Кагара өзені: Шығыс Африканың тамыры және тарихы

River in East Africa

The Kagera River, also known as Akagera River, or Alexandra Nile, is an East African river, forming part of the upper headwaters of the Nile and carrying water from its most distant source. With a total length of from its source located in Lake Rweru in Rwanda. The section of river named Kagera begins in Burundi, flowing out from Lake Rweru. From the lake, it flows east along the Rwanda Burundi and Rwanda Tanzania borders to a confluence with the Ruvubu River. The waters of the Kagera are thus provided by two major tributaries, the Nyabarongo of Rwanda, which feeds Lake Rweru, and the Ruvubu of Burundi. It is unknown which of these two feeder rivers is the longer and hence the ultimate source of the Nile. From the confluence, the Kagera flows north along the Rwanda Tanzania border, over Rusumo Falls and through Akagera National Park. It then takes a turn to the east, following the Tanzania Uganda border and emptying into Lake Victoria in Uganda. In 1898, Richard Kandt was the first European to reach the source of the Kagera. The river has featured prominently in the histories of the countries it runs through, particularly Rwanda. In 1894, German Gustav Adolf von Götzen crossed the Kagera at Rusumo Falls, marking the Rwandan colonial era that officially started in 1899. And in 1916, during World War I, the Belgians defeated the Germans, entering Rwanda by the same route. The river gained international notoriety in 1994 for carrying bodies from the Rwandan genocide into Lake Victoria, causing a state of emergency to be declared in areas of Uganda, where these bodies eventually washed up.

The Kagera rises in Burundi and flows into Lake Victoria. It is the largest single inflow into the lake, contributing approximately 6.4 billion cubic metres of water a year (about 28 per cent of the lake's outflow). Additionally, there are at least 15 undescribed species of haplochromine cichlids that are endemic to some of the lakes in the upper parts of the river basin. Because of the many waterfalls and rapids, the various sections of the Kagera River basin are clearly separated, making movements by fish between them difficult or even impossible.

During the Rwandan genocide of 1994, the Kagera was used to dispose of corpses as thousands of Tutsis and Hutu political moderates were murdered on the river banks.