River · Rwanda
Nyabarongo
The Nyabarongo is the longest river in Rwanda. It curves through the hills of the country in a great loop and then merges into the Kagera, whose water travels on to Lake Victoria.
Picture credit: Mugisha Don de Dieu (CC BY 2.0) · John Cooke (CC BY 2.0) · Davyimage (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Nyabarongo?
The river starts here: Nyungwe forest in the south-west of Rwanda.
It ends in the merges into the Kagera and flows on to Lake Victoria.
Countries on the river: Rwanda.
The story behind it
Rwanda is called the land of a thousand hills, and the Nyabarongo winds between them like a brown ribbon. Its water begins in the cool mountain forest of Nyungwe, where monkeys leap through the trees and mist hangs in the canopy. Further down the valley opens into papyrus swamps that hide shy birds, among them the odd-looking shoebill. Farmers grow rice and sweet potatoes on the wet ground, and cattle come to drink at the edge. After heavy rain the river carries so much red soil that it looks like melted chocolate, and it can flood fields and roads. Many people know the Nyabarongo for another reason: together with the Kagera it counts as one of the farthest sources of the Nile, the longest river system in Africa.
Questions children ask
How long is the Nyabarongo?
The Nyabarongo is 351 km long. In a country as small as Rwanda that is enough to make it by far the longest river.
Which countries does the Nyabarongo flow through?
Through Rwanda. The river loops around the middle of the country, from the south-western forests to the marshes in the east.
Where does the Nyabarongo flow into?
It does not reach a sea. The river becomes the Kagera, which carries the water into Lake Victoria, from where the Nile continues northwards.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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