Kigali of what is now Rwanda were the Twa, a group of aboriginal pygmy hunter-gatherers who settled the area between 8000 and 3000 BC and remain in the country today. They were followed between 700 BC and 1500 AD by a number of Bantu groups, including the Hutu and Tutsi, who began clearing forests for agriculture. According to oral history the Kingdom of Rwanda was founded in the 14th century on the shores of Lake Muhazi, around east of modern Kigali. At that time Rwanda was a small state in a loose confederation with larger and more powerful neighbours, Bugesera and
Kigali act as a water store and flood protection for the city, although these are under threat from agriculture and development. The central business district (CBD) (known in Kinyarwanda as "mu mujyi") of Kigali lies on Nyarugenge Hill, and was the site of the original city founded by Richard Kandt in 1907. The house that Kandt lived in is now a museum. Geographically, the CBD lies towards the western edge of the built-up area, as the terrain to the east was more suitable for development of the expanding city than the high slopes of Mount Kigali to the west. Several of