Administrative division of Rwanda
The administrative structure of Rwanda was reformed on January 1, 2006. Since then, the country has been divided into five provinces (Kinyarwanda: intara ). These are further subdivided into districts (singular akarere , plural uturere ) and municipalities ( Sg.umujyi , Pl. Imijyi ).
Before January 1, 2006, Rwanda consisted of twelve provinces (which were called prefectures until 2002). The administrative reform is intended to promote decentralization, but also - such as the election of a new flag , national anthem, etc. - to draw a line under the country's recent past with the 1994 genocide . The borders are deliberately designed so that the individual provinces are ethnically mixed.
The current five provinces are:
German | Kinyarwanda | English | French | main place |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kigali | Kigali | Kigali (state capital) | ||
North | Intara y'Amajyaruguru | North | North | Byumba |
east | Intara y'Iburasirazuba | East | Est | Rwamagana |
south | Intara y'amajyepfo | South | South | Nyanza |
west | Intara y'Iburengerazuba | west | Ouest | Kibuye |
The former provinces were Butare, Byumba, Cyangugu, Gikongoro, Gisenyi, Guitarama, Kibungo, Kibuye, Kigali, Kigali Rural, Ruhengeri and Umutara.