Nyabarongo River
The Nyabarongo near Kigali
Template: Infobox River / Obsolete
The Nyabarongo (also Rukarara - Nyabarongo ) is one of the two longest headwaters of the Nile. It is analogous to the " Burundian source river " Luvironza - Ruvuvu, called the " Rwandan source river " of the White Nile.
It rises 40 km southeast of Kiwusees in equatorial East Africa in an edge mountains of Rwanda. After about 300 km in the north and east, he united to increased inflows from the four peaks of the Virunga volcanoes in the Rwandan capital Kigali is 1500 meters above sea level with the coming of Burundi Akanjaru ( Akanyaru ). Here it is navigable for larger, but ships flat and flows as Akagera to the southeast. On the border of Rwanda and Tanzania, he turns north and flows through a chain of lakes and a waterfall, the huge Lake Victoria contrary, its largest tributary, it forms. On its northern shore - already in Uganda - is forming the Victoria Nile, which, after a further 1000 kilometers in Sudan - widened to Bergnil and eventually to the White Nile - still far south of Egypt.
The actual source of the river is called Nyabarongo Rukarara (French Source du Nil - source of the Nile ) and comes from a height of about 2,700 meters in the Natural Park Nyungwe Forest, a heavily wooded mountains, which accompanies the eastern edge of the Kiwusees. It is the edge of the East African Rift - a thousand kilometers long geological fault, which extends far down into the earth's crust. The Lake Kivu drains but to the south - on Lake Tanganyika - in the vast basin of the Congo, so close to the African main watershed is located at the sources of Nyabarongo. It was explored in 1898 by the East Africa researcher Richard Kandt looking for the sources of the Nile.
The Rukarara takes on its course to the east about 50 km away and is called the Mwogo on from here Nyabarongo. The river turns north, winding through between two mountain ranges and takes just north of Gatumba a water-rich inflow from the Virunga Volcanoes (up to 4507 m). Here he swung abruptly from north to south-east, which return the geologists on the striking tectonics in the formation of the deep East African grave breach system. Such course changes through geological fault lines are also found in alpine rivers, about an der Salzach and at the beginning of the Rhine Graben - View the many geologists as a continuation of the old fault system in East Africa.
After this " geological kink" controls the Nyabarongo on to Kigali, the Rwandan capital, but wraps around in an arc distance of 5-10 km. South of the city, where it can be navigated by vessels of shallow draft, he takes the 165 km long Akanyaru (also Akanjaru ), which comes from the south ( border with Burundi) and in its lower course is also navigable for flat boats. The Nyabarongo continues its run away at the border of Rwanda and Burundi and later to those with Tanzania to the east and passes the lake Rugwero (Lac Rweru ).
From there, the river is called Akagera (also Kagera ). He turns once again (this time to the north ) and forms about another 200 km, the Tanzanian border along the Akagera marshes and a series of lakes. After their passage to buckle on the border of Uganda sharply to the east, where it is the largest tributary of Lake Victoria.
To the north of this second largest freshwater lake in the world ( 68,870 km ²) is forming Viktorianil, which later - will broaden the Bergnil and finally the White Nile - on its run through Uganda and Sudan. For this longest next to the Amazon river in the world ( 6671 km ), the Rukarara - Nyabarongo represents the second longest river source
Inflows
- Satinsyi (left)
- Mukungwa (left)
- Sumo (right)
- Base ( left)
- Baramba (left)
- Bakokwe (right)
- Gikoro (right)
- Cyacika (left)
- Nyamagana (right)
- Nyabugogo (left)
- Ruboroga (right)
- Akanyara (right)
- Mwesa (right)
- Kitazigurwa (left)
- Isumo (left)