The Republic of Rwanda is a landlocked country just south of the equator in East-Central Africa. While small geographically, the country is home to 12.9 million people, making it one of Africa’s most densely populated countries. Rwanda has been highly influenced by Christianity. Its three official languages are Kinyarwanda, English, and French. Rwanda, also called “the land of a thousand hills,” is widely known for its nature and wildlife, especially the protected gorillas of Volcanoes National Park.

Rwanda’s history has been marked by tension between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups and the brutal genocide of the 1990s. Since the end of the genocide, Rwanda has undergone a period of reconstruction and worked to turn a new chapter, having greatly improved its political stability and economic conditions. This primarily agricultural country has significantly reduced its poverty rate from 77 percent to 55 percent between 2001 and 2017. Rwanda has also made improvements in its social policies, such as near-universal primary school enrollment. At its current rate, the country strives to reach middle-income status by 2035 and high-income status by 2050.

For both males and females, life expectancy has steadily increased. Similarly, child mortality rates have declined by over two-thirds. While some health indicators have improved, the population experiences high levels of death caused by lower respiratory infections, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, diarrheal diseases, malaria, and HIV/AIDS. Nearly 100 percent of the country is at risk of contracting malaria. Death due to non-communicable diseases is also significant, with congenital defects, stroke, ischemic heart disease, and cirrhosis causing substantial mortality. Rates of cirrhosis, which may be caused by excessive alcohol consumption, are significantly higher than those of other countries in the region. Road injuries also cause significant numbers of deaths in Rwanda.