The Rutshuru River (

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

: ''Rivière Rutshuru'') is a river in the eastern

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 ...

that drains

Lake Mutanda Lake Mutanda is a small freshwater lake in Uganda. Location The lake is located in Kisoro District in southwestern Uganda, approximately north of the town of Kisoro, where the district headquarters are located. This location is approximately , ...

in the foothills of 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, ...

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 ...

, flowing northward into Lake Rutanzige (formerly Lake Edward). For most of its length it runs through the

Rutshuru Territory Rutshuru Territory is a Territories of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, territory in the North Kivu province of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with headquarters is the town of Rutshuru. The territory is mountainous, inclu ...

North Kivu North Kivu () is a Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital city is Goma. Spanning approximately 59,483 square kilometers with a population esti ...

province.

Course

The Rutshuru is considered the highest source of the Nile.

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 ...

, with a surface elevation of , is fed by the Kabirita River from Rwanda and from many affluents from the surrounding hills, which rise to elevations of . Lake Bunyoni drains into the Ruhuhuma Swamp at its northern end. The eastern part of this swamp drains into the upper course of the Ishasha River, while the western part drains to Lake Mutanda at a surface elevation of . Lake Mutanda discharges from its south-west corner through the Kako River and the Tshengere Swamp into the Rutshuru. At one time, what is now

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 ...

was in the watershed of the Rutshuru River. Volcanic eruptions at the end of the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

. The water rose inside the basin to form Lake Kivu, eventually breaking through at the southern end to drain into

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the List of lakes by depth, second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. ...

. In its lower reaches, the river flows through the central section of the

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. ...

. The Rutshuru, Rwindi and Ishasha rivers form swamps and grasslands to the south of Lake Rutanzige. The river is home to herds of hippopotami. As of 2007, there were about 115 hippopotami per kilometer of the savannah and grass steppe along the Rutshuru River. There has been discussion about damming the river, which would have a serious impact on the downstream riverine wetlands.

References

Sources

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External links

* Rivers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Lake Edward Virunga Mountains Rivers of Uganda International rivers of Africa Nile basin {{Uganda-river-stub