Geography of Rwanda

Rwanda's cities and towns along with selected villages

Satellite image of Rwanda

Rwanda is a landlocked country located in Central Africa, to the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its countryside consists of grasslands and rolling hills, and it has a temperate climate.

Political geography

Rwanda borders Burundi for 290 km, the Democratic Republic of the Congo for 217 km, Tanzania for 217 km, and Uganda for 169 km.

Physical geography

Rwanda has an area of 26 thousands square kilometers, of which 3 percent is water.

Climate

Although Rwanda is located only two degrees south of the equator, Rwanda's high elevation makes the climate temperate. The average daily temperature near Lake Kivu, at an altitude of 4,800 feet (1,463 m) is 73 °F (22.8 °C). During the two rainy seasons (February-May and September-December), heavy downpours occur almost daily, alternating with sunny weather. Annual rainfall averages 800 mm (31.5 in) but is generally heavier in the western and northwestern mountains than in the eastern savannas.

Natural Resources

Rwanda possesses the following natural resources:

• gold
• cassiterite (tin ore)
• wolframite (tungsten ore)
• methane
• hydropower
• coffee
• tea
• arable land
• green beans

The use of land in Rwanda is largely for arable land, and other purposes. 40 km² of land in Rwanda is irrigated. The table below describes the land use in Rwanda, as of 2005.

Land use

Use	Percentage of Area
arable land	45.56
permanent crops	10.25 plus the average height
other	44.19

Environment

Natural hazards in Rwanda include periodic droughts and the volcanic activity of the Virunga Mountains, located in the northwest of the country, along the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Current issues

Current issues concerning the environment in Rwanda include: the result of uncontrolled deforestation for fuel, overgrazing, soil exhaustion and widespread poaching.

International agreements

Rwanda is a party to the following international agreements:

• Biodiversity
• Climate Change
• Desertification
• Endangered Species
• Nuclear Test Ban

Rwanda has signed, but not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Extreme points

This is a list of the extreme points of Rwanda, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.

• Northern-most point - unnamed location on the border with Uganda immediately north-west of the village of Kagitumba, Eastern province
• Eastern-most point - unnamed location on the border with Tanzania in the Kagera river, Eastern province
• Southern-most point - unnamed location on the border with Burundi, Southern province
• Western-most point - unnamed location on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the Ruzizi river immediately south of the DRC town of Bukavu, Western province

See also

• List of lakes in Rwanda