Ruhengeri, also known as Musanze or Muhoza, is a city and capital of

Musanze District Musanze is a district in the Northern Province of Rwanda. Its capital city is Ruhengeri. Geography and tourism Musanze is Rwanda's most mountainous district, containing the largest part of the Volcanoes National Park, and its head office at Ki ...

in the Northern Province 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 ...

. Some sources now refer to the city itself as Musanze, after the district in which it lies within. This has to do with the adopted policy of renaming Rwanda cities, which was done to eliminate memories of the past and to install new administrations in the country. Ruhengeri lies near the twin lakes of

Lake Burera Lake Burera or Bulera is a lake of northwestern Rwanda, at the border with Uganda. With an area pf , it is the second largest lake entirely in Rwanda after Lake Ihema (). Considering all other lakes in the country (including lakes shared with othe ...

and

Lake Ruhondo Lake Ruhondo is a lake of northwestern Rwanda. It is located near Lake Bulera on the outskirts of Musanze. It is located at the base of Rwanda's largest volcano, the Kalisimbi Volcanic mountain. Lake Ruhondo and is one of two lakes formed out ...

and is the gateway city to

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 the 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/ ...

s in the north-western part of the country. The city's proximity to the

has made it a popular tourist destination with several restaurants and hotels mainly aimed at visitors to the national park. Ruhengeri is also home to the Institute of Applied Sciences (INES).

References

Northern Province, Rwanda Populated places in Rwanda {{Rwanda-geo-stub