Inhabited mainly by Hutu and Tutsi peoples, the area formed part of German East Africa from the 1890s until the First World War, after which it was administered by Belgium. The country became an independent monarchy in 1962 and a republic in 1966. Multiparty elections in 1993 resulted in the country being led for the first time by a member of the Hutu majority rather than the traditionally dominant Tutsis; this led within months to large-scale ethnic violence.