Rwanda is a small nation in central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo, west of Tanzania, south of Uganda and north of Burundi. Most of the country is high savanna grassland with a predominantly rural population. Western Rwanda includes part of the highlands that separate the two greatest river basins of Africa, the Nile and the Congo. Much of the boder with the Democratic Republic of the Congo lies through Lake Kiva, one of Africa's Great Lakes, which within the Albertine Rift of the Africa's Great Rift System, and ultimately feeds the Congo River. The volcanic Virunga mountains are in the northwest, also along the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo. Moving east from the mountainous, the mostly grassy uplands and hills decline in altitude from west to east.
Economy
Rwanda is a poor rural country with about 90% of the population engaged in (mainly subsistence) agriculture. It is the most densely populated country in Africa and is landlocked with few natural resources and minimal industry. Primary foreign exchange earners are coffee and tea. The 1994 genocide decimated Rwanda's fragile economic base, severely impoverished the population, particularly women, and eroded the country's ability to attract private and external investment. However, Rwanda has made substantial progress in stabilizing and rehabilitating its economy to pre-1994 levels, although poverty levels are higher now. GDP has rebounded and inflation has been curbed. Despite Rwanda's fertile ecosystem, food production often does not keep pace with population growth, requiring food imports. Rwanda continues to receive substantial aid money and obtained IMF-World Bank Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative debt relief in 2005-06. Rwanda also received Millennium Challenge Account Threshold status in 2006. The government has embraced an expansionary fiscal policy to reduce poverty by improving education, infrastructure, and foreign and domestic investment and pursuing market-oriented reforms, although energy shortages, instability in neighboring states, and lack of adequate transportation linkages to other countries continue to handicap growth.
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