1.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
2.
Rwanda
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Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a sovereign state in central and east Africa and one of the smallest countries on the African mainland. Located a few south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi. Rwanda is in the African Great Lakes region and is elevated, its geography is dominated by mountains in the west and savanna to the east. The climate is temperate to subtropical, with two seasons and two dry seasons each year. The population is young and predominantly rural, with a density among the highest in Africa, Rwandans are drawn from just one cultural and linguistic group, the Banyarwanda, although within this group there are three subgroups, the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa. The Twa are a pygmy people descended from Rwandas earliest inhabitants. Christianity is the largest religion in the country, the language is Kinyarwanda, spoken by most Rwandans, with English. Rwanda has a system of government. The president is Paul Kagame of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, who took office in 2000, Rwanda today has low corruption compared with neighbouring countries, although human rights organisations report suppression of opposition groups, intimidation and restrictions on freedom of speech. The country has been governed by an administrative hierarchy since pre-colonial times. Rwanda is one of two countries with a female majority in the national parliament. Hunter gatherers settled the territory in the stone and iron ages, the population coalesced first into clans and then into kingdoms. The Kingdom of Rwanda dominated from the century, with the Tutsi kings conquering others militarily, centralising power. Germany colonised Rwanda in 1884 as part of German East Africa, followed by Belgium, both European nations ruled through the kings and perpetuated a pro-Tutsi policy. The Hutu population revolted in 1959 and they massacred numerous Tutsi and ultimately established an independent, Hutu-dominated state in 1962. The Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front launched a war in 1990. Social tensions erupted in the 1994 genocide, in which Hutu extremists killed an estimated 500,000 to 1.3 million Tutsi, the RPF ended the genocide with a military victory. Rwandas economy suffered heavily during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, but has since strengthened, the economy is based mostly on subsistence agriculture
3.
Ruanda-Urundi
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Ruanda-Urundi was a territory in the African Great Lakes region, once part of German East Africa, which was ruled by Belgium between 1916 and 1962. After the disestablishment of the League and World War II, Ruanda-Urundi became a Trust Territory of the United Nations, in 1962, the mandate became independent as the two separate countries of Rwanda and Burundi. Before the Scramble for Africa, the region of Ruanda-Urundi was dominated by two independent kingdoms, Rwanda and Burundi, which were annexed by the German Empire in 1894, the Ruanda-Urundi region formed the westernmost part of the colony of German East Africa, which included modern-day mainland Tanzania. After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Ruanda-Urundi was the scene of fighting between German and Belgian forces from the Belgian Congo which bordered the region to the west, the Treaty of Versailles divided the German colonial empire among the Allied nations. German East Africa was divided, with the vast majority of the territory, known as Tanganyika, going to the British, the western part of the colony, formally referred to as the Belgian Occupied East African Territories, was allocated to Belgium. In 1924, when the League of Nations issued a formal mandate granting Belgium full control over the area, the Belgians were far more involved in the territory than the Germans, especially in Ruanda. These funds mostly came from the cultivation of coffee in the regions rich volcanic soils. To implement their vision, the Belgians used the indigenous power structure. This consisted of a largely Tutsi ruling class controlling a mostly Hutu population, the Belgian administrators believed that the Tutsi were superior and deserved power. While before colonization the Hutu had played some role in governance, Hutu anger at the Tutsi domination was largely focused on the Tutsi elite rather than the distant colonial power. Although promising the League it would promote education, Belgium left the task to subsidised Catholic missions, as late as 1961, shortly before independence arrived, fewer than 100 natives had been educated beyond secondary level. He must be cured of his thoughtlessness, he must accustom himself to living in society, after the League of Nations was dissolved, the region became a United Nations trust territory in 1946. Independence came largely as a result of actions elsewhere, in the late 1950s, an independence movement arose in the Belgian Congo, and the Belgians became convinced they could no longer control the territory. Unrest also broke out in Ruanda where the king was deposed, in 1960, Ruanda-Urundis larger neighbour gained its independence. After two more years of hurried preparations, the trust territory became independent on 1 July 1962, broken up along traditional lines as the independent nations of Rwanda and it took two more years before the government of the two became wholly separate. The Great Lakes of Africa, Two Thousand Years of History, le Burundi sous administration Belge, la période du mandat, 1919-1939
4.
Tutsi
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The Tutsi, or Abatutsi, are a population inhabiting the African Great Lakes region. Historically, they were referred to as the Watutsi, Watusi. They speak Rwanda-Rundi, a group of Bantu languages, the Tutsi are the second largest population division among the three largest groups in Rwanda and Burundi, the other two being the Hutu and the Twa. Small numbers of Hema, Kiga and Furiiru people also live near the Tutsi in Rwanda. The Northern Tutsi who reside in Rwanda are called Ruguru, while southern Tutsi that live in Burundi are known as Hima, the definitions of Hutu and Tutsi people may have changed through time and location. Social structures were not stable throughout Rwanda, even during colonial times under the Belgian rule, the Tutsi aristocracy or elite was distinguished from Tutsi commoners, and wealthy Hutu were often indistinguishable from upper-class Tutsi. When the European colonists conducted censuses, they wanted to identify the people throughout Rwanda-Burundi according to a classification scheme. They defined Tutsi as anyone owning more than ten cows or with the feature of a longer nose, or longer neck. The Europeans believed that some Tutsis had facial characteristics that were atypical of other Bantus. By contrast, the Europeans considered the majority Hutu to be characteristic Bantu people of Central African origin, the Tutsi have lived in the areas where they are for 400–500 years, leading to considerable intermarriage with the Hutu, a Bantu people in the area. To note the names Hutu and Bantu are not the same as they imply different things, modern-day genetic studies of the Y-chromosome generally indicate that the Tutsi, like the Hutu, are largely of Bantu extraction. Paternal genetic influences associated with the Horn of Africa and North Africa are few, however, the Tutsi have considerably more Nilo-Saharan paternal lineages than the Hutu. Trombetta et al. found 22. 2% of E1b1b in a sample of Tutsis from Burundi. The subclade was of the M293 variety, which suggests that the ancestors of Tutsis in this area may have assimilated some South Cushitic pastoralists, in general, the Tutsi appear to share a close genetic kinship with neighboring Bantu populations, particularly the Hutus. With a spectrum of variation in the peoples, Belgian authorities legally mandated ethnic affiliation in the 1920s. Formal and discrete social divisions were consequently imposed upon ambiguous biological distinctions, the social categories are thus real, but there is little if any detectable genetic differentiation between Hutu and Tutsi. Tishkoff et al. found their mixed Hutu and Tutsi samples from Rwanda to be predominately of Bantu origin, prior to the arrival of colonists, Rwanda had been ruled by a Tutsi-dominated monarchy after mid-1600. Beginning in about 1880, Roman Catholic missionaries arrived in the Great Lakes region, later, when German forces occupied the area during World War I, the conflict and efforts for Catholic conversion became more pronounced
5.
Hutu
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The Hutu /ˈhuːtuː/, also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic group native to African Great Lakes region of Africa, primarily area now under Burundi and Rwanda. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi, and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they form one of the principal population divisions alongside the Tutsi, the Hutu is the largest of the four main population divisions in Burundi and Rwanda. The Twa pygmies, the smallest of the two principal populations, also share language and culture with the Hutu and Tutsi. However, they are distinguished by a shorter stature. The Hutu are believed to have first emigrated to the Great Lake region from West Africa in the great Bantu expansion, various theories have emerged to explain the purported physical differences between them and their fellow Bantu-speaking neighbors, the Tutsi. These pastoralists were then reckoned to have established aristocracies over the sedentary Hutu, through intermarriage with the local Bantus, the herders were gradually assimilated culturally, linguistically and racially. The latter view has received support among proponents of Rwandan national unity, mahmood Mamdani states that the Belgian colonial power designated people as Tutsi or Hutu on the basis of cattle ownership, physical measurements and church records. There is a debate as to whether the Hutu and Tutsi are really separate groups or not. Modern-day genetic studies of the Y-chromosome suggest that the Hutu, like the Tutsi, are largely of Bantu extraction, paternal genetic influences associated with the Horn of Africa and North Africa are few, and are ascribed to much earlier inhabitants who were assimilated. However, the Hutu have considerably fewer Nilo-Saharan paternal lineages than the Tutsi, in general, the Hutu appear to share a close genetic kinship with neighboring Bantu populations, particularly the Tutsi. With a spectrum of variation in the peoples, Belgian authorities legally mandated ethnic affiliation in the 1920s. Formal and discrete social divisions were consequently imposed upon ambiguous biological distinctions, the social categories are thus real, but there is little if any detectable genetic differentiation between Hutu and Tutsi. Tishkoff et al. found their mixed Hutu and Tutsi samples from Rwanda to be predominately of Bantu origin, Hutus speak Rwanda-Rundi as their native tongue, which is a member of the Bantu subgroup of the Niger–Congo language family. Rwanda-Rundi is subdivided into the Kinyarwanda and Kirundi dialects, which have been standardized as official languages of Rwanda and it is also spoken as a mother tongue by the Tutsi and Twa. Additionally, many Hutu speak French, the official language of Rwanda and Burundi. The Belgian-sponsored Tutsi monarchy survived until 1959, when Kigeli V was exiled from the colony, in Burundi, Tutsis, who are the minority, maintained control of the government and military. In Rwanda, the power was transferred from the minority Tutsi to the majority Hutu. In Rwanda, this led to the Social revolution and Hutu violence against Tutsis, later, exiled Tutsis from Burundi invaded Rwanda, prompting Rwanda to close its border with Burundi
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