Rubavu District is one of the seven districts of the country
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
(''akarere'') in
Western Province
Western Province or West Province may refer to:
* Western Province, Cameroon
*Western Province, Rwanda
*Western Province (Kenya)
*Western Province (Papua New Guinea)
*Western Province (Solomon Islands)
*Western Province, Sri Lanka
*Western Provin ...
,
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 ...
. Its capital is
Gisenyi
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.
Overview
The city features a resort on th ...
, It has a large beach resort and border city. It has a total surface area of 388.3 Km2.
Geography
The district lies on the shores of
Lake Kivu
Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, which ...
, around the city of
Gisenyi
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.
Overview
The city features a resort on th ...
, and just across the border from the
Congolese city of
Goma
Goma is the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the weste ...
.
It is bordered in the east by
Nyabihu District
Nyabihu is a district (''akarere'') in Western Province, Rwanda. Its capital is Mukamira. Nyabihu district is divided into 12 sectors (''imirenge''): Bigogwe, Jenda, Jomba, Kabatwa, Karago, Kintobo, Mukamira, Muringa, Rambura, Rugera, Rurembo a ...
, west and north by 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 south by Rutsiro district and is 154.7 km from city of
Kigali
Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...
the capital of Rwanda which is 2 hours and 53 minutes drive. Its geographic location and related features such as
lake kivu
Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, which ...
helps the district to be a business and tourism hub (especially through cross border trade with DRC). The District of Rubavu is composed of 12 administrative sectors, 80 Cells and 525 Villages (Imidugudu). Geography of the District Rainfall in Rubavu District varies between 1200 mm and 1500 mm per year. The Land of Northwest part of the
District
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
has a very rich soil, but shallow, volcanic ash and lava decomposed, while land in the south east has deep soils but poor, often acidic, sandy clay and leached by high erosion, It is also close to
Mount Nyiragongo
Mount Nyiragongo ( ) is an active stratovolcano with an elevation of in the Virunga Mountains associated with the Albertine Rift. It is located inside Virunga National Park, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, about north of the town of ...
, an
active volcano
An active volcano is a volcano which is either erupting or is likely to erupt in the future. An active volcano which is not currently erupting is known as a dormant volcano.
Overview
Tlocene Epoch. Most volcanoes are situated on the Pacific Ri ...
. On 2 May 2021, a new eruption started.
Rubavu District has a very strategic location as it is one hour drive away from
Volcanoes National Park
Volcanoes National Park is a national park in northwestern Rwanda. It covers of rainforest and encompasses five of the eight volcanoes in the Virunga Mountains, namely Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga and Sabyinyo. It borders Virunga N ...
and has a good stopover to or from
Nyungwe National Park
The Nyungwe Forest () is located in southwestern Rwanda, on the border with Burundi, where it is contiguous with the Kibira National Park to the south, and Lake Kivu and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. The Nyungwe rainfores ...
, and a suitable relaxation point from the hectic Gorilla trekking or Chimpanzee trekking respectively
Demography
In 2012, The fourth
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 ...
Population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
and Housing Census (PHC4), enumerated 403,662 residents in Rubavu District on a density of 1039 Inhabitants/Km2 , where 51.7 % of the total population are
female
Female (Venus symbol, symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ovum, ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the Sperm, male gamete during sexual reproduction.
A female has larger gamet ...
s and 48.3 % are
male
Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization.
A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...
. Total population in urban areas is 149,209 which makes 37% of the total district's population whereas 254,453 (63%) reside in rural areas. The district's population represents 3.8% of the total country's population and 16.3 % of the Western Province population (2,471,239 inhabitants). The average house-hold size is 5.2 against 4.8 at national level, the population aged between 0-14 years old represented 43.8% and the population aged between 15 and 49 years old represented 47.8% while those above 50 years old represented 8.1%.
Tourism
Tourism has been highlighted as the potential main economic sector for Rubavu District. In the last few years there has been a growth in the number of hotels and resorts in Rubavu. Rubavu is mostly a weekend destination for Rwandan's wanting to relax by Lake Kivu for a weekend, but also for international visitors on a safari to Rwanda. Rubavu is also the start of the Congo Nile Trail.
Beach Bars
Located a short distance away across the bridge over
Sebeya River
The Sebeya River is a river in Western Province, Rwanda that empties into Lake Kivu just south of the town of Gisenyi.
Location
The Sebeya river originates in the mountains of Rutsiro District.
It measures 110 km in length watershed includes o ...
from Rubavu Public Beach and the city center is a series of beach bars on the shores of Lake Kivu. This place is rather lively on weekends and attracts visitors from Democratic Republic of Congo and Kigali. The series of beach bars offer live music food and drinks on the lake's edge
Mount Rubavu climbing
Gisenyi city is located at the heel of
Mount Rubavu
Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest.
Mount or Mounts may also refer to:
Places
* Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England
* Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...
. A climb at the top of the mountain rewards you with exceptional views of Gisenyi town and the entire Lake Kivu as well as the neighboring city of Goma. Mount Rubavu also has an interesting history as it had the bases of Germans during their battles with Belgians in the First World War. There is also rock climbing sport at the mountain.
Pfunda tea estate
![Malabar_Tea_Plantation_Bandung_South](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Malabar_Tea_Plantation_Bandung_South.jpg)
Is on the main estate where tea growing takes place producing some of the world's best teas, It lies between Virunga Volcano and the rich volcanic soil nine kilometers from Rubavu town, farmers in this plantation are welcoming and willing to take on a tour in the plantation showing how to pick a tea leaves and how they are processed to tea.
Gisenyi public beach
This
beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...
is created by a strip of
yellow sand, grey and
green water
Maritime geography is a collection of terms used by naval military units to loosely define three maritime regions: brown water, green water, and blue water.
Definitions
The elements of maritime geography are loosely defined and their meanings ha ...
.
Rubona peninsula
It is found from six kilometers from Rubavu town, it is on the
Lac Kivu shores with hills steeply from the lake's foreshores and patches of green garden. It has sandy beaches suitable for swimming. Is a site of many boats and men carrying out fishing.
Kayaking on Lake Kivu
This is another place on the waters which is very safe, the lake harbors no
hippopotamus
The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
or
crocodile
Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...
s.
Congo Nile trail.
Congo Nile is a 227 km trail along lake Kivu forming Kivu belt as it extends from Rubavu, continues through Rutsiro, then Karongi, up to Nyamasheke and ends at Rusizi District. It offers a tour on foot or on bike, it depends on tourists, with magnificent views of Lake Kivu.
Palm oil plantation
In this district there are many
palm oil
Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...
plantations which also attract tourists.
Hotels and accommodation
Rubavu District has many different hotels, lodges: Celena Hotel, Gorilla Lake Kivu Hotel, Hakuna Matata lodge, Kivu Peace View Hotel, Bora Smart Guest House, The Palm Beach Resort and others.
Sectors
Rubavu district is divided into 12 sectors (''imirenge''): Bugeshi, Busasamana, Cyanzarwe, Gisenyi, Kanama, Kanzenze, Mudende, Nyakiliba, Nyamyumba,
Nyundo, Rubavu and Rugerero.
See also
*
Maison St Benoit
Maison St Benoit is a small Benedictine nunnery in Kigufi, Rwanda.
Location
Kigufi is a village in Rwanda, in central Africa, adjacent to Lake Kivu, one of the great Rift Valley lakes. Kigufi is situated in the Western Province of Rwanda, ...
References
*
Inzego.doc— Province, District and Sector information from ''MINALOC'', the Rwanda ministry of local government.
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Districts of Rwanda