Idjwi, or Ijwi, is an inland island in

Lake Kivu Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, which ...

which forms part of South Kivu Province in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. At in length and with an area of , it is the second-largest lake island in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and the tenth largest in the world. Idjwi is roughly equidistant between the Congo and

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

, with separating its western shore from the DRC mainland and a similar distance between its eastern shore and the coastline of Rwanda. The island's southern tip, however, lies only from a promontory of the Rwandan coast.

History

Historically a clan-based Bahavu society and Bashi tribe, Idjwi island became a kingdom in the late 18th century (roughly between 1780 and 1840).

Demographics

In 2017, the island was estimated to have a population of 290,000, mostly Havus, with a small

Pygmy In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a po ...

minority. This is a massive increase from the estimated population of 50,000 in 1983.

Malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

is common, especially among children, and almost all of the population is dependent on

subsistence agriculture Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow crops on smallholdings to meet the needs of themselves and their families. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements. Planting decisions occu ...

References

Citations

Islands of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Lake Kivu Populated places on Lake Kivu Lake islands of Africa Populated places in South Kivu Geography of Rwanda {{DRCongo-geo-stub