The transport system in Rwanda centres primarily around the road network. Paved roads lie between the capital, Kigali, and most other major cities and towns in the country. Rwanda is also linked by road with other countries in the African Great Lakes, via which the majority of the country's imports and exports are made.
Kigali is the 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 is a relatively new city. It has been Rwanda's economic, cultural, and transport hub since it was founded as an administrative outpost in 1907, and became the capital of the country at independence in 1962, shifting focus away from Huye.
Jilin is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west. Along with the rest of Northeast China, Jilin underwent an early period of industrialization. However, Jilin's economy, characterized by heavy industry, has been facing economic difficulties with privatization. This prompted the central government to undertake a campaign called "Revitalize the Northeast". The region contains large deposits of oil shale.
Nyagatare is a town in the North East of Rwanda. With a population of more than 100,000, it is one of the most populous settlements in the Eastern Province along with Rwamagana and Kibungo.
Kigali International Airport, formerly known as Kanombe International Airport, is the primary international airport serving Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. As of June 2024, there is an ongoing project to build another mega-airport in Bugesera District, Eastern Province, which will be the biggest and the main air gateway for all destinations in the country, in addition to serving as a transit airport for Goma and Bukavu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. There are 4 airlines based at Kigali Airport: RwandAir, the flag carrier airline of Rwanda; Akagera Aviation, a Rwandan heli-company; Tempus Jet, an American airline providing charter flights; and Nexus Aero, a Saudi VIP airline.
The Kigali Genocide Memorial commemorates the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The remains of over 250,000 people are interred there.
Gasabo is a district (akarere) in Kigali city, the capital of Rwanda. The headquarter of Gasabo is located in Remera Sector. The district also includes large areas of the city itself, including Kacyiru, Kimironko, Remera, Nyarutarama and Kimihurura.
Lake Muhazi is a long thin shallow lake in the east of Rwanda. The bulk of the lake lies in the Eastern Province, with the western end forming the border between the Northern and Kigali Provinces. It is a flooded valley lake, lying predominantly in an east to west direction, but with numerous offshoots in a north to south direction, formerly the location of tributaries. The lake has a concrete dam at the western end, constructed in 1999 to replace an earth dam which had existed since time immemorial. The lake empties into the Nyabugogo River, which flows southwards to Kigali where it meets the Nyabarongo River, part of the upper Nile.
The Nyabarongo is a major river in Rwanda, part of the upper headwaters of the Nile. With a total length of 351 km (218 mi), it is the longest river entirely in Rwanda. It is extended 421 km (262 mi) in Lake Rweru including a 69 km (43 mi) upper course of Kagera River before joining into Ruvuvu River to form the Kagera River. The river begins its course at the confluence of the rivers Mbirurume and Mwogo in the South West of the country. These two rivers themselves begin in Nyungwe Forest, and are considered by some to be the most distant source of the Nile. From its start, Nyabarongo flows northward for 85 km, and forms the border between the Western and Southern Provinces. At the confluence with the river Mukungwa, the river changes course and flows eastward for 12 km, then to a more South Eastern course for the last 200 km. For the longest stretch of this course, the river serves as the boundary between the Northern and Southern Provinces, then between the City of Kigali and the Southern Province, and lastly between the City of Kigali and the Eastern Province.
Bugesera International Airport is an airport in the Bugesera District of Rwanda under construction since 2017.
Nyamata is a town and sector in the Bugesera District, southeastern Rwanda. Nyamata literally means 'place of milk' from the two Kinyarwanda words nya- 'of' and amata 'milk'. It is the location of the Nyamata Genocide Memorial, commemorating the Rwandan genocide of 1994.
Nemba is a settlement in Rwanda.
Nemba Airport is an airport in Rwanda.
Ntarama Genocide Memorial Centre is one of six genocide museums in Rwanda. Five thousand people were killed here in the Catholic church.
The Nyamata Genocide Memorial is based around a former church 30 km (19 mi) south of Kigali in Rwanda, which commemorates the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda. The remains of 50,000 people are buried here.
Rilima is a town and sector in southeastern Rwanda. It is the nearest urban center to Bugesera International Airport.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Kigali, Rwanda.
The Isaka–Kigali Standard Gauge Railway is a planned railway line linking the town of Isaka in Tanzania to the city of Kigali in Rwanda.
The Rwanda Standard Gauge Railway is a standard gauge railway (SGR) system, under development, linking the country to the neighboring countries of Tanzania and Uganda. It is intended to ease the transfer of goods between the Indian Ocean ports of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, and the Rwandan capital Kigali. The system is expected to link, in the future, to Rwanda's two other neighbors, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as part of the East African Railway Master Plan. With no previously existing railway network, Rwanda is developing its railway system from scratch. The project is dependent on the construction of the Tanzanian and Ugandan SGR lines to the Rwandan border, which have not been completed as of October 2023.
Gagan Gupta is the founder and CEO of Arise IIP, Arise IS and Arise P&L, three branches of a pan-African industrial operator and developer.
