Relief in Rwanda
Senior 2 · Geography and Environment
Relief in Rwanda
Lesson 2 of 3
20 min
Rwanda is often called the "land of a thousand hills", but the hills are not the same everywhere. Travel from Rusizi in the south-west to Nyagatare in the north-east and you pass warm lakeshore plains, a high forested ridge, a plateau of rounded hills and finally gentle savanna lowlands. Relief is the shape and height of the land surface. Knowing the relief regions explains Rwanda's climate, soils, rivers, farming and even where people live.
Rwanda's land is highest in the west and north-west and falls towards the east. The highest point is Mount Karisimbi, 4,507 m, in the Virunga volcanoes. The lowest point is on the Rusizi River, 950 m, in the south-west. The whole country is therefore a highland: even its lowest point is almost a kilometre above sea level.
Worked example
Find the difference in height between Rwanda's highest and lowest points.
4,507 m − 950 m = 3,557 m. That range of height inside a country little more than 200 km across is why Rwanda has such varied climates and land uses.
| Region | Where | Approximate height | Main features |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Lake Kivu shores and the Bugarama (Imbo) plain | West and south-west: Rubavu, Rutsiro, Karongi, Nyamasheke, Rusizi | Lake Kivu at 1,460 m; the Bugarama plain near the lowest point (950 m) | A rift valley floor: the lake, its islands and indented shores, steep fault scarps rising behind; a flat alluvial plain in the far south-west |
| 2. The Congo–Nile Ridge | A chain of mountains running north–south just east of Lake Kivu | Mostly about 2,000–3,000 m | Steep, deeply cut mountains; the water divide between the Congo basin (west) and the Nile basin (east); Nyungwe and Gishwati-Mukura forests |
| 3. The volcanic region and the northern (Buberuka) highlands | North-west and north: Musanze, Nyabihu, Burera, Gicumbi | Volcano summits 3,474–4,507 m; highlands about 1,800–2,500 m | The Virunga cones (Karisimbi, Bisoke, Sabyinyo, Gahinga, Muhabura); lava plains; lava-dammed Lakes Burera and Ruhondo |
| 4. The Central Plateau | The centre and south: Kigali, Muhanga, Huye, Nyanza | About 1,500–2,000 m | Countless rounded hills separated by valleys, many with marshy floors: the "thousand hills" |
| 5. The Eastern plateaus and lowlands | East: Nyagatare, Gatsibo, Kayonza, Kirehe, Bugesera | Mostly below about 1,500 m | Gentler, lower hills and wide valleys; many lakes (Muhazi, Mugesera, Ihema, Rweru) and swamps along the Akagera River; savanna |
Look at the relief map below: the rough, dark-shaded land of the west and north-west, the volcanoes on the northern border, and the smoother land and chain of lakes along the eastern border.
Tip
Memory hook. Walk from west to east and you go down the stairs: lake shore → up onto the ridge → down to the central plateau → down to the eastern lowlands. The volcanoes stand apart in the north-west corner.
Solution: Mount Karisimbi, 4,507 m.
Solution: the Congo–Nile Ridge.
Solution: the Central Plateau.
Solution: any two of Muhazi, Mugesera, Ihema, Rweru.
Solution: 1,460 − 950 = 510 m.
Summary
Sources and credits
The regional table is compiled and written by Ganzaa; heights are rounded approximations. The worked example and practice items are written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
