Mount Sabyinyo ("Sabyinyo" is derived from the

Kinyarwanda Kinyarwanda, Rwandan or Rwanda, officially known as Ikinyarwanda, is a Bantu language and the national language of Rwanda. It is a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language that is also spoken in adjacent parts of the Democratic Republic of the ...

word "Iryinyo", meaning "tooth"; also "Sabyinyo, Sabyinio") is an

extinct volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the Crust (geology), crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth ...

in eastern Africa in the

Virunga Mountains The Virunga Mountains (also known as Mufumbiro) are a chain of volcanoes in East Africa, in the area where Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Uganda meet. The mountain range is a branch of the Albertine Rift Mountains, ...

. Mount Sabyinyo is the oldest volcano of the range. It is north-east of

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 ...

, one of the

African Great Lakes The African Great Lakes (; ) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. The series includes Lake Victoria, the second-largest freshwater lake in the world by area; Lake Tangan ...

, and west of

Lake Bunyonyi Lake Bunyonyi ("Place of many little birds") is in south-western Uganda between Kisoro and Kabale, close to the border with Rwanda. The lake appeared from 2004 to 2009 on the Ugandan shilling, USh note under the title "Lake Bunyonyi and t ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. The summit of the mountain, at , marks the intersection of the borders of 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 ...

(DRC),

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 ...

, and Uganda, and holds religious significance for local tribes. It also is within the adjoining national parks established by these countries:

Virunga National Park Virunga National Park is a national park in the Albertine Rift Valley in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was created in 1925. In elevation, it ranges from in the Semliki River valley to in the Rwenzori Mountains. ...

in the DRC, the

Volcanoes National Park Volcanoes National Park is a national park in northwestern Rwanda. It covers of rainforest and encompasses five of the eight volcanoes in the Virunga Mountains, namely Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga and Sabyinyo. It borders Virunga ...

in Rwanda, and

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is a national park in southwestern Uganda. It was created in 1991 and covers an area of . Geography Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is located in the Virunga Mountains and encompasses three inactive volcanoes, name ...

in Uganda. The slopes of Mount Sabyinyo are a habitat for the critically endangered

mountain gorilla The mountain gorilla (''Gorilla beringei beringei'') is one of the two subspecies of the eastern gorilla. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN . There are two populations: One is found in the Virunga Mountains, Virunga volcanic mountains of C ...

. The mountain carries the local nickname "Old Man's Teeth," because its serrated summit resembles worn teeth in a gum line (in contrast to the perfect conical summits of the adjacent mountains in this range). The peaks of Mount Sabyinyo can be easily done and accessed and trekked along the foothills from the side of Mgahinga National park in Uganda.

References

External links

Encyclopædia Britannica entry

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabyinyo, Mount Mount Sabyinyo International mountains of Africa Volcanoes of Africa Mountains of Rwanda Mountains of Uganda Mountains of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Stratovolcanoes of Rwanda Stratovolcanoes of Uganda Stratovolcanoes of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Three-thousanders Border tripoints Mount Sabyinyo Mount Sabyinyo Mount Sabyinyo Mount Sabyinyo Extinct volcanoes Pleistocene stratovolcanoes Mount Sabyinyo