Ruanda-Urundi

Ruanda-Urundi
Mandate of Belgium
1922–1962
Flag Coat of arms
Ruanda-Urundi (dark green) depicted within the Belgian colonial empire (light green), c.1935.
Capital		Usumbura
Languages		French, Dutch (official) Also: Kirundi, Kinyarwanda
Religion		Roman Catholicism Also: Protestantism, Islam and others
Political structure		League of Nations Mandate
History
•	Belgian invasion	April 1916
•	Creation of mandate	20 July 1922
•	Administrative merger with the Belgian Congo	August 1925
•	Rwandan Revolution	1959–62
•	Independence	1 July 1962
Currency		Belgian Congo franc (1916–60) Ruanda-Urundi franc (1960–62)
Preceded by Succeeded by German East Africa Kingdom of Burundi Rwanda
Today part of		Burundi  Rwanda

Ruanda-Urundi was a territory in the African Great Lakes region, once part of German East Africa, which was ruled by Belgium between 1916 and 1962. Occupied by the Belgians during the East African Campaign during World War I, the territory was under Belgian military occupation from 1916 to 1922 and later became a Belgian-controlled Class B Mandate under the League of Nations from 1922 to 1945. After the disestablishment of the League and World War II, Ruanda-Urundi became a Trust Territory of the United Nations, still under Belgian control. In 1962, the mandate became independent as the two separate countries of Rwanda and Burundi.

Before the Scramble for Africa, the region of Ruanda-Urundi was dominated by two independent kingdoms, Rwanda and Kingdom of Burundi, which were annexed by the German Empire in 1894. The Ruanda-Urundi region formed the westernmost part of the colony of German East Africa which included modern-day Tanzania.

After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Ruanda-Urundi was the scene of fighting between German and Belgian forces from the Belgian Congo which bordered the region to the west. In April 1916, as part of the East African Campaign, Belgian-Congolese forces invaded Ruanda-Urundi and by September most of the west of German East Africa was under Belgian occupation while forces from the British Empire fought elsewhere in the colony.