City Africa
Kigali
Kigali is the capital city of Rwanda, in Africa. It is built on lots of green hills.
Kigali is the capital of Rwanda, a country of many hills in the middle of Africa. Rwanda's 2022 census counted 1,745,555 people in the City of Kigali. When Rwanda became independent in 1962, Kigali was a small town of about 6,000 people.
Kigali grew from Nyarugenge hill, chosen in the 1900s by Germany's first resident for Rwanda, into the capital of independent Rwanda in 1962. The City of Kigali, a province-level area of 730 km², counted 1,745,555 people in the 2022 census, and its urban part 1,517,168, about six times Gisenyi, the next city.
Photo: Cchrtian, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Kigali
Kigali is the capital city of Rwanda. Rwanda is a country in Africa with lots and lots of hills.
More than one and a half million people live in Kigali.
Kigali is the capital of Rwanda, a country in East and Central Africa. Rwanda's census of August 2022 counted 1,745,555 people in the City of Kigali, and 1,517,168 in its urban part, about six times as many as Gisenyi, the next-biggest city.
Universalis says Rwanda is a land of countless hills, more than 1,000 kilometers from the Indian Ocean coast.
City Population (National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda) gives the City of Kigali, a province-level area of 730 km², 765,325 people in the 2002 census, 1,132,686 in 2012 and 1,745,555 on 15 August 2022. Urban Kigali counted 1,517,168 in 2022, first in Rwanda ahead of Gisenyi (252,090) and Ruhengeri (153,368).
Universalis: in 2006 Kigali formed a province of 731 km², and about a fifth of its people lived in its rural parts.
- Country
- Rwanda (its capital)
- People in the City of Kigali (census, 15 August 2022)
- 1,745,555
- People in urban Kigali (same census)
- 1,517,168
- Next-biggest city (same census)
- Gisenyi, 252,090
City lights on the hills
Look! It is night, and the city lights are on. Tall buildings glow in the middle.
Behind them, little lights twinkle on the dark hills.
This photo shows Kigali at night, on 24 February 2021. Lit office blocks stand in the middle, a bright blue glow shines behind them, and many small lights dot the dark hills all around.
Wikidata lists Kigali City Tower, a high-rise of 20 floors, and Mount Kigali, a hill about 1,852 meters high.
Commons: 'Kigali night life', 24 February 2021, own work by Cchrtian (CC BY-SA 4.0); categories 'Nightlife', 'Views of Kigali'. The buildings are not named in the file description, so none is named here.
The New Times (2011): Kigali lies between Mount Kigali and Mount Jali, near the Nyabugogo river basin; Wikidata: Kigali City Tower, 20 floors; Mount Kigali, 1,852 m.
- Photo
- a night view of Kigali, 24 February 2021
- Kigali City Tower
- a high-rise of 20 floors
- Mount Kigali
- a hill about 1,852 m high
From a hilltop post to a capital
More than 100 years ago, a German official chose a hill here for his house and office. A few shops opened nearby.
Later, Kigali became the capital of Rwanda, and it grew and grew.
The New Times, a Rwandan newspaper, says that in 1906 Germany appointed Richard Kandt as its first resident for Rwanda. He chose Nyarugenge hill for the capital because it was in the center of the country, and from 1908 Rwanda was run from Kigali. By 1909 only about 20 shops had been built.
Universalis says Kigali had about 6,000 people when Rwanda became independent in 1962 and was made the capital. By 1991 it had 235,000.
Universalis (Pierre Sirven): promoted to capital in 1962, Kigali grew to 54,000 people in 1970, 117,000 in 1978 and 235,000 in 1991. In 1994, during the genocide, the city emptied; from the end of that year exiles returned, and Universalis gives 603,000 at the 2002 census.
The New Times: Butare was first the leading choice for the capital, but Kigali was chosen; at independence the town covered the hills of Nyarugenge and Nyamirambo, about 200 hectares.
- Germany's first resident for Rwanda appointed
- 1906, Richard Kandt
- Kigali becomes Rwanda's administrative center
- 1908
- Rwanda becomes independent; Kigali becomes the capital
- 1962
Hills, roads and the airport
Kigali has steep hills and wet, marshy valleys. Planes land at an airport to the east of the city center.
Kigali grew into a busy trading town because it sits in the center of Rwanda, The New Times says: traders passed through on routes between the towns of Bukoba and Kigoma, and between Kisangani in Congo and Kampala in Uganda.
Kigali International Airport lies about 9 kilometers east-southeast of Kigali City Tower. Universalis says about half of Kigali's land is too steep or too marshy to build on.
The New Times: Kigali became a transit center for trade between Bukoba and Kigoma (Tanganyika, now Tanzania) via Bujumbura, and between Kisangani in Congo and Kampala in Uganda. Wikidata: Kigali International Airport, 9.2 km ESE of Kigali City Tower, at 1,488 m.
Universalis: 31% of the site is slopes steeper than 20%, and 19% is marsh.
- Kigali International Airport
- about 9 km east-southeast of Kigali City Tower
- Old trade routes
- between Bukoba and Kigoma, and between Kisangani and Kampala
- Land too steep or marshy to build on
- about half of the site
Two rainy seasons
Kigali is mild all year. It has two rainy times: one around April and one around November.
June and July get very little rain.
The World Meteorological Organization's averages for Kigali (1961–1990) give about 951 millimeters of rain in a year. April is the wettest month, with 154 millimeters, and a second rainy season peaks around November. July gets only 11 millimeters, on 1 day.
The weather stays mild all year: highs of about 26 to 28 °C and lows of about 15 to 16 °C in every month.
WMO World Weather Information Service, Kigali (1961–1990): rainfall 950.9 mm on 133 days a year (days with at least 0.1 mm); March to May 356.5 mm, October to December 295.8 mm, June to August 61.1 mm. Average highs 25.9 °C (May) to 28.2 °C (September); lows 15.0 °C (July) to 16.2 °C (May).
Universalis (Rwanda): two rainy seasons centered on April and November, which set the farming seasons.
- April rainfall (WMO, 1961–1990)
- 154.2 mm
- July rainfall (same table)
- 11.4 mm
- Average highs
- 25.9 °C (May) to 28.2 °C (September)
Markets, museums and meetings
Kigali has markets, a museum about nature and a convention center.
The Kandt House Museum, a natural history museum named after Richard Kandt, stands about 800 meters from Kigali City Tower, Wikidata says. Kimironko Market lies about 7 kilometers east, and the Kigali Convention Centre about 4 kilometers east-southeast. Kigali Arena opened on 9 August 2019.
Universalis says the Nyarugenge area holds most of the city's shops, hotels, banks and offices.
Wikidata: Kandt House Museum (natural history, named after Richard Kandt) 0.8 km WSW of Kigali City Tower; Kigali Convention Centre 4.0 km ESE; Kimironko Market 7.4 km E; Kigali Arena (opened 9 August 2019) 6.3 km E.
Universalis: Nyarugenge holds most commercial, hotel, banking and administrative activity; the gently sloping hills of Remera and Kanombe fill in around the stadium and the international airport; ministries and the National Assembly are at Kimihurura and Kacyiru.
- Kandt House Museum
- a natural history museum, about 800 m west-southwest of Kigali City Tower
- Kigali Convention Centre
- about 4 km east-southeast of Kigali City Tower
- Kimironko Market
- a market about 7 km east
Kigali on the map
Find Africa on the globe. Rwanda is just south of the equator, in the middle of Africa. Kigali is its capital.
Kigali lies at about 2.0° south, just below the equator, in the middle of Rwanda. Measured from Kigali City Tower, the Kandt House Museum is about 800 meters west-southwest, the Kigali Convention Centre about 4 kilometers east-southeast and the airport about 9 kilometers east-southeast.
Rwanda lies west of Lake Victoria, between Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Kigali lies at about 1.95° S and 30.06° E. From Kigali City Tower (Wikidata points): Kandt House Museum 0.8 km WSW, Kigali Convention Centre 4.0 km ESE, Kigali Arena 6.3 km E, Kimironko Market 7.4 km E, the airport 9.2 km ESE.
Universalis (Rwanda): the country sits where East Africa meets Central Africa, on the eastern edge of the western branch of the Rift.
- Latitude
- about 2.0° south
- Longitude
- about 30.1° east
- Setting
- between Mount Kigali and Mount Jali, near the Nyabugogo river basin
Amazing facts
-
In 1962 Kigali was a small town of about 6,000 people!
When Rwanda became independent in 1962, Kigali had only about 6,000 people, Universalis says. Sixty years later, the 2022 census counted 1,745,555 in the City of Kigali.
Universalis: 6,000 people in 1962, 54,000 in 1970, 117,000 in 1978, 235,000 in 1991; City Population (NISR): 1,745,555 in the City of Kigali in 2022.
-
Kigali sits between two hills called Mount Kigali and Mount Jali.
The New Times says Kigali lies between Mount Kigali and Mount Jali. Wikidata gives Mount Kigali a height of about 1,852 meters.
The New Times (2011): Kigali lies in the Bwanacyambwe region near the Nyabugogo river basin, between Mount Kigali and Mount Jali; Wikidata: Mount Kigali 1,852 m.
-
In July it hardly rains in Kigali.
In the WMO table, July in Kigali averages only 11 millimeters of rain, on 1 day, while April averages 154 millimeters.
WMO, 1961–1990: July 11.4 mm on 1 day; April 154.2 mm on 18 days; 950.9 mm on 133 days a year.
-
In 1909, Kigali had only about 20 shops!
By 1909, only about 20 shops had been built in Kigali, on the spot where Nyarugenge market stands today, The New Times says.
The New Times: by 1909 around 20 shops stood on the present site of Nyarugenge market, mostly owned by Indian traders.
Words to know
- capital
- the city where a country's government works
- census
- an official count of all the people in a country
- equator
- the imaginary line around the middle of the Earth
- marsh
- low, wet, soft land where water often lies
- rainy season
- the time of year when most of the rain falls
- resident
- here, an official sent to run a territory for another country
Discovery challenge
-
Kigali is the capital of which country?
Kigali is the capital of which hilly African country?
Kigali has been the capital of which country since its independence in 1962?
- Rwanda
- Kenya
- Ghana
Show the answer
Rwanda
Rwanda!
Rwanda.
Rwanda.
-
About how many people lived in Kigali in 1962?
About how many people lived in Kigali when Rwanda became independent in 1962?
Universalis gives Kigali's population at independence in 1962 as about how many?
- 6,000
- 600,000
- 6 million
Show the answer
6,000
About 6,000! Now there are many more.
About 6,000.
About 6,000.
-
Which month has the most rain in Kigali?
In the WMO table, which month is Kigali's wettest?
Which month averages 154.2 mm, the most in the WMO's 1961–1990 Kigali table?
- July
- April
- January
Show the answer
April
April!
April.
April.
-
What kind of land is Kigali built on?
What kind of land is Kigali built across?
Universalis says 31% of Kigali's site is steep slopes. What landform is the city built across?
- Flat desert
- Many hills
- A sandy beach
Show the answer
Many hills
Many hills!
Many hills.
Many hills.
-
Who chose a hill in Kigali for his house and office?
Which German official chose Nyarugenge hill as the site of Rwanda's capital?
Which German resident, appointed in 1906, chose Nyarugenge hill for its central location?
- Richard Kandt
- Cecil Rhodes
- David Livingstone
Show the answer
Richard Kandt
Richard Kandt! A museum in Kigali has his name.
Richard Kandt.
Richard Kandt.
Nearby places
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Watch
Natural wonder
Mount Nyiragongo
Mount Nyiragongo is a steep volcano in the Virunga Mountains of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, near the border with Rwanda and just north of Lake Kivu. It is 3,470 meters high, and its deep summit crater often holds a lake of bubbling lava. Its lava is very runny, and eruptions in 1977, 2002 and 2021 sent lava flowing down its sides toward the city of Goma.
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Natural wonder
Virunga National Park
Virunga National Park, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was founded in 1925; the park describes itself as Africa's first national park. It stretches from active volcanoes in the south to the snowy Rwenzori Mountains in the north. About one third of the world's mountain gorillas live in its forests, along with elephants, hippos, chimpanzees and hundreds of kinds of birds.
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City
Mwanza
Mwanza is a city in Tanzania on the shore of Lake Victoria. Larousse calls it a commercial center linked by ship to Kenya and Uganda and by railway to Dar es Salaam. Tanzania's 2022 census counted 1,104,521 people in the city, the country's second-largest after Dar es Salaam.
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Natural wonder
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa, and Britannica says only Lake Superior, in North America, is a bigger freshwater lake. It is shared by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The lake is wide but shallow, its only outlet is the Nile, and it is home to hundreds of kinds of colorful fish called cichlids.
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Landmark
Kasubi Tombs
The Kasubi Tombs stand on Kasubi hill in Kampala, Uganda. The main building, a huge round house with a domed roof of thatch, was built in 1882 as a palace for the Kabaka, the king of Buganda, and became the burial place of four kings. After a fire in 2010 it was rebuilt, and the work was finished in 2023.
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City
Kampala
Kampala is the capital of Uganda, near the shores of Lake Victoria. It grew from the royal capital of the Buganda kingdom, built on hills separated by marshy valleys. Uganda's 2024 census counted 1,797,722 people in Kampala City, by far the largest city in the country.
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Natural wonder
Lake Albert
Lake Albert lies in the Albertine Rift, a branch of the East African Rift, shared by Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is about 150 kilometers long, and the Victoria Nile flows in at its north end, right beside the Albert Nile flowing out.
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Natural wonder
Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika lies in a deep crack in Africa called a rift valley. Britannica calls it the longest freshwater lake in the world, and only Lake Baikal, in Russia, is deeper. Four countries share it: Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Zambia. Its water is home to about 250 kinds of cichlid fish found nowhere else.
Explore next
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Country
Rwanda
Rwanda is a small, landlocked country in east-central Africa, just south of the equator. It is often called the land of a thousand hills. Mountain gorillas live among its volcanoes in the northwest, Lake Kivu lies on its western edge, and about 14.6 million people lived there in 2025.
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City
Kampala
Kampala is the capital of Uganda, near the shores of Lake Victoria. It grew from the royal capital of the Buganda kingdom, built on hills separated by marshy valleys. Uganda's 2024 census counted 1,797,722 people in Kampala City, by far the largest city in the country.
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City
Nairobi
Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, sits high in the highlands of East Africa. It began in the late 1890s as a railway camp beside a Maasai water hole called Enkare Nairobi, "Cold Water." Today it is one of the biggest cities in tropical Africa, with Nairobi National Park, full of wild animals, at its edge.
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City
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It stands on the south bank of the Congo River, about 515 kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean, facing the city of Brazzaville across the water. It grew from fishing and trading villages and was called Léopoldville until 1966.
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Abidjan
Abidjan is the largest city of Côte d'Ivoire, with 5,616,633 people at the 2021 census. Spread around the Ébrié Lagoon, it grew from a colonial port: a canal finished in 1950 opened the lagoon to ships, and its Plateau district is a cluster of office towers, banks and government buildings.
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City
Abuja
Abuja is the capital of Nigeria, in the middle of the country. It was planned from the start: in 1976 the government decided to build a new capital on the savanna, and in 1991 it moved there from Lagos. Planners set aside land for parks and green spaces, and the huge Aso Rock rises at the city's edge.
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City
Accra
Accra is the capital of Ghana, on the coast of West Africa. It began as a small village of the Ga people beside the Korle Lagoon. Three old forts built by European traders still stand by the sea. More than 5.4 million people lived in the Greater Accra Region at the 2021 census.
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City
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital of Ethiopia, high in the hills of East Africa at about 2,355 meters. It was founded in the 1880s, and its name means 'new flower' in Amharic. Electric light-rail trains cross the city, and its National Museum shows a copy of Lucy, a famous fossil 3.2 million years old.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Kigali in Rwanda, just south of the equator.
- Describe how a small colonial post grew into a capital city.
- Read a rainfall table and find two rainy seasons.
- Compare Kigali's population in 1962, 1991 and 2022.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Kigali is built on many hills. What is hard about building houses and roads on steep slopes?
- Kigali was chosen partly because it is in the center of Rwanda. Why might a central place make a good capital?
- Kigali has two rainy seasons. How might farmers plan their year around them?
Try at home or in class
- Rain chart: plot Kigali's monthly rainfall and find the two wet seasons.
- Hill model: shape a city of hills from clay or paper and draw roads that wind up the slopes.
- Growth bars: draw bars for Kigali's 1962, 1970, 1978, 1991 and 2022 populations.
Key vocabulary: capital, census, equator, marsh, rainy season, resident
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Natural Earth vector data , Natural Earth (NACIS) (Public domain)
- Rwanda: Provinces and Cities , City Population (Thomas Brinkhoff), from the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda
- Kigali , Encyclopaedia Universalis
- Rwanda , Encyclopaedia Universalis
- The history of City of Kigali (20 May 2011) , The New Times (Rwanda)
- Kigali: climatological information , World Meteorological Organization, World Weather Information Service (Rwanda)
- File:Kigali night life.jpg (Cchrtian, 24 February 2021) , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.