卢安达

正式名称卢安达共和国(Republic of Rwanda)

非洲中东部国家。面积25,271平方公里。人口约7,313,000(2001)。首都︰吉佳利。人口大部分是胡图人(Hutu),少数是图西人(Tutsi)。语言︰卢安达语、法语、英语(均为官方语)。宗教:天主教、伊斯兰教、原住民信仰。货币︰卢安达法郎(RF)。卢安达是一个多山的内陆国家,大部分地区位於海拔1,500公尺以上;有竹林、森林区和稀树草原,野生动物丰富且种类繁多。卢安达属开发中国家,经济主要是以农业为基础的自由企业。政府形式为临时政府,有一立法机构;国家元首政府首脑为总统,由总理及副总统辅佐。

卢安达最早的居民是特瓦人(Twa,俾格米人的一支)。当图西人於14世纪出现时,胡图人已在此建立居民点。15世纪图西人征服了胡图人,在吉佳利附近建立王国,并一步步扩大版图。20世纪初,卢安达成为中央集权军事体制的统一国家。1916年被比利时占领,1923年国际联盟设立卢旺达-乌隆迪托管地,委任比利时管辖。图西人一直保持支配地位,直到1962年卢安达赢得独立前不久,胡图人取得对政府的控制,剥夺图西人的大部分土地。许多图西人逃离卢安达,胡图人控制着国家的政府系统,并开始了零星的内战,直到1994年中,国家领导人因飞机失事罹难,爆发大规模暴力活动。在近五十万图西人遭胡图人杀害後,由图西人领导的卢安达爱国阵线(RPF)以武力掌控了国家。当卢安达爱国阵线胜利後,两百万难民(大部分是胡图人)逃至邻邦刚果(萨伊)。

Rwanda

Nation, eastern central Africa. Area: 9,757 sq mi (25,271 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 7,738,000. Capital: Kigali. The population is mostly Hutu, with a Tutsi minority. Languages: Rwanda, French, English (all official). Religions: Roman Catholicism, Islam, indigenous beliefs. Currency: Rwanda franc. Rwanda is a mountainous, landlocked country. Most of it is at an elevation of more than 5,000 ft (1,500 m). There are bamboo forests, wooded regions, and grassy savannas with rich and varied wildlife. It is a developing country with a mainly free-enterprise economy based on agriculture. It is ruled by a transitional regime with one legislative body; its head of state and government is the president, in conjunction with the prime minister and vice president. Originally inhabited by the Twa, a Pygmy people, it then became home to the Hutu, who were well established there when the Tutsi appeared in the 14th century. The Tutsi conquered the Hutu and in the 15th century founded a kingdom near Kigali. The kingdom expanded steadily, and by the early 20th century Rwanda was a unified state with a military structure. The Belgians occupied Rwanda in 1916, and the League of Nations created Ruanda-Urundi as a Belgian mandate in 1923. The Tutsi retained their dominance until shortly before Rwanda reached independence in 1962, when the Hutu took control of the government and stripped the Tutsi of much of their land. Many Tutsis fled Rwanda, and the Hutu dominated the country's political system, waging sporadic civil wars until mid-1994, when the death of the country's leader in a plane crash led to massive violence. The Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) took over the country by force after the massacre of almost 500,000 Tutsis by Hutus. Two million refugees, mostly Hutu, fled to neighboring Congo (Zaire) after the RPF's victory.