Languages of Rwanda
is the national language of Rwanda, and the first language of almost the entire population of the country. It is one of the country's official languages alongside French, English, and Swahili. Rwandan Sign Language is used by the educated deaf population.
French had been the language of administration from the country's time under Belgian administration, between the First World War and independence in 1962. Since the 1994 genocide, the complications of relations with successive French governments, the return of numerous Tutsi refugees from anglophone Uganda and also the general reduction of French cultural influence relative to the United States has meant an increase in the use of English by a higher proportion of the population and administration.
In 2008 the government changed the medium of education from French to English. By 2018 the Rwandan government had introduced French as a foreign language class at the primary school level, and French was still widely used by members of the upper classes. A Rwandan historian, Antoine Mugesera, stated that French is still used among the educated while Kinyarwanda is used for matters relating to simple topics and messages.
Swahili is used by some people, in commerce, and is taught as a subject in schools.
