportunity to carry out gorilla trekking, chimpanzee tracking, boat cruise, birding and so many other activities.
Below is a list of Rwandas National Parks:
Volcanoes National Park: Volcanoes National Park similarly denoted in French as Parc National des Volcanos is positioned in north-western part of Rwanda sharing the border post withVirunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. Well celebrated for its mountain gorillas, this park also contains five of the general eight volcanic highlands in the Virunga area including; Karisimbi, Bisoke, Sabyinyo Gahinga and Muhabura.
Nyungwe National Park: The adjacent town of Cyangungu is approximately 54 km in the western direction while the Mountain of Bigugu is situated within the park boarders. Being a biodiversity hot spot, Nyungwe is considerd a conservation priority in Africa.
The park contains over 13 primate species including; Chimpanzee, L’Hoest’s Monkey Silver Monkey, Adolf Friedrich’s Angola, Golden Monkey, Red-tailed Monkey, Hamlyn’s Monkey, Dent’s Mona Monkey, Grey-cheeked Mangabey, Vervet Monkey and Olive Baboon; 1068 plant species as it is one of the surviving pre historic montane forests even during the last ice age, 85 mammal species, 275 species of birds marked as an important bird area by the bird international.
Akagera National Park: The game in Akagera national park includes; buffalo, elephant, zebra, giraffe and array of antelope. The exciting note is that this park and its enclosed lakes compete favorably in terms of hippopotamus concentrations in Africa. The Nile crocodile has also extended to secure another dwelling in Akagera national park while other shy rare animals like spotted hyenas and leopard have been registered.
The ranges of minor predators also exist including mongoose, bush babies, olive baboons, serval cats, genets and silver monkey species. The beautiful slender Impala is the most common of the 12 antelope species recorded in the park.
Rwanda Facts & Other Rwanda Safari Attractions
Rwanda Culture & History; Rwanda is one of the stronghold countries in Africa with a deep linguistic coherence among its people. It entirely consists of three main tribes; the Tutsis, Hutus, and the Twa but all speak the same language called Kinyarwanda.
These three tribes can be identified probably basing on their physical build but they have a strong coloration in terms of values of religion and are averagely spread in the entire territory.
However they have deep political differences that are believed to have resulted in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Rwanda culture is not only shaped by the settlers of the land but also the refugees in the diaspora more especially in the adjacent countries of Uganda and Congo who still draw much of their attachment to their mother country – Rwanda.
Rwanda Flights;
Flights in Rwanda arrive and depart from the largest Airport that is Kigali Airport
From Nairobi 5 major airlines serve the Kigali area and from Dubai 1 major airlines serve the Kigali area.
Flights from Nairobi to Kigali start at 8:35am and the journey is 1 hour. From Dubai to Kigali the flight starts at 6:30am and it takes 6 hours.
The closet flight to Rwanda is Gregoire Kayibanda Airport and that is in Kigali and it flies to 17 cities and a week it arranges 14 domestic flights and 469 international flights.
