Image:Rwanda Provinces 2006.png|left|300px

poly 211 66 216 74 223 76 230 102 262 85 306 169 296 177 277 166 247 178 241 188 209 179 193 160 176 155 172 127 167 123 140 119 131 107 153 84 174 84 189 74 204 79 Northern Province, Rwanda
poly 348 11 343 18 368 73 392 84 405 95 407 109 426 140 420 198 439 230 426 263 428 281 412 294 398 286 387 298 376 294 370 299 346 278 330 278 328 285 298 288 286 302 277 302 260 288 252 283 241 279 252 228 283 219 292 227 298 221 296 214 299 209 299 204 307 200 303 180 307 170 283 117 286 111 281 109 264 82 273 82 284 73 286 60 321 28 324 14 Eastern Province, Rwanda
poly 279 168 296 181 302 181 302 190 306 198 297 202 299 207 296 214 297 220 292 225 287 218 252 225 244 222 249 217 248 209 248 198 244 188 247 178 256 181 Kigali Province, Rwanda
poly 112 108 130 109 137 119 170 127 169 150 175 157 177 197 177 204 170 206 163 251 109 275 104 297 104 303 96 306 93 313 104 318 113 346 106 354 75 341 69 336 47 337 44 364 17 350 12 328 6 324 13 318 18 307 17 298 34 293 44 275 47 281 45 297 59 278 64 282 100 231 115 221 107 207 106 200 96 191 98 178 93 170 95 157 87 144 Western Province, Rwanda
poly 177 157 191 161 205 181 217 185 243 194 244 224 248 228 244 245 236 290 240 313 235 317 230 331 234 348 210 374 199 372 196 382 180 381 149 385 132 381 114 387 107 370 109 368 111 357 114 344 105 318 94 313 98 305 106 302 110 288 107 281 109 276 139 267 166 253 179 203 Southern Province, Rwanda

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The Provinces of Rwanda, called intara, are further divided into districts

Districts of Rwanda

The Provinces of Rwanda are subdivided into 30 districts . Each district is in turn divided into sectors. Until 2001, the districts had been called communes...

 (akarere) and municipalities (umujyi). Prior to January 1, 2006, Rwanda

Rwanda

Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

 was composed of twelve province

Province

A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...

s; however, the Rwandan Government

Politics of Rwanda

Politics of Rwanda takes place in a framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of Rwanda is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two...

 decided to establish new provinces in an attempt to address issues that arose from the Rwandan Genocide of 1994

Rwandan Genocide

The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...

. The first goal was to decentralise power, since it was felt Rwanda's centralised governing system was a contributing factor in aiding the genocide

Genocide

Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...

. Second, the new provinces are more multiethnic

Multiethnic society

A multiethnic society is one with members belonging to more than one ethnic group, in contrast to societies which are ethnically homogenous. In practice, virtually all contemporary national societies are multiethnic...

 than the previous twelve, helping to weaken ethnic divisions. Finally, the new provinces will not have the associations the previous twelve did with events from the genocide.

Until 2002, the provinces were called prefectures (prefegitura).

Provinces

Since January 1, 2006, the five provinces of Rwanda are:

• Northern Province
• Eastern Province
• Southern Province
• Western Province
• Kigali Province (location of the Capital)

Previous provinces

Prior to 2006 the provinces were:
.

• Butare Province
  Butare Province
  Butare was a province of Rwanda prior to its dissolution in January 2006. Butare city is the second largest city in Rwanda and one of the nation's former twelve provinces. It is located in south-central region of the country and borders Burundi to the south...
  
  
• Byumba Province
  Byumba Province
  Byumba Province was one of the 12 former provinces of Rwanda and was situated in the north of the country, sharing a border with Uganda. It had an area of some and its population was estimated at 782,427 prior to its dissolution in January 2006.-External links:*...
  
  
• Cyangugu Province
  Cyangugu Province
  Cyangugu Province is one of the 12 former provinces of Rwanda. It is now part of the Western Province....
  
  
• Gikongoro Province
  Gikongoro Province
  Gikongoro Province was one of the former twelve provinces of Rwanda and is situated in the southwest of the country. The former province had an area of some 2,146 square kilometers and its population was estimated at 467,300 prior to its dissolution in January 2006.- External links :*...
  
  
• Gisenyi Province
  Gisenyi Province
  Gisenyi Province is one of the 12 former provinces of Rwanda. It is now part of the Western Province....
  
  
• Gitarama Province
  Gitarama Province
  Gitarama was one of the former twelve provinces of Rwanda and was situated in the centre of the country, to the west of the capital Kigali....
  
  
• Kibungo Province
  Kibungo Province
  Kibungo was a south-eastern province of Rwanda known for its production of bananas. In 2006, it became part of the new Eastern Province.Kibungo Municipality is also a municipality within the province.Districts and municipalities:# District of Rusumo...
  
  
• Kibuye Province
  Kibuye Province
  The Province of Kibuye was, between 2002 and 2006, one of the 12 provinces of Rwanda . Kibuye was the "capital" ....
  
  
• Kigali City
• Kigali-Rural Province (Kigali Ngali)
• Ruhengeri Province
  Ruhengeri Province
  Ruhengeri Province was one of the twelve provinces of Rwanda until the end of 2005, when boundaries were redrawn to create five multiethnic provinces. The province was in the north of the country, bordered to the north by Uganda and to the northwest by the Democratic Republic of Congo...
  
  
• Umutara Province

External links

• Ministry of Local Government, Community Development and Social Affairs
• Rwanda redrawn to reflect compass, BBC News
  BBC News
  BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
  
  , 3 January 2006