River valley in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
View of grassland in Butaho in the Ruzizi Plain of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Ruzizi Plain (French: Plaine de la Ruzizi) is a valley situated between the Mitumba mountain chain and the Ruzizi River. It serves as a natural border, separating the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from Burundi and Rwanda on the other side. The Ruzizi Plain is an integral part of the larger Western Rift Valley, which stretches across several African countries. It is traversed by the Ruzizi River, which flows from Lake Kivu through the plain and into Lake Tanganyika.[1][2] It covers an area of 175,000 hectares divided between Burundi, Rwanda and the DRC. In Burundi, the plain extends to the northern sector of Imbo. It is bounded by parallels 2°36′ and 3°26′ south latitude and by meridians 29°00′ and 29°26 east longitude—an area of 1025 km2. The Congolese side is bounded to the north by the plain of Bugarama (Rwanda), to the east by the plain of Imbo (Burundi), to the West by the chain of Mitumba and to the South by Lake Tanganyika. The region covers thus about 80,000 hectares with 80 kilometers in length.[3][4][5][6]
The Ruzizi Plain is known for its rich biodiversity, including a wide variety of plant and animal species. The area is also home to several important protected areas, including the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and the Rugege Forest Reserve, which are known for their unique wildlife and ecosystems. In addition to its ecological importance, the Ruzizi Plain is also of significant economic and cultural importance to the people who live in the region.[7][8] The area is a meeting point for many ethnic groups; the water and the fertile lands have attracted, for centuries, people coming from several regions of the Great Lakes region: the Bavira, the Bafuliiru, the Bashi, the Balega, the Babembe, the Banyindu, the Bahavu, (from South Kivu) and the Hutu, Tutsi and Batwa from neighboring Burundi and Rwanda.[9] The region is also a major agricultural center, with crops such as coffee, maize, and beans being grown in the area. However, the Ruzizi Plain has also been plagued by conflicts and is often considered the periphery of a vast area of insecurity whose major criminogenic centers are located in the middle and high plateaux of the Uvira Territory and in the Fizi Territory. The slopes of the mountains of the Hauts and Moyens Plateaux are occupied by regional and foreign armed groups. Cattle thefts, kidnappings, murders, drought and robberies have skyrocketed in the region.[10][11][12]
^Newbury, Catharine (1975). The Cohesion of Oppression: A Century of Clientship in Kinyaga, Rwanda · Volume 1. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin-Madison. p. 40.
^Chubaka, Bishikwabo (1987). "Aux Origines de La Ville D'Uvira Selon Les Explorateurs et Les Pionniers de La Colonisation Belge Au Zaire (1840-1914)". Civilisations. 37 (1): 83–126. ISSN 0009-8140. JSTOR 41968746.
^Guillaume, H.A. (1950). Monographie de la plaine de la Ruzizi (in French).
^Monographie de la province du Sud-Kivu (in French). La République. 1998.
^"Reports of Mandatory Powers: Submitted to the Council of the League of Nations in Accordance with Article 22 of the Covenant and Considered by the Permanent Mandates Commission at Its Sixth-[eighth, Tenth] Session (June-July 1925)-[February-March 1926, November 1926] · Issue 30". The University of Michigan. 1925. p. 51. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
^Rushigira, Cadeau; Mirindi, Germaine Furaha; Ngezirabona, Stany Vwima (2021-05-23). "Socio-technical Context of Market Gardening in the Ruzizi Plain in Eastern DRC: Constraints and Stakeholders' Strategies". European Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences. 3 (3): 69–75. doi:10.24018/ejfood.2021.3.3.295. ISSN 2684-1827. S2CID 236360144.
^Muvundja, Fabrice Amisi; Walumona, Jacques Riziki; Dusabe, Marie-Claire; Alunga, Georges Lufungula; Kankonda, Alidor Busanga; Albrecht, Christian; Eisenberg, Joachim; Wuest, Alfred, eds. (2022). "The Land-Water-Energy Nexus of Ruzizi River Dams (Lake Kivu Outflow, African Great Lakes Region): Status, Challenges, and Perspectives". Frontiers in Environmental Science. 10. doi:10.3389/fenvs.2022.892591. ISSN 2296-665X.
^"Strategic Action Plan for the integrated management of the Lake Kivu and Rusizi/Ruzizi River Basin and its Basin Authority ABAKIR" (PDF). ABAKIR. July 2022. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
^Vlassenroot, Koen (2013). "South Kivu: Identity, Territory, and Power in the Eastern Congo". Rift Valley Institute. London, England. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
^AfricaNews (2018-03-02). "RDC : insécurité dans la plaine de la Ruzizi". Africanews (in French). Retrieved 2023-04-21.
^"RDC : La plaine de la Ruzizi sous la menace d'une insécurité alimentaire". Afrique Sub-Saharienne. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
^"Reportage Afrique - RDC: la plaine de la Ruzizi est de nouveau menacée par les groupes armés [1/5]". RFI (in French). 2022-10-30. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
The RuziziPlain (French: Plaine de la Ruzizi) is a valley situated between the Mitumba mountain chain and the Ruzizi River. It serves as a natural border...
The Ruzizi (also sometimes spelled Rusizi, French: Rivière Ruzizi) is a river, 117 kilometres (73 mi) long, that flows from Lake Kivu to Lake Tanganyika...
the Ngweshe Chiefdom of the Walungu Territory. It is located in the RuziziPlain in the South Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)...
Lake Kivu and to the north and northwest of Uvira Territory, along the RuziziPlain near the border with Rwanda and Burundi, where a contingent of Fuliiru...
relief. It is minimal during the dry season (20 °C to 30 °C) in the RuziziPlain and 15 °C to 25 °C in the High Plateau. The wet season in Uvira typically...
equatorial forests, with abundant rainfall throughout the year. The RuziziPlain, however, presents a unique micro-climate—a tropical climate with a dry...
the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Situated on the RuziziPlain, it lies at the borders of Uvira Territory and Walungu Territory, in...
(turned Tutsi), which negated interethnic tension. They settled above the RuziziPlain on the Itombwe Plateau. The plateau, which reached an altitude of 3000...
(turned Tutsi), which negated interethnic tension. They settled above the RuziziPlain on the Itombwe Plateau. The plateau, which reached an altitude of 3,000...
These areas form an integral part of the RuziziPlain, situated between Mitumba mountain chain and the Ruzizi River. The elevation in this area ranges...
the 8th Integrated Brigade were killed around midday in Bwegera in the RuziziPlain of Uvira Territory in South Kivu. In August 2009, a vehicle carrying...
rivers originating from the hills of Burundi and the western part of the RuziziPlain. The most important rivers in the Congolese part are the Luvimvi River...
Rwanda. In October 1996 Rwandan forces attacked refugee camps in the RuziziPlain near the intersection of the Congolese, Rwandan and Burundi borders meet...
35,000 had sought refuge in Zaire. The farmers mostly settled on the Ruziziplain while the more-educated exiles applied for work with limited success...
plateaus. Approximately half of the chiefdom's land is situated within the RuziziPlain, where prominent areas such as Kamanyola, Burhale, Kaniola, Mulambi,...
mountains, lakes, rivers, forests, and fertile plains. Roughly half of its terrain is situated within the RuziziPlain, a vast lowland area known for its fertile...
raids were launched by Inyenzi operating from Kivu, Congo across the Ruziziplain towards Cyangugu. The GNR rebuffed them and executed about 90 prisoners...
that the territory stretching along the north-western coastline of the RuziziPlain—from Uvira all the way to Luvungi—was under the jurisdiction of the Bahamba...
to preserve the ecological balance and combat desertification in the RuziziPlain. In May 1989, the reforestation project culminated in the successful...
Karume, K. & Mushagalusa. "Benefits and drivers of farm mechanisation in RuziziPlain, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo". African Crop Science Journal...
plateau in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, overlooking the Ruziziplain Itombwe Nature Reserve, a nature reserve on the Itombwe Mountains Itombwe...
000 metres (9,800 ft). The mountains drop sharply in the east to the Ruziziplain bordering Lake Tanganyika. They form a plateau that slopes down more...
cotton-growing region based mainly on forced labour that spanned from RuziziPlain and reached as far as south, north and west areas of the Democratic Republic...
the western part of the RuziziPlain in the Uvira Territory in the South Kivu Province and joins the Ruzizi River across the Plain. As it courses through...
In South Kivu, AFDL/APR/FAB soldiers erected numerous barriers on the Ruziziplain to stop Rwandan and Burundian refugees who had been dispersed after their...
while others attributed the fatalities to the harsh climate of the RuziziPlains. However, Julius and Ruth Aspenlind, the first European missionaries...
at the base of the Mitumba Mountains (which lie to the west) in the RuziziPlain. It was once the site of the sugar cane mill of Sucraf-Sucki, the second...
Butaho Village View of grassland in Butaho in the RuziziPlain of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Butaho Coordinates: 3°14′7″S 29°9′58″E / 3.23528°S...
and the Zairean government organized the influx of immigrants from the RuziziPlain to the Fizi territory in Mutambala sector. Since the First Congo War...
Global Information