Editing Demographics of Rwanda (section)

== Ethnic groups ==
{{Further|Ethnic groups in Rwanda}}
[[File:Three kids in Rwanda near Lake Kivu.jpg|thumb|left|Children carrying firewood near [[Lake Kivu]]]]
The Rwandan population largely consists of three ethnic groups. The [[Hutu]]s, who comprise the majority of the population (85%), are farmers of [[Bantu peoples|Bantu]] origin. The [[Tutsi]]s (14% before the Genocide, probably less than 10% now) are a pastoral people who arrived in the area in the 15th century.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Field |first=Les |date=July 1999 |title=<i>The Indigenous World 1997-98</i>. International Working Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/jar.55.2.3631230 |journal=Journal of Anthropological Research |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=319–320 |doi=10.1086/jar.55.2.3631230 |issn=0091-7710}}</ref> Until 1959, they formed the dominant [[caste]] under a [[feudal system]] based on cattle-holding.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Rwanda |url=https://minorityrights.org/country/rwanda/ |website=minorityrights.org|date=2 November 2023 }}</ref>

The [[Great Lakes Twa|Twa]] ([[pygmies]]) (1%) are thought to be the remnants of the earliest settlers of the region.