RWANDA
(Republic of Rwanda)

Capital: Kigali

Flag: national flag has three horizontal strips blue (the top, double width), yellow and green, with the gold sun with 24 beams near a fly of the end of a blue strip.

Motto: Rwanda to Rvak (our Rwanda).

MONETARY GROUP: The Rwandan franc (RFr) is paper currency. There are coins of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 francs and the banknote of 100, 500, 1000 and 5000 francs. RFr1 = $0.00164 (or $1 = RFr610) as of 2005.

WEIGHT AND MEASURES: the metric system is the legal standard.

HOLIDAYS: New year, on January 1; Day of democracy, on January 28; Labor Day, on May 1; Independence Day, on July 1; Day of the world and national unity, on July 5; Assumption, on August 15; Anniversary of a referendum of 1961, on September 25; Day of armed forces, on October 26; All Saints' Day, on November 1; Christmas, on December 25. Moveable religious feasts include Easter Monday, Rise and Pentecost on Monday.

TIME: 14:00 - midday.

ARRANGEMENT, SIZE AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Rwanda, the country which doesn't have an outlet to the sea in the east central Africa has the area of 26 338 sq.km (10 170 quarter. Miles), 248 km long (154 miles) не-sw and 166 km (103 miles) of se-nw. Rather, the area occupied with Rwanda is a little less than State of Maryland. It borders on Russia Uganda, in Tanzania, to Burundi and also on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the GENISTA - the former Zaire) with a total length of border of 893 km (555 miles).
The capital of Rwanda, Kigali, is located near the center of the country.

TOPOGRAPHY

Rwanda lies on the great East African plateau, with a gap between the water systems of the Nile Rivers and Congo passing in the direction the North-South through the western part of the country. To the west from a gap the earth sharply falls to Lake Kivu to the Great rift valley; in the east the earth gradually falls on the central plateau - its grassy uplands are the main fields of resettlement of the people of Rwanda - to swamps and lakes on eastern frontier of the country. Almost all Rwanda are at the height not less than 1000 m above sea level; the central plateau makes from 1500 to 2000 m (4950-6600 feet). In the northwest on border about the GENISTA there are volcanic mountains Virunga; the highest peak, Mt. Karisimbi (4,519 m / 14,826 feet), snow. Lake Kivu, 1460 m (4 790 feet) above sea level, flows down to the lake Tanganyika through sharply falling river Ruzizi. The Kagera River which forms the most part of eastern frontier of Rwanda flows into Lake Victoria.

CLIMATE

Big height of Rwanda provides the country with pleasant tropical climate of highlands with an average day temperature range less than 2 °C (4 °F). Temperatures considerably vary from the region to the region because of changes of height. In Kigali, on the central plateau, average temperature is 21 °C (70 °F). Rainfall the heaviest in the southwest and the easiest in the east. The long rainy season lasts from February to May and short from November to December.