1300s - Tutsis migrate into what is now Rwanda, which was already inhabited by the Twa and Hutu peoples.

1600s - Tutsi King Ruganzu Ndori subdues central Rwanda and outlying Hutu areas.

1800s - Tutsi King Kigeri Rwabugiri establishes a unified state with a centralised military structure.

1890 - Rwanda becomes part of German East Africa.

1916 - Belgian forces occupy Rwanda.

1962 - Rwanda becomes independent with a Hutu, Gregoire Kayibanda, as president; many Tutsis leave the country.

1978 - Habyarimana elected president.

1994 - April - Habyarimana and the Burundian president are killed after their plane is shot down over Kigali; extremist Hutu militia and elements of the Rwandan military begin the systematic massacre of Tutsis; within 100 days around 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus are killed; July – RPF takes control of Kigali and stops the genocide.

2000 - Paul Kagame is selected as President of Rwanda.

2001 - Voting to elect members of traditional "gacaca" courts begins; the courts, in which ordinary Rwandans judge their peers, aim to clear the backlog of 1994 genocide cases.

2001 – A new flag and national anthem are unveiled to try to promote national unity and reconciliation.

2003 - Paul Kagame wins the first presidential elections since the 1994 genocide.

2005 - Government begins the mass release of 36,000 prisoners. Most of them have confessed to involvement in the 1994 genocide. It is the third phase of releases since 2003 - part of an attempt to ease overcrowding.

2007 - Some 8,000 prisoners accused of genocide are released. Some 60,000 suspects have been freed since 2003 to ease prison overcrowding.

2008 - Rwanda decides all education will be taught in English instead of French, officially as a result of joining the English-speaking East African Community.

2009 - Rwanda declared free of landmines - the first country to achieve this status.

2010 - President Kagame is reelected.

2012 - Rwanda shuts down "gacaca" community courts that for 10 years tried those accused of involvement in the 1994 genocide. Human rights group say they fell short of international legal standards. Rwanda says about 65% of the nearly two million people tried were found guilty.

 

Information taken from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14093322