Lake Kivu

Where is Lake Kivu?

Countries on its shores: DR Congo, Rwanda.

Largest lake of: Rwanda.

Middle of the lake: 1.80° S, 29.15° E

The story behind it

Lake Kivu lies 1 460 m above sea level in the Albertine Rift, a long valley that belongs to the East African Rift. It covers about 2 700 km², though some sources give a smaller figure. About 58% of the lake belongs to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the rest to Rwanda. It is the largest lake in Rwanda. In the lake lies Idjwi, one of the largest islands in any lake in the world. Towns such as Goma and Bukavu in the Congo and Gisenyi and Kibuye in Rwanda lie on the shore. The water flows out to the south through the Ruzizi River into Lake Tanganyika. Lake Kivu hides a secret in its depths: the deep water holds about 65 km³ of methane and 256 km³ of carbon dioxide. It is one of only three lakes in the world where such gas could suddenly bubble up.

Find it on the globe

Lake Kivu is there as a small blue dot with its name, right on the water. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.