Butare (), also known as Huye, is a city (population: 50,220 as of 2012) in the Southern Province of Rwanda and the capital of

Huye district Huye is one of the eight districts (''Akarere'') that make up Rwanda's Southern Province. It has a total surface area of 581.5 square Kilometers. It has thirteen sectors and 77 cells with a total of 508 umudugudus (villages) in total. The district ...

. It is the fourth largest town in Rwanda by

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

History

The

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

colonial rulers established it in the 1920s and named the city ''Astrida'', in honor of

Queen Astrid of Belgium Astrid of Sweden (17 November 1905 – 29 August 1935) was the Queen of the Belgians and the first wife of King Leopold III. Originally a princess of Sweden of the House of Bernadotte, Astrid became the Duchess of Brabant after her marriage ...

, The government of Rwanda changed the name of the city when it gained independence in 1962.

Education

The

University of Rwanda University of Rwanda is a public collegiate, multi campus university based in Kigali, Rwanda. Formed in 2013 through the merger of previously independent education institutions, the University of Rwanda is the largest education institution in R ...

Butare campus was founded in 2013. Before that, the Butare campus went by the name of

National University of Rwanda The National University of Rwanda (NUR; rw, Kaminuza nkuru y’u Rwanda, french: Université nationale du Rwanda, UNR) was the largest university in Rwanda. It was located at in the city of Butare and was established in 1963 by the government i ...

subsequent its foundation in 1963. Due to the large number of university students and student-centered activities in the city, Butare is often regarded as a university city. It also held the

Nyakibanda Seminary The Saint Charles Borromeo Major Seminary of Nyakibanda is a Roman Catholic seminary near to Butare, in the Gishamvu sector of the Huye District in Southern Province of Rwanda, below the mountain chain called "Ibisi bya Nyakibanda". It is about ...

and the

Rwandan National Institute of Scientific Research The Rwandan National Institute of Scientific Research is a scientific institution based in Butare, Rwanda. It plays an important role in science and technology in Rwanda. The institute has worked with the National University of Rwanda in the Phy ...

. The city of Butare has long been regarded as the intellectual capital of the country, while Kigali holds most political power. The

Groupe Scolaire Officiel de Butare The Groupe Scolaire Officiel de Butare (GSOB) Indatwa n’inkesha, also known as the Indatwa n'Inkesha School, is a historic secondary school in Huye District in Butare (formerly Astrida), Rwanda. As well as being the oldest secondary school in th ...

is the largest secondary school in Rwanda.

Culture

National Museum of Rwanda - Butare - Flickr - Dave Proffer (3)

The Ethnographic Museum was built in the early 1990s and is a source of information on the cultural history of the country and the region.

Sports

The city has one professional football team competing in the top-flight of Rwanda football – Mukura Victory Sports, currently playing in the Rwanda Premier League and plays its home games at

Stade Huye The Huye Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Butare, Rwanda. It is currently used mostly for football (soccer), football matches and is the home ground of Mukura Victory Sports FC. The stadium holds 10,000 people. References

Buildings an ...

Places of worship

Among the

places of worship A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is somet ...

, they are predominantly Christian churches and temples :

Roman Catholic Diocese of Butare The Roman Catholic Diocese of Butare is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Rwanda. It was erected on 11 September 1961 as the Diocese of Astrida by Pope John XXIII, and was later renamed as the Diocese of Butar ...

(

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

), (

Lutheran Church of Rwanda The Lutheran Church of Rwanda (Itorero Ry' Abalutheri Ry' Urwanda, Église luthérienne du Rwanda) is a Lutheran denomination in Rwanda. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; german: Lutherischer We ...

(

Lutheran World Federation The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; german: Lutherischer Weltbund) is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish ...

), the Anglican Church of Rwanda (

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

), Union of Baptist Churches in Rwanda (

Baptist World Alliance The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is the largest international Baptist organization with an estimated 51 million people in 2022 with 246 member bodies in 128 countries and territories. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA account ...

), Assemblies of God,

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

of the Nazarene.J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, ''Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices'', ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 2481 There are also Muslim mosques.

Transportation

The city is served by Butare Airport, a small civilian airport, administered by the

Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority The Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority (RCAA, rw, Ikigo cy'Igihugu gishinzwe iby'indege za gisiviri, french: Office Rwandais de l'Aviation Civile) is the civil aviation authority of Rwanda. Its headquarters are at Kigali International Airport in Kig ...

References

{{Authority control Southern Province, Rwanda Populated places in Rwanda