Rwanda land of a thousand hills is a mountainous country at the center of the Great lakes region of central to eastern Africa, near the “Mountains of the Moon,” already famous in ancient Greece.

Rwanda’s elevation ranges from 1,000m (south and east) to 4,500m above sea level. The “thousand hills” terrain is dominated from north to south by a watershed (2.500m high) that separates the basin of the Zaire River from that of the Nile and by the Ibirunga volcano chain, famous for the last remaining mountain gorillas, who found refuge there.

With an area of 26,338 sqkm, and a population of approximately 7 million (1990 estimate), the country is completely surrounded by Zaire (west), Uganda (north), Tanzania (east) and Burundi (south), and as a landlocked nation has no direct access to the sea.

In spite of its proximity (2 degrees south) to the equator, the country enjoys a fine spring climate (due to its altitude), with two rainy seasons and two dry seasons.

Administrative and Road Map