Rwanda–Uganda border
A short border from the volcano of Sabinyo through high peaks and swamps to the Kagera River. An 1890 treaty put it on the parallel of one degree south, with a proviso about a mysterious Mount Mfumbiro. In 2019 Rwanda closed the main crossing at Gatuna amid a bitter rift with Uganda, reopening it only in 2022.
Written from cited sourcesLast checked 29 September 2026Suggest a correction
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Mount Mfumbiro
In 1890 Britain and Germany split their spheres along the parallel of 1° S from Lake Victoria to the Congo Free State, with a proviso: the British sphere would not include Mount Mfumbiro, and if the mountain lay south of the parallel the line would bend to exclude it. Mfumbiro turned out to be a whole region of volcanoes south of the parallel and west of the 30th meridian. Today the line runs from the volcano Sabinio through mountains and swamps, then down the Lubirizi, Muvogero and Kakitumba rivers to the Kagera.[1]
Gatuna
Rwanda closed its main border post with Uganda, Gatuna, in 2019. On 27 January 2022, after a visit to Kigali by Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, President Museveni’s son and Uganda’s army commander, Rwanda’s foreign ministry said Uganda had committed to address the issues Rwanda had raised, and that Gatuna would reopen.[2][3] When it did on 31 January, in pouring rain, some Rwandans were still turned away and delays were reported on the Ugandan side.[3]
“Now our people can freely move, trade and interact as Almighty God always intended!”[3]
Timeline
More borders
Sources
- [1]International Boundary Study No. 54: Rwanda – Uganda Boundary · US Department of State, Office of the Geographer · 1 July 1965
- [2]Rwanda to re-open border with Uganda · Africanews · 28 January 2022
- [3]Uganda, Rwanda border reopens after three-year closure · Africanews (AFP) · 31 January 2022
Map geometry from Natural Earth via world-atlas. See credits.