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River

Kagera River

400 km from source to mouth · 4 countries.

UgandaRwandaTanzaniaBurundiUganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and BurundiFlows into Lake Victoria1st longest in Uganda

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouth
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

400km

Average flow

350m³/s

Basin

60,000km²

Drop

154m

from 1,290 m to 1,136 m

Countries

4

The journey

From source to mouth

400 km of river and 17 stops on the way: 2 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

1,290 m1,136 m
Sourceat 1,290 m0 km
Lake Bisongu24 km²39 km
Lake Ihema94 km²84 km
Lac Kazingaine31 km²104 km
Lake Rwanyakazinga22 km²144 km
Kassambya37,028 people333 km
Lake Victoriaat 1,136 m400 km
0100200300400 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 1,290 m
  2. 0 kmRurubu Rivertributary
  3. 1 kmRusumo Dam
  4. 1 kmRusumo Bridge
  5. 1 kmRusumo International Bridge
  6. 2 kmRusumo Falls15 m
  7. 39 kmLake Bisongu24 km²
  8. 53 kmLake Mpanga9.9 km²
  9. 57 kmLake Cyambwe23 km²
  10. 67 kmLake Rwakibali3.5 km²
  11. 84 kmLake Ihema94 km²
  12. 104 kmLac Kazingaine31 km²
  13. 124 kmLake Ruko4.5 km²
  14. 126 kmLake Mihindi7.1 km²
  15. 144 kmLake Rwanyakazinga22 km²
  16. 328 kmKyaka Bridge
  17. 328 kmKyaka13,810 people
  18. 333 kmKassambya37,028 people
  19. 400 kmLake Victoriaat 1,136 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in East Africa

At the mouth it carries 349 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 7.2 seconds. It drops from 1,290 m to 1,136 m, 0.4 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 60,000 km², about the size of TG. 16.7 million people live in it. Highest water: from April to May; lowest: from July to September. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

Kagera River, month by month

Highest water: from April to May

Lowest water: from July to September. Best months to visit: January and from June to September.

460
21°69 mmJan
420
21°88 mmFeb
470
21°127 mmMar
660
21°183 mmApr
660
21°117 mmMay
500
20°19 mmJun
290
20°10 mmJul
210
21°31 mmAug
270
21°72 mmSep
370
21°97 mmOct
490
20°130 mmNov
510
20°98 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 210 m³/s in the lowest month to 660 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Car hire at MWZ airport (Mwanza)Discover CarsSee 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

Kagera River: the basin in numbers

58,516 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.0% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 16.7millionpeople live in the basin
  • 288/km²people per km²
  • 1,537maverage altitude of the basin
  • 1,103mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 19.6°Caverage air temperature
  • 12%protected areas
  • 1.7%covered by lakes

What covers the basin

  • 21% Forest
  • 27% Cropland
  • 25% Pasture
  • 11% Towns and cities

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

Kagera River: what you find on the way

  • 2Dams
  • 1WeirsMurongo Hydropower Plant
  • 1WaterfallsRusumo Falls

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.3 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Kagera River in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

  • 1waterfall on the riverCascadyas
  • 9lakes on its wayLakeyas
  • 3mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Waterfalls (1)

On the river, by Cascadyas

  1. Rusumo Fallskm 215m

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Lakes and reservoirs (9)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Lake Bisongukm 4024km²
  2. Lake Mpangakm 559.9km²
  3. Lake Cyambwekm 5923km²
  4. Lake Ihemakm 8694km²
  5. Lac Kazingainekm 10731km²
  6. Lake Rukokm 1284.5km²
  7. Lake Mihindikm 1307.1km²
  8. Lake Rwanyakazingakm 14822km²

1 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (3)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Gashanga14 km away
  2. Remanyundo8.9 km away
  3. Rwanyamanza Hill14 km away

Open Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Kagera River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Kagera River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth33 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

Kagera River in pictures

Informal Cross-border Trade - River Kagera
Mpororo · CC BY-SA 4.0
KageraRuvubu
SteveRwanda aka Amakuru · CC BY-SA 3.0
Akagera
Niyigenachristian · CC BY-SA 4.0
Flood of Akagera River
Joseph Lionceau · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (4)

Nyabarongo RiverRwandaRwanda300 km110 m³/sRurubu RiverTanzaniaTanzania300 km100 m³/sjoins at km 0

Also: Muvumba river, Kagitumba river

In the same basin

NileEgyptEgypt6,650 km2,800 m³/sWhite NileSudanSudan2,620 km880 m³/sBlue NileSudanSudan1,783 km1,500 m³/sSobat RiverSouth SudanSouth Sudan306 km410 m³/sAtbarah RiverSudanSudan1,120 km370 m³/sBahr el Ghazal RiverSouth SudanSouth Sudan716 km2.0 m³/sTekezé RiverSudanSudan608 km140 m³/sMara RiverTanzaniaTanzania395 km18 m³/sValley of the QueensEgyptEgypt4,302 km2,600 m³/sBaro RiverEthiopiaEthiopia306 km240 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

Katonga RiverUgandaUganda177 km100 m³/s112 km awayRurubu RiverTanzaniaTanzania300 km100 m³/s196 km awayMara RiverTanzaniaTanzania395 km18 m³/s248 km awayNyabarongo RiverRwandaRwanda300 km110 m³/s220 km awayAkanyaru RiverRwandaRwanda212 km110 m³/s225 km awayNzoia RiverKenyaKenya334 km200 m³/s263 km awaySemliki RiverUgandaUganda230 km240 m³/s283 km awayRuzizi RiverBurundiBurundi117 km400 m³/s390 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q2750140) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesCascadyas, Lakeyas, Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit