Ruanda-Urundi

Ruanda-Urundi was a part of German East Africa under Belgian military occupation from 1916 to 1924. It was then a League of Nations class B mandate of Belgium from 1924 to 1945.

It transitioned to a United Nations trust territory (still Belgian) from 1945 until 1962, when it became the independent states of Rwanda and Burundi.

History

The independent Kingdoms of Rwanda and Burundi were annexed by Germany along with the other states of the Great Lakes region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Attached to German East Africa, the region had only a minimal German presence.

During the East African Campaign in World War I, the area was conquered by forces from the Belgian Congo in 1916.

League of Nations mandate

The Treaty of Versailles divided German East Africa with the vast majority known as Tanganyika going to Great Britain. The westernmost portion, which was formally referred to as the Belgian Occupied East African Territories, went to Belgium. In 1924, as the League of Nations issued a formal mandate that granted Belgium full control over the area, the area officially became Ruanda-Urundi.

Burundi

Coordinates: 3°30′S 30°00′E / 3.500°S 30.000°E / -3.500; 30.000

Burundi (/bəˈrʊndᵻ/ or /bəˈrʌndi/), officially the Republic of Burundi (Kirundi: Republika y'Uburundi,[buˈɾundi]; French: République du Burundi, [buʁundi] or [byʁyndi]), is a landlocked country in the African Great Lakes region of East Africa, bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. It is considered part of Central Africa. Burundi's capital is Bujumbura. The southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika.

The Twa, Hutu and Tutsi peoples have lived in Burundi for at least five hundred years. For more than 200 years, Burundi was an independent kingdom. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Germany colonized the region. After the First World War and Germany's defeat, it ceded the territory to Belgium. The Belgians ruled Burundi and Rwanda as a European colony known as Ruanda-Urundi. Their intervention exacerbated social differences between the Tutsi and Hutu, and contributed to political unrest in the region. Burundi gained independence in 1962 and initially had a monarchy, but a series of assassinations, coups, and a general climate of regional instability culminated in the establishment of a republic and one-party state in 1966. Bouts of ethnic cleansing and ultimately two civil wars and genocides during the 1970s and again in the 1990s left the country undeveloped and its population as one of the world's poorest. 2015 witnessed large-scale political strife as President Pierre Nkurunziza opted to run for a third term in office, a coup attempt failed and the country's parliamentary and presidential elections were broadly criticized by members of the international community.

Rwanda

Rwanda (/ruːˈɑːndə/ or /ruːˈændə/ ( listen); Kinyarwanda: U Rwanda [u.ɾɡwanda]), officially the Republic of Rwanda (Kinyarwanda: Repubulika y'u Rwanda; French: République du Rwanda), is a sovereign state in central and east Africa and one of the smallest countries on the African mainland. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Rwanda is in the African Great Lakes region and is highly elevated; its geography dominated by mountains in the west and savanna to the east, with numerous lakes throughout the country. The climate is temperate to subtropical, with two rainy seasons and two dry seasons each year.

Rwanda (disambiguation)

Rwanda (sometimes spelled Ruanda) is a country in East Africa.

Rwanda or Ruanda may also refer to:

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