Ruanda-Urundi

Territory of Ruanda-Urundi
  • Territoire du Ruanda-Urundi (French)
  • Gebied Ruanda-Urundi (Dutch)
  • Gebiet von Ruanda-Urundi (German)
1916–1962
Ruanda-Urundi (dark green) depicted within the Belgian colonial empire (light green), c. 1935
Ruanda-Urundi (dark green) depicted within the Belgian colonial empire (light green), c. 1935
StatusMandate of Belgium
CapitalUsumbura
Common languagesFrench (official)
also: Dutch, German (until 1962)
Kinyarwanda, Kirundi and Swahili
Religion
Catholicism (de facto)
also: Protestantism, Islam and others
History 
6 May 1916
• Mandate created
20 July 1922
• Administrative merger with Belgian Congo
1 March 1926
• Mandate becomes Trust Territory
13 December 1946
• Rwanda gains autonomy
18 October 1960
• Burundi gains autonomy
21 December 1961
• Independence
1 July 1962
CurrencyBelgian Congo franc (1916–60)
Ruanda-Urundi franc (1960–62)
Preceded by
Succeeded by
German East Africa
Kingdom of Burundi
Republic of Rwanda
Today part ofBurundi
Rwanda

Ruanda-Urundi (French pronunciation: [ʁwɑ̃da uʁundi]),[a] later Rwanda-Burundi, was a geopolitical entity, once part of German East Africa, that was occupied by troops from the Belgian Congo during the East African campaign in World War I and was administered by Belgium under military occupation from 1916 to 1922. It was subsequently awarded to Belgium as a Class-B Mandate under the League of Nations in 1922 and became a Trust Territory of the United Nations in the aftermath of World War II and the dissolution of the League. In 1962 Ruanda-Urundi became the two independent states of Rwanda and Burundi.
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