Kingdom of Rwanda
The Kingdom of Rwanda was a Nile source sovereign state in the former Kitara expanse. Now the modern-day Republic of Rwanda, It was ruled by a Tutsi monarchy. It was one of the oldest and the most centralized kingdoms in the Central and East Africa region. It was later annexed under German and Belgian colonial rule while retaining some of its autonomy. The Tutsi monarchy was abolished in 1961 after ethnic violence erupted between the Hutu and the Tutsi during the Belgian-led Hutu Revolution which started in 1959. After a 1961 referendum, Rwanda became a Hutu-dominated republic under discreet supervisory of the Belgian overseers but still received its independence from Belgium in 1962.
Kingdom of Rwanda Ubwami bw'u Rwanda (Kinyarwanda) Koninkrijk Roeanda (Dutch) Royaume du Rwanda (French) Königreich Ruanda (German) | |||||||
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| c. 12th century–1961 | |||||||
| Status | Independent state (12th century–1897) Part of German East Africa (1897–1916) Part of Ruanda-Urundi (1922–1961) | ||||||
| Capital | Nyanza | ||||||
| Common languages | Kinyarwanda, Swahili, English, Dutch | ||||||
| Government | Absolute monarchy | ||||||
| Mwami | |||||||
• Unknown | Gihanga (1st Dyn.) (first) | ||||||
• 1959–1961 | Kigeli V (3rd Dyn.) (last) | ||||||
| History | |||||||
• Established | 12th century c. 12th century | ||||||
• Republic declared | 1 July 1961 | ||||||
| Currency | Rwanda Franc | ||||||
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| Today part of | Rwanda | ||||||
| History of Rwanda | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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After the Belgian-led Hutu revolution, the last ruling monarch, Kigeli V, was exiled and he eventually settled in the United States. A court in exile has been maintained outside Rwanda ever since the abolition of the monarchy. As of 9 January 2017, the current proclaimed King of Rwanda is Yuhi VI.