Butembo

About Butembo

Butembo is a city in North Kivu, in the north eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on the Rwenzori graben and west of Virunga National Park. The city is an important commercial centre with large markets, a cathedral, multiple large hospitals, and an airport. It is the city where live the most prosperous businessmen of the East of the country. The city is located in a region known for tea and coffee growing. As of 2026 it had an estimated population of 404,444.

Butembo is 90% populated by the Nande tribe, a community distinguished by ethnic solidarity, conservative moral standards and influential leaders.

The city is home to the 2nd Integrated Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Institut Kambali, founded in 1959, the Université catholique du Graben (UCG), founded in 1989, and the Adventist University of Lukanga (UNILUK), founded in 1979.

A marker indicating the line of the equator is about twenty-five kilometers south of the city.

Area: 190.3 km2, three times larger than the city of Goma.

Population: 2,000,000 inhabitants, mostly from the Nande tribe.

Altitude: 1,381m. Location: 44 km from Lubero, 54 km from Beni and...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.