Rwanda Tourist Destinations
Rwanda, formerly Ruanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a country in East Africa and one of the smallest countries on the African mainland, and its capital city is Kigali. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Rwanda is in the African Great Lakes region and is highly elevated; its geography is dominated by mountains in the west and savanna to the east, with numerous lakes throughout the country. The climate is temperate to subtropical, with two rainy seasons and two dry seasons each year. Rwanda has a population of over 12.6 million living on 26,338 sq. km of land, and therefore it is the most densely populated mainland African country.
- Capital: Kigali
- President: Paul Kagame
- Prime Minister: Édouard Ngirente
- Population: 12.21 million (2017)
- GDP: $10.21 billion USD (2019)
- Official languages: Kinyarwanda · French · English
The Rwanda Tourist Destinations
Lake Kivu Rwanda
Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, which flows southwards into Lake Tanganyika.
Volcanoes National Park Rwanda
olcanoes National Park is a national park in northwestern Rwanda. It covers 160 km² of rainforest and encompasses five of the eight volcanoes in the Virunga Mountains, namely Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga and Sabyinyo. It borders Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. It is home to the mountain gorilla and the golden monkey, and was the base for the primatologist Dian Fossey.
Nyungwe Forest Rwanda
The Nyungwe Forest is located in southwestern Rwanda, on the border with Burundi, where it is contiguous with the Kibira National Park to the south, and Lake Kivu and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. The Nyungwe rainforest is probably the best preserved montane rainforest in Central Africa. It is located in the watershed between the basin of the river Congo to the west and the basin of the river Nile to the east. From the east side of the Nyungwe forest comes also one of the branches of the Nile sources.
Kigali Genocide Memorial Rwanda
The Kigali Genocide Memorial commemorates the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The remains of over 250,000 people are interred there. There is a visitor centre for students and those wishing to understand the events leading up to the genocide of 1994. The Centre is a permanent memorial to those who fell victim to the genocide and serves as a place in which the bereaved could bury their family and friends. The Centre is managed and run by the Aegis Trust on behalf of the National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide.
Akagera National Park Rwanda
Akagera National Park is a protected area in eastern Rwanda covering 1,122 km² along the international border with Tanzania. It was founded in 1934 and includes savannah, montane and swamp habitats. The park is named for the Kagera River which flows along its eastern boundary feeding into Lake Ihema and several smaller lakes. The complex system of lakes and linking papyrus swamps makes up over a third of the park, which is the largest protected wetland in Eastern-Central Africa.
Lake Muhazi Rwanda
Lake Muhazi is a long thin shallow lake in the east of Rwanda. The bulk of the lake lies in the Eastern Province, with the western end forming the border between the Northern and Kigali Provinces.
- Area: 33 km²
- Surface elevation: 1,443 m
- Length: 37 km
- Catchment area: 829 km²
- Max. depth: 14 m (46 ft)
- Average depth: 10 m (33 ft)
Mount Huye
Mount Huye is a mountain located near to the city of Butare in southern Rwanda. It is connected by a ridge to Nyungwe Forest to the west, and is on the outer edges of the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift.