Kigezi District once covered what are now Kabale District, Kanungu District, Kisoro District and Rukungiri District, in southwest

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. Its terraced fields are what gives this part of Uganda its distinctive character. Kigezi was popularly known as the

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The coordinates for the region are: Latitude:01 13 20S, 29 53 20E.

Constituencies

Before its division into the districts shown as above, Kigezi consisted of counties of: * Rukiga County, southeast of modern-day Kabale District, which bordered on the then

Ankole Ankole (Nkore language, Runyankore: ''Nkore''), was a traditional Bantu peoples, Bantu kingdom in Uganda and lasted from the 15th century until 1967. The kingdom was located in south-western Uganda, east of Lake Edward. History Ankole Realm, K ...

District. * Ndorwa County, this is the central area of modern-day Kabale District, where Kabale town is still located and Lake Bunyonyi is shared with the county of

Rubanda Rubanda is a town in the extreme southwest of the Western Region, Uganda, Western Region of Uganda. It serves as the commercial, political and administrative center of Rubanda District. Location Rubanda is located approximately , by road, west of ...

. * Rubanda County, southwest of modern-day Kabale District, bordering Kanungu District and Kisoro District and Kinkizi County, where the famous Nyamasizi Hot Springs are located. * Kinkizi County, northwest of modern-day Kabale District. This county shares its borders with 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 ...

. It also touches on Lake Edward on the border with

DRC 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 ...

* Bufumbira County, southwest of modern-day Kabale District, bordering with Rubanda County, the

Republic of Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bufumbira County is the location of

Lake Mutanda Lake Mutanda is a small freshwater lake in Uganda. Location The lake is located in Kisoro District in southwestern Uganda, approximately north of the town of Kisoro, where the district headquarters are located. This location is approximately , b ...

and

Lake Chahafi A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a Depression (geology), basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the World Ocean, oce ...

. *

Rujumbura County {{unreferenced, date=March 2021 Rujumbura was one of the six independent kingdoms which was established after the fall of the Kingdom of Mpororo in 1752 in present day Rukungiri, south western Uganda. It was ruled by an Omukama from the Beene Kiren ...

, which was the most northerly county of the district and bordered on the former

Ankole District Ankole (Runyankore: ''Nkore''), was a traditional Bantu kingdom in Uganda and lasted from the 15th century until 1967. The kingdom was located in south-western Uganda, east of Lake Edward. History Ankole Kingdom is located in the South-Western ...

and on Lake Edward. After the division of

Kigezi Kigezi District once covered what are now Kabale District, Kanungu District, Kisoro District and Rukungiri District, in southwest Uganda. Its terraced fields are what gives this part of Uganda its distinctive character. Kigezi was popularly known ...

into the four (4) current districts, they were named after their respective main towns, namely Kabale, Kanungu,

Kisoro Kisoro is a town in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the chief town of Kisoro District and the site of the district headquarters. Location Kisoro is approximately , by road, west of Kabale, the largest city in the Kigezi sub-region. This is ...

and

Rukungiri Rukungiri is a town in Rukungiri District of the Western Region of Uganda. It is the site of the district headquarters. Location Rukungiri is approximately , by road, north of Kabale, the largest city in the Kigezi sub-region. This is about , ...

People

The four modern district of the former Kigezi District are inhabited predominantly by the

Bakiga Kiga people, or ''Abakiga'' ("people of the mountains"), are a Bantu ethnic group native to south western Uganda and northern Rwanda. History Pre-colonial period The Kiga people are believed to have originated in Rwanda as mentioned in one of ...

Bahororo The Hororo or Bahororo are a Bantu speaking ethnicity who live mainly in the north of the former Kigezi District of south-western Uganda. In 1905, they were described by a British officer as a "quiet, inoffensive people" who owned cattle. They ar ...

, Bafumbira and

Banyarwanda The Banyarwanda ( rw, Abanyarwanda (plural), Umunyarwanda (singular), lit=those who come from Rwanda) are the cultural, tribal and linguistic group of people who inhabit mainly Rwanda. Some Banyarwanda live in the Democratic Republic of the C ...

people. All these ethnic groups share the similar cultural characteristics.

Paul Ngologoza Paul Ngologoza OBE, KSG (1897–1984) was a Ugandan writer of '' Kigezi and Its People.'' He was born at Rwanyena, in Rubaya (now in Kabale District), in then Kigezi District. He wrote about the people of Kigezi, which originally comprised the pre ...

’s book Kigezi and Its People provides detailed information about the Bakiga people, their traditions and history. The region is uniquely characterized by the Albertine Rift, or Western Rift Valley, and the African Great Lakes, which include Lake Bunyonyi, Lake Edward,

and

Lake Kyahafi A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

. Kigezi is also the home to the chain of volcanic mountains, the Virunga Mountains, located in what is now Kisoro District, and which also form the south-west

border with the

Democratic Republic of 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 ...

and

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

. Located in the Ugandan part of the Virunga Mountains is

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is a national park in southwestern Uganda. It was created in 1991 and covers an area of . Geography Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is located in the Virunga Mountains and encompasses three inactive volcanoes, name ...

which, along with the nearby

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) is in southwestern Uganda. The park is part of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and is situated along the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) border next to the Virunga National Park and on the edge o ...

are home to the internationally famous

mountain gorilla The mountain gorilla (''Gorilla beringei beringei'') is one of the two subspecies of the eastern gorilla. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN as of 2018. There are two populations: One is found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central/ ...

populations. The mountains also form part of the watershed between the two major African rivers, the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

and the

, with the highest peak on the

side of the border being

Mount Muhabura Mount Muhabura, also known as Mount Muhavura, is an inactive volcano in the Virunga Mountains on the border between Rwanda and Uganda. At Muhabura is the third highest of the eight major mountains of the mountain range, which is a part of the Al ...

. In the intervening valleys, often one finds expansive swampy areas, some of which, particularly those in Kabale District, have been reclaimed for pastureland.

References

External links

Updated Travel Guide to the Kigezi Region
{{Authority control Districts of Uganda

Constituencies

People

See also

References

External links