Ruanda-Urundi

Territory of Ruanda-Urundi
1916-1962
Flag Coat of arms
Ruanda-Urundi (dark green) depicted within the Belgian colonial empire (light green), c. 1935
Status	Mandate of Belgium
Capital	Usumbura
Common languages	French (official) Also: Kinyarwanda, Kirundi and Swahili
Religion	Catholicism Also: Protestantism, Islam and others
History
• Belgian invasion	April 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
Currency	Belgian Congo franc (1916–60) Ruanda-Urundi franc (1960–62)
Preceded by Succeeded by German East Africa Kingdom of Burundi Republic of Rwanda
Today part of	Burundi  Rwanda

Ruanda-Urundi was a part of German East Africa. Belgian troops invaded during World War I. The military occupation lasted from 1916 to 1924 when the territory came under Belgian rule. In 1964 it became the independent states of Rwanda and Burundi.

Royal administrators

Royal Commissioners

• Justin Malfeyt (November 1916-May 1919)
• Alfred Frédéric Gérard Marzorati (May 1919-August 1926)

Governors (Deputy Governors-General of the Belgian Congo)

• Alfred Frédéric Gérard Marzorati (August 1926-February 1929)
• Louis Joseph Postiaux (February 1929-July 1930)
• Charles Henri Joseph Voisin (July 1930-August 1932)
• Eugène Jacques Pierre Louis Jungers (August 1932-July 1946)
• Maurice Simon (July 1946-August 1949)
• Léon Antoine Marie Pétillon (August 1949-January 1952)
• Alfred Claeys Boùùaert (January 1952-March 1955)
• Jean-Paul Harroy (March 1955-January 1962)