THE MAJOR ETHNIC GROUPS IN RWANDA

Rwanda is a landlocked country in East Africa with a diverse population. Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa are Rwanda’s three largest ethnic groupings. Roughly 85% of Rwanda’s population is Hutu, the biggest ethnic group. Farmers by trade, they also have a rich cultural legacy of song and dance. Kinyarwanda is the national language of Rwanda and is spoken by the Hutu people.

In Rwanda, the Tutsi ethnic group accounts for around 14% of the total population. Cattle herders by trade, they stand out for their height and unique characteristics. The Tutsi people not only speak French and English, but also Kinyarwanda.
Less than one percent of Rwandans identify as Twa, making it the country’s smallest ethnic group. They subsist mostly on hunting and gathering, and they have a reputation for their tiny size. The Twa people have their own language, Batwa, and they also speak Kinyarwanda.

The history of Rwanda’s ethnic groupings is complicated, and there have been violent clashes between them in the past. There was a genocide in Rwanda in 1994, in which up to 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis, were slaughtered. Since then, the government has worked to foster harmony among the many ethnic communities.