Atlas of Rwanda
Atlas du Rwanda
Rwanda · Université nationale du Rwanda · 1981
Related Reviews & Articles
Rwanda and Burundi: Based on Two Recent Atlases
Papy, Louis · 1982
This review article explores two recently published atlases of Rwanda and Burundi, produced with support from the French Ministry of Cooperation for the national universities of each country. The atlases compile rich geographical data using multi-colour plates, explanatory notes, maps, and bibliographies, integrating contributions from local and international scholars. The review highlights the striking physical and historical similarities between the two small, landlocked Central African nations—high plateaus nourished by tropical rains, a shared legacy of kingdoms, German and Belgian colonization, and post-independence ethnic tensions between Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. It summarizes the atlases’ detailed coverage of physical geography: complex relief formed by the Great Rift Valley, volcanic massifs, the Congo-Nile crest, intensely dissected central hill lands, and eastern plains; equatorial highland climates with marked regional variability; and diverse but heavily degraded soils and vegetation. The atlases further examine human geography, notably extreme population densities that have doubled in recent decades, intensive subsistence and commercial agriculture on steep slopes, widespread soil erosion and deforestation, and the recent emergence of urban centers such as Kigali and Bujumbura. By documenting these dynamics and the environmental pressures they engender, the atlases offer an indispensable, multidimensional portrait of the two countries, serving both academic research and development planning.
Review: Atlas of Rwanda
Brasseur, Gérard · 1984
This collection of critical reviews evaluates four recent works on African political history and geography, highlighting their contributions and methodological shortcomings. The opening critique examines a study of Chad’s civil war by Richard Adloff and a co-author. While the chronology of events is sound, the reviewers fault it for a profoundly erroneous conclusion—that Hissène Habré could never return to power after 1980—attributing this failure to the authors’ lack of empirical, on-the-ground knowledge of Chadian politics. By contrast, Bernard Lanne’s *Tchad-Libye. La querelle des frontières* is praised as a foundational, exhaustively sourced work that definitively establishes the Chad–Libya border based on international treaties and archival research, including testimonies from the 1935 Mussolini–Laval era. The *Atlas du Rwanda*, produced by the National University of Rwanda, is lauded for its rich integration of historical cartography with physical, human, and economic geography; special maps trace the kingdom’s formation, precolonial trade, German and Belgian colonization, and the growth of Catholic, Protestant, and Muslim missions. Finally, Dominique Darbon and Philippe L’Hoiry’s comparative study of political power and integration in Burundi and Malawi is severely criticized. The Burundi section relies on outdated ethnic and clan models, ignores key recent scholarship, and suffers from conceptual confusion, while the Malawi analysis, though clearer, offers little novelty. Overall, the reviews underscore the necessity of rigorous historical methodology and direct engagement with primary sources in African studies.
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