Population in Rwanda
Senior 2 · Geography and Environment
Population in Rwanda
Lesson 2 of 4
20 min
Stand on a hill in Rubavu and you see houses on almost every slope. Drive through parts of Kayonza and the houses are far apart. The number of people per square kilometre shapes everything from land prices to the number of schools a district needs. This lesson explains how Rwanda's population is spread and why.
Rwanda had 13,246,394 people in 2022 on 26,338 km². Calculate the density.
| Area | Density (people per km²) |
|---|---|
| Kicukiro district (City of Kigali), the densest district | 2,944 |
| Nyarugenge district (City of Kigali) | 2,830 |
| City of Kigali as a whole | 2,401 |
| Rubavu district | 1,614 |
| Musanze district | 1,157 |
| Rwanda as a whole | 503 |
| Eastern Province, the most thinly settled province | 433 |
Note that the Eastern Province is the most populous province (3,563,145 people) but the least dense, because it is the largest. Total population and density measure different things.
| Physical factors | Human factors |
|---|---|
| Soils: fertile volcanic soils around Musanze and Rubavu attract dense farming populations. Climate and rainfall: reliable rain in the north and west supports more people than the drier east. Relief: very steep, high land (the Congo–Nile Ridge summits) is thinly settled. Water: lake shores (Kivu) and rivers attract settlement; dry areas far from water repel it. Vegetation and protected land: Nyungwe, the Virungas and Akagera have almost no residents. | Towns and jobs: Kigali's industries, offices and services attract people. Transport: roads and junctions draw settlement. Social services: schools, hospitals, water and electricity. Government policy: planned villages (imidugudu), resettlement and land-use plans. History: long-settled farming areas of the north-west and south are dense; some eastern areas were settled only recently. |
How many times denser is the City of Kigali than the Eastern Province?
2,401 ÷ 433 = 5.5…, so Kigali is about 5.5 times as dense.
Tip
Memory hook. People go where there is "S-W-J-S": good Soil, Water, Jobs, Services. Rubavu and Musanze have the first two; Kigali has the last two. When you explain why a place is dense, give one physical and one human reason.
Solution: 400,000 ÷ 1,000 = 400 people per km².
Solution: fertile volcanic soils and reliable rainfall.
Solution: it is a protected national park of steep, forested mountains where settlement is not allowed.
Solution: it has a very large area, so its many people are spread thinly.
Solution: Kicukiro (2,944 people per km²).
Summary
Sources and credits
The factor table, the worked examples and the practice items are written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
