Rwanda is located in the Great Lakes region in east-central Africa just south of equator. Rwanda is often referred to as the "land of a thousand hills", because of its fertile and hilly terrain. To the west it is separated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo by Lake Kivi and the Rusizi River valley, to the north it borders with Uganda, to the east with Tanzania and to the south with Burundi. The total area of Rwanda is 26,800 sq. km. (10,170 sq. miles), and the population is around 10.2 million. The capital, Kigali, is located in the center of the country.

Rwanda is all too often associated with the horrific events that unfolded in 1994, when one of the most savage genocides in history took place and over a million people were killed. What happened is beyond belief, but the country has since then taken giant strides towards recovery. Today Rawanda is a relatively safe place to travel and it is a refreshing country where tourism remain a relatively novelty and rewards those who go there.

Rwanda is covered by grasslands and small farms extending over rolling hills, with areas of rugged mountains that extend southeast from a chain of volcanoes in the northwest. Nowhere are the mountains more majestic than the peaks of the Virunga volcanoes in the far northwest of the country, and hidden among the bamboo and dense jungle of their forbidding slopes are some of the world's last remaining mountain gorillas.

There is more to Rwanda than magical mountain gorillas, however. The Nile and the Congo drainage systems extends from north to south through western Rawanda at an average elevation of almost 2,740 meters (9,000 feet). On the western slopes of this ridgeline, the land slopes abruptly toward the Ruzizi River and Lake Kivu where one can find some of the best inland beaches on the continent. Deep in the southwest, Parc National Nyungwe Forest is the most extensive mountain rainforest in the region, and home to many primates.

The capital, Kigali, is safe and sophisticated. Kigali is the largest city in Rwanda, and has around 900,000 inhabitants. The city is home to Kigali International Airport, with passenger connections daily to Nairobi and less frequently to Addis Ababa, Brussels in Europe, and Johannesburg. A brand new airport is being considered in the Nyamata area, some 40 kilometers from Kigali.

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