Editing Rwanda (section)

== Demographics ==
{{main|Demographics of Rwanda|Youth in Rwanda}}
{{Largest cities
| country = Rwanda
| stat_ref = Source:<ref name=RWANDACITIES>{{cite web |url=https://simplemaps.com/static/data/country-cities/rw/rw.xlsx |archive-date=21 June 2023 |title=Rwanda Cities by Population |access-date=21 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621232859/https://simplemaps.com/static/data/country-cities/rw/rw.xlsx |url-status=live }}</ref>
| list_by_pop =
| div_name = 
| div_link = Provinces of Rwanda{{!}}Province
| city_1 = Kigali| div_1 = Kigali| pop_1 = 1,132,168| img_1 = Kigali_skyline_closeup_2.jpg
| city_2 = Gisenyi | div_2 = Western Province, Rwanda{{!}}Western | pop_2 = 136,830| img_2 = The_streets_of_Rubavu-Gisenyi.jpg
| city_3 = Butare| div_3 = Southern Province, Rwanda{{!}}Southern| pop_3 = 89,600| img_3 =Université_nationale_du_Rwanda_à_Butare.JPG
| city_4 = Gitarama | div_4 = Southern Province, Rwanda{{!}}Southern| pop_4 = 87,163| img_4 = Colonial-Era Buildings with Tiled Roofs - Muhanga-Gitarama - Rwanda.jpg
| city_5 = Ruhengeri | div_5 = Northern Province, Rwanda{{!}}Northern| pop_5 = 86,685
| city_6 = Byumba| div_6 = Northern Province, Rwanda{{!}}Northern| pop_6 = 70,593
| city_7 = Cyangugu| div_7 = Western Province, Rwanda{{!}}Western | pop_7 = 63,883
| city_8 = Kibuye, Rwanda{{!}}Kibuye| div_8 = Western Province, Rwanda{{!}}Western | pop_8 = 48,024
| city_9 = Rwamagana| div_9 = Eastern Province, Rwanda{{!}}Eastern| pop_9 = 47,203
| city_10 = Nzega| div_10 = Southern Province, Rwanda{{!}}Southern| pop_10 = 46,240
}}
{{As of|2015}}, the [[National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda]] estimated Rwanda's population to be 11,262,564,{{sfn|National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda|2015}} while the projection for 2022 was 13,246,394.<ref name="RW">{{cite web |author=National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda |title=Size of the resident population |url=https://www.statistics.gov.rw/publication/size-resident-population |access-date=29 April 2023 |publisher=National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda |archive-date=2 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602223622/http://www.statistics.gov.rw/publication/size-resident-population/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The 2012 census recorded a population of 10,515,973.{{sfn|National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda|2014|p=3}} The population is young: in the 2012 census, 43.3% of the population were aged 15 and under, and 53.4% were between 16 and 64.{{sfn|National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda|2014|p=8}} According to the CIA ''[[World Factbook]]'', the annual birth rate is estimated at 40.2 births per 1,000 inhabitants in 2015, and the death rate at 14.9.{{sfn|CIA (I)}} The life expectancy is 67.67&nbsp;years (69.27&nbsp;years for females and 67.11&nbsp;years for males), which is the 26th lowest out of 224 countries and territories.{{sfn|CIA (I)}}{{sfn|CIA (III)|2011}} The overall sex ratio of the country is 95.9 males per 100 females.{{sfn|CIA (I)}}
[[File:Rwandan children at Volcans National Park.jpg|thumb|left|Rural children|alt=Photograph depicting seven rural children, with a straw house and farmland in the background, taken in the Volcanoes National Park in 2005]]
At {{convert|445|PD/km2}},{{sfn|National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda|2015}} Rwanda's population density is amongst the highest in Africa.{{sfn|Banda|2015}} Historians such as [[Gérard Prunier]] believe that the 1994 genocide can be partly attributed to the population density.{{sfn|Prunier|1995|p=4}} The population is predominantly rural, with a few large towns; dwellings are evenly spread throughout the country.{{sfn|Straus|2013|p=215}} The only sparsely populated area of the country is the savanna land in the former province of [[Umutara Province|Umutara]] and Akagera National Park in the east.{{sfn|Streissguth|2007|p=11}} Kigali is the largest city, with a population of around one million.{{sfn|Kigali City}} Its rapidly increasing population challenges its infrastructural development.{{sfn|CIA (I)}}{{sfn|Percival|Homer-Dixon|1995}}{{sfn|REMA (Chapter 2)|2009}} According to the 2012 census, the second largest city is [[Gisenyi]], which lies adjacent to [[Lake Kivu]] and the Congolese city of [[Goma]], and has a population of 126,000.{{sfn|City Population|2012}} Other major towns include [[Ruhengeri]], [[Butare]], and [[Muhanga]], all with populations below 100,000.{{sfn|City Population|2012}} The urban population rose from 6% of the population in 1990,{{sfn|Percival|Homer-Dixon|1995}} to 16.6% in 2006;{{sfn|National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda|2012|p=29}} by 2011, however, the proportion had dropped slightly, to 14.8%.{{sfn|National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda|2012|p=29}}

Rwanda has been a unified state since pre-colonial times,{{sfn|Appiah|Gates|2010|p=450}} and the population is drawn from just one cultural and linguistic group, the [[Banyarwanda]];{{sfn|Mamdani|2002|p=52}} this contrasts with most modern African states, whose borders were drawn by [[Colonisation of Africa|colonial powers]] and did not correspond to ethnic boundaries or pre-colonial kingdoms.{{sfn|Boyd|1979|p=1}} Within the Banyarwanda people, there are three separate groups, the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa.{{sfn|Prunier|1995|p=5}} The CIA ''World Factbook'' gives estimates that the Hutu made up 84% of the population in 2009, the Tutsi 15% and Twa 1%.{{sfn|CIA (I)}} The Twa are a pygmy people who descend from Rwanda's earliest inhabitants, but scholars do not agree on the origins of and differences between the Hutu and Tutsi.{{sfn|Mamdani|2002|pp=46–47}} Anthropologist Jean Hiernaux contends that the Tutsi are a separate race, with a tendency towards "long and narrow heads, faces and noses";{{sfn|Mamdani|2002|p=47}} others, such as Villia Jefremovas, believe there is no discernible physical difference and the categories were not historically rigid.{{sfn|Jefremovas|1995}} In precolonial Rwanda the Tutsi were the ruling class, from whom the kings and the majority of chiefs were derived, while the Hutu were agriculturalists.{{sfn|Prunier|1995|pp=11–12}} The current [[Government of Rwanda|government]] discourages the Hutu/Tutsi/Twa distinction, and has removed such classification from identity cards.{{sfn|Coleman|2010}} The 2002 census was the first since 1933{{sfn|Kiwuwa|2012|p=71}} which did not categorise Rwandan population into the three groups.{{sfn|Agence France-Presse|2002}}

=== Education ===
{{Main|Education in Rwanda}}

[[File:OLPC classroom teaching.JPG|thumb|right|Children in a Rwandan primary school, using laptops supplied by the [[One Laptop Per Child]] programme]]

Prior to 2012, the Rwandan government provided free education in state-run schools for nine years: six years in primary and three years following a common secondary programme.{{sfn|MINEDUC|2010|p=2}} In 2012, this started to be expanded to 12 years.{{sfn|Williams|Abbott|Mupenzi|2015|p=935}} A 2015 study suggests that while enrollment rates in primary schools are "near ubiquity", rates of completion are low and repetition rates high.{{sfn|Williams|Abbott|Mupenzi|2015|p=931}} While schooling is fee-free, there is an expectation that parents should contribute to the cost of their children's education by providing them with school supplies, supporting teacher development and making a contribution to school construction. According to the government, these costs should not be a basis for the exclusion of children from education, however.{{sfn|Williams|Abbott|Mupenzi|2015|p=935}} There are many private schools across the country, some church-run, which follow the same syllabus but charge fees.{{sfn|Briggs|Booth|2006|p=27}} From 1994 until 2009, secondary education was offered in either French or English; because of the country's increasing ties with the [[East African Community]] and the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]], only the English syllabi are now offered.{{sfn|McGreal|2009}} The country has a number of institutions of tertiary education. In 2013, the public [[University of Rwanda]] (UR) was created out of a merger of the former [[National University of Rwanda]] and the country's other public higher education institutions.{{sfn|Koenig|2014}}{{sfn|MacGregor|2014}}{{sfn|Rutayisire|2013}} In 2013, the [[gross enrollment ratio]] for tertiary education in Rwanda was 7.9%, from 3.6% in 2006.{{sfn|World Bank (III)}} The country's [[literacy]] rate, defined as those aged 15 or over who can read and write, was 78.8% in 2022, up from 71% in 2009, 58% in 1991, and 38% in 1978.{{sfn|World Bank (I)}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://knoema.com/atlas/Rwanda/topics/Education/Literacy/Adult-literacy-rate|title=Rwanda adult literacy rate, 1960-2023|publisher=Knoema|access-date=5 August 2024}}</ref>

=== Health ===
{{update section|date=October 2024}}
{{main|Healthcare in Rwanda|Health in Rwanda}}
[[File:Butaro Hospital.jpg|thumb|left|[[Butaro Hospital]] at [[Burera]], Northern Province |alt=Photograph depicting a hospital building, with Rwandan flag, viewed from the entrance pathway]]
The quality of healthcare in Rwanda has historically been very low, both before and immediately after the 1994 genocide.{{sfn|Drobac|Naughton|2014}} In 1998, more than one in five children died before their fifth birthday,{{sfn|World Bank (IV)}} often from [[malaria]].{{sfn|Bowdler|2010}}

President Kagame has made healthcare one of the priorities for the [[Vision 2020 (Rwanda)|Vision 2020]] development programme,{{sfn|Evans|2014}} boosting spending on health care to 6.5% of the country's [[gross domestic product]] in 2013,{{sfn|World Bank (V)}} compared with 1.9% in 1996.{{sfn|World Bank (VI)}} The government has devolved the financing and management of healthcare to local communities, through a system of health insurance providers called ''mutuelles de santé''.{{sfn|WHO|2008}} The ''mutuelles'' were piloted in 1999, and were made available nationwide by the mid-2000s, with the assistance of international development partners.{{sfn|WHO|2008}} Premiums under the scheme were initially US$2 per annum; since 2011 the rate has varied on a sliding scale, with the poorest paying nothing, and maximum premiums rising to US$8 per adult.{{sfn|Rosenberg|2012}} {{As of|2014}}, more than 90% of the population was covered by the scheme.{{sfn|USAID (II)|2014}} The government has also set up training institutes including the Kigali Health Institute (KHI), which was established in 1997{{sfn|IMF|2000|p=34}} and is now part of the [[University of Rwanda]]. In 2005, President Kagame also launched a program known as ''The Presidents' Malaria Initiative''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rw.one.un.org/mdg/mdg6 |title=HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases |publisher=United Nations in Rwanda |access-date=20 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160515111753/http://www.rw.one.un.org/mdg/mdg6 |archive-date=15 May 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> This initiative aimed to help get the most necessary materials for prevention of malaria to the most rural areas of Rwanda, such as mosquito nets and medication.
[[File:Life expectancy development in Rwanda.svg|thumb|Historical development of life expectancy in Rwanda]]
In recent years Rwanda has seen improvement on a number of key health indicators. Between 2005 and 2013, life expectancy increased from 55.2 to 64.0,{{sfn|World Bank (VII)}} under-5 mortality decreased from 106.4 to 52.0 per 1,000 live births,{{sfn|World Bank (VIII)}} and incidence of [[tuberculosis]] has dropped from 101 to 69 per 100,000 people.{{sfn|World Bank (IX)}} The country's progress in healthcare has been cited by the international media and charities. ''[[The Atlantic]]'' devoted an article to "Rwanda's Historic Health Recovery".{{sfn|Emery|2013}} [[Partners In Health]] described the health gains "among the most dramatic the world has seen in the last 50 years".{{sfn|Rosenberg|2012}}

Despite these improvements, however, the country's health profile remains dominated by communicable diseases,{{sfn|WHO|2015}} and the [[United States Agency for International Development]] has described "significant health challenges",{{sfn|USAID (III)|2015}} including the rate of maternal mortality, which it describes as "unacceptably high",{{sfn|USAID (III)|2015}} as well as the ongoing [[HIV/AIDS]] epidemic.{{sfn|USAID (III)|2015}} According to the American [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]], travellers to Rwanda are highly recommended to take preventive malaria medication as well as make sure they are up to date with vaccines such as yellow fever.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/rwanda |title=Health Information for Travelers to Rwanda |publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] |access-date=8 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609011245/http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/rwanda |archive-date=9 June 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Rwanda also has a shortage of medical professionals, with only 0.84 physicians, nurses, and midwives per 1,000 residents.{{sfn|Partners In Health|2013}} The [[United Nations Development Programme]] (UNDP) is monitoring the country's health progress towards [[Millennium Development Goals]] 4–6, which relate to healthcare. A mid-2015 UNDP report noted that the country was not on target to meet goal 4 on infant mortality, despite it having "fallen dramatically";{{sfn|UNDP (II)|2015}} the country is "making good progress" towards goal 5, which is to reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio,{{sfn|UNDP (III)|2015}} while goal 6 is not yet met as [[HIV/AIDS in Rwanda|HIV prevalence]] has not started falling.{{sfn|UNDP (IV)|2015}}

===Religion===
{{main|Religion in Rwanda}}
[[File:RwamaganaChurch.jpg|thumb|Catholic church in [[Rwamagana]]|alt=Photograph depicting the Catholic parish church in Rwamagana, Eastern Province, including the main entrance, façade, the separate bell tower, and dirt forecourt]]
The largest faith in Rwanda is [[Catholicism]], but there have been significant changes in the nation's religious demographics since the genocide, with many conversions to [[evangelical]] Christianity, and, to a lesser degree, [[Islam in Rwanda|Islam]].{{sfn|Walker|April 2004}} According to the 2012 census, Catholic Christians represented 43.7% of the population, Protestants (excluding [[Seventh-day Adventists]]) 37.7%, Seventh-day Adventists 11.8%, and Muslims 2.0%; 0.2% claimed no religious beliefs and 1.3% did not state a religion.{{sfn|National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda|2014|p=17}} Traditional religion, despite officially being followed by only 0.1% of the population, retains an influence. Many Rwandans view the [[God in Christianity|Christian God]] as synonymous with the traditional Rwandan God ''[[Imana]]''.{{sfn|Wiredu|Abraham|Irele|Menkiti|2006|pp=236–237}}

===Languages===
{{main|Languages of Rwanda}}
The country's principal and national language is [[Kinyarwanda]], which is virtually spoken by the entire country (98%).<ref name=BC/> The major European languages during the colonial era were [[German language|German]], though it was never taught or widely used, and then [[French language|French]], which was introduced by Belgium from 1916 and remained an official and widely spoken language after independence in 1962.{{sfn|Université Laval|2010}} [[Dutch language|Dutch]] was spoken as well. The return of English-speaking Rwandan refugees in the 1990s{{sfn|Université Laval|2010}} added a new dimension to the country's language policy,{{sfn|Samuelson|Freedman|2010}} and the repositioning of Rwanda as a member of the [[East African Community]] has since increased the importance of English; the medium of education was switched from French to English in 2008.<ref name=BC/> Kinyarwanda, English, French, and Swahili are all official languages.<ref>{{cite web |date=2019-05-28 |title=No, Rwanda hasn't dropped French as an official language |url=https://factcheck.afp.com/no-rwanda-hasnt-dropped-french-official-language |access-date=2021-03-08 |website=Fact Check |archive-date=18 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018045251/https://factcheck.afp.com/no-rwanda-hasnt-dropped-french-official-language |url-status=live}}</ref> Kinyarwanda is the national language while English is the primary medium of instruction in secondary and tertiary education. [[Swahili language|Swahili]], the [[lingua franca]] of the [[East African Community]],{{sfn|Tabaro|2015}} is also spoken by some as a second language, particularly returned refugees from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and those who live along the border with the DRC.{{sfn|Stanford University Swahili Department}} In 2015, Swahili was introduced as a mandatory subject in secondary schools.{{sfn|Tabaro|2015}} Inhabitants of Rwanda's [[Nkombo Island]] speak [[Shi language|Mashi]], a language closely related to Kinyarwanda.{{sfn|Nakayima|2010}}

French was spoken by slightly under 6% of the population according to the 2012 census and the ''[[Organisation internationale de la Francophonie]]''.<ref>[https://observatoire.francophonie.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Rapport-La-langue-francaise-dans-le-monde_VF-2022.pdf La langue française dans le monde] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105190302/https://observatoire.francophonie.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Rapport-La-langue-francaise-dans-le-monde_VF-2022.pdf |date=5 January 2023}} (2022)</ref>
English was reported to be spoken by 15% of the population in 2009, though the same report found the proportion of French-speakers to be 68%.<ref name=BC>{{Cite web |url=https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/Euromonitor%20Report%20A4.pdf |title=The Benefits of the English Language for Individuals and Societies: Quantitative Indicators from Cameroon, Nigeria, Rwanda, Bangladesh and Pakistan |access-date=7 January 2023 |archive-date=9 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309070332/https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/Euromonitor%20Report%20A4.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>
Swahili is spoken by fewer than 1%.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/RW/languages |title=''Ethnologue'' report for Rwanda |access-date=7 January 2023 |archive-date=7 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230107012830/https://www.ethnologue.com/country/RW/languages |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Human rights===
{{unbalanced section|date=March 2025}}
{{see also|Human rights in Rwanda|LGBT rights in Rwanda}}
Homosexuality is generally considered a [[taboo]] topic, and there is no significant public discussion of this issue in any region of the country. Some lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Rwandans have reported being harassed and blackmailed.{{sfn|Gmünder|2007|page=1216}}<ref name="Spartacus International Gay Guide 2007">Spartacus International Gay Guide, p. 1216. Bruno Gmunder Verlag, 2007.</ref><ref name="globalgayz">{{cite web |url=http://www.globalgayz.com/country/Rwanda/view/RWA/gay-rwanda-2008 |title=Gay Rwanda 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717064516/http://www.globalgayz.com/africa/rwanda/gay-rwanda-2008 |archive-date=2012-07-17 |date=2009-01-01}}</ref> Same-sex sexual activity is not specifically illegal in Rwanda. Some cabinet-level government officials have expressed support for the rights of LGBT people;{{sfn|U.S. Department of State|2016}} however, no special legislative protections are afforded to LGBT people,<ref name="Spartacus International Gay Guide 2007"/> who may be arrested by the police under various laws dealing with public order and morality.<ref name="globalgayz"/> [[Same-sex marriage]]s are not recognized by the state, as the [[Constitution of Rwanda|constitution]] provides that "[o]nly civil monogamous marriage between a man and a woman is recognized".{{sfn|CJCR|2003|loc=article 26}}

Since 2006, Human Rights Watch has documented that Rwandan authorities round up and detain [[street children]], street vendors, sex workers, homeless people, and beggars. They have also documented the use of torture in safe houses and other facilities, such as Kami military camp, Kwa Gacinya and [[Gikondo Transit Center|Gikondo prison]].<ref name="hrw">{{cite journal |date=2020-01-27 |title="As Long as We Live on the Streets, They Will Beat Us": Rwanda's Abusive Detention of Children |journal=Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/01/27/long-we-live-streets-they-will-beat-us/rwandas-abusive-detention-children |access-date=2022-10-10 |archive-date=10 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010111400/https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/01/27/long-we-live-streets-they-will-beat-us/rwandas-abusive-detention-children |url-status=live}}</ref>