Gisenyi, historically rendered as Kisenyi, is a city in Rubavu district in Rwanda's Western Province. Gisenyi is contiguous with Goma, the city across the border in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Overview

The city features a resort on the shores of Lake Kivu, with several

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

s and three sandy beaches. The area is also known for water sports. The northern shore of the lake on which Goma and Gisenyi lie is a flat plain featuring lava formations from the eruptions of nearby Mount Nyiragongo. In contrast to Goma, Gisenyi escaped the lava flows of both the 1977 and the 2002 eruptions, which destroyed between 15 and 40% of the former. The centre of Gisenyi lies by foothills at the northeast corner of the lake, and low-density expansion is taking place in the hills, which are expected to be safe from future eruptions. Gisenyi is also home to Bralirwa, which manufactures various local beers — Primus, Mützig, Amstel and Guinness — as well as a range of Coca-Cola–branded soft drinks. Gisenyi is a small town compared to neighbouring Goma in the DRC, though Gisenyi is growing quickly. In 2011, a new multistorey shopping mall began construction over an old bus station. As of 2011, the main roads of the town are paved, and sidewalks are nearing completion for most of them as well. Gisenyi has two borders with Goma, the "Petite Barrière" and the "Grand Barrière". These names are a little misleading because the Petite Barrière is physically larger and features much higher traffic volumes. About 6,000 people crossed the Petite Barrière daily during 2011. On the Gisenyi side, a large customs and immigration office was built with a large capacity, not yet matched by the Congolese facilities. Similarly, the road to the Petite Barrière is paved on the Rwandan side but not on the Congolese side. The Grande Barrière is paved on both sides and receives more of the heavy truck traffic. It is also a diplomatic border. During the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...

, the provisional government was based in the city. Gisenyi is the city where Laurent Nkunda — accused by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

of having led an army that illegally recruited

Congolese Congolese or Kongolese may refer to: African peoples * Congolese people (disambiguation) * Kongo people, a Bantu ethnic group who live along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire (Republic of Congo) to Luanda, Angola, primarily defined by ...

child soldiers — is being held, pending a determination on the DRC's

extradition Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisd ...

request.

Education

Gisenyi's campus of

Kigali Independent University Kigali Independent University (french: Université Libre de Kigali, ULK), in Rwanda, is a private Institution of Higher Learning founded on 15 March 1996 and governed by the Law No. 27/2013 of 24/5/2013 governing the organization and functioning ...

had an enrollment of 3413 students in the 2012-2013 academic year. The students were pursuing programs in the faculties of Economics and Business Studies, Social Sciences, and Law.Sekibibi Ezechiel,
Seventeenth Year Book 2013
'', pages 7 and 10. Kigali: April 2014. Retrieved on 19 March 2015. University of tourism Technology and Business studies(UTB) previously called RTUC also has a Gisenyi campus. The town has about 30 public and private schools, including nursery, primary and secondary schools.

References

{{Authority control Western Province, Rwanda Populated places in Rwanda Populated places on Lake Kivu Cities in the Great Rift Valley