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| Democratic Republic of the Congo–Rwanda border | |
|---|---|
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| Characteristics | |
| Entities |  Democratic Republic of the Congo Rwanda |
| Length | 217 kilometres (135 mi) |
The border between the countries ofRwanda and theDemocratic Republic of the Congo is 221 kilometers long.[1] CrossingLake Kivu in its entirety through theVirunga Mountains down toMount Karisimbi, itdivides the cities ofGoma/Gisenyi andBukavu/Cyangugu. In 1885,Leopold II, King of the Belgians personally claimed theCongo Free State (later as theBelgian Congo), a vast territory in Central Africa, and it became his personal colony. The city ofLéopoldville (present-day Kinshasa) was named in his honor. After theBerlin Conference led by the German chancellorOtto von Bismarck inBerlin, theGerman East Africa was a larger territory ofGermany, andKigali was later established as aGerman administrative center in 1907. During theFirst World War, the Belgian Congo led by theForce Publique invaded the German territory in East Africa that launched anoffensive of Tabora in 1916 as the Germans were forced to surrender their territory to the Belgians. After the war, theLeague of Nations formalized theBelgian administration ofRuanda-Urundi through a "Class B" mandate in 1922. On 30 June 1960, after theBelgo-Congolese Round Table Conference inBrussels, the Congo finally achieved independence fromBelgium. On 1 July 1962, with theRwandan Revolution as well as the abolition ofKigeli V Ndahindurwa asMwami of Rwanda had concluded, Rwanda also gained independence from Belgian rule as the "Republic of Rwanda". WithMobutu in power as the dictator ofZaire from 1971 until his overthrow in 1997 with theFirst Congo War, following theRwandan genocide that has providing refuge and support toHutu militia and elements of the defeatedRwandan army who had participated in the genocide. In October 1996,Laurent Kabila'sAFDL, with support from Rwanda, launched an offensive in eastern Zaire against the Mobutu dictatorship. In 1997, as they steadily gained ground, capturing key towns and advancing towards the capital which later forced Mobutu to flee on 17 May by heading for exile inMorocco where he later died in September that same year.[2][3]
There was abrief border clash between the two countries in 2012, which resulted in a few soldiers being killed.[4][5] Additional alleged cross-border shellings happened during a period ofheightened tensions between the two countries.[6]
