What is the capital of Rwanda?
Kigali lies near Rwanda's geographic centre in a landscape of rolling hills, valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes, at around 1,567 metres above sea level.
Kigali is the capital and seat of government of Rwanda, a role it has held since 1962. Rwanda itself has an estimated population of 14,569,341 (2025).
Kigali is also the largest city in Rwanda, which is the usual arrangement, though it is far from universal: see the countries where capital and largest city differ.
Kigali at a glance
| City population | 1,745,555 (2022 census) |
|---|---|
| Country | 🇷🇼 Rwanda |
| Founded | 1907 |
| Capital since | 1962 |
| Largest city in Rwanda | Kigali |
| Time zone | UTC+02:00 (CAT) |
| Currency | Rwandan franc (RWF) |
About Kigali
Kigali was founded in 1907 as a German administrative outpost.
Kigali has been the capital of Rwanda since 1962, when Rwanda became independent and the main administrative focus shifted here from Huye, then called Astrida; until then Kigali had been only a minor administrative centre.
Kigali is Rwanda's primate city: it has roughly seven times the population of the country's second city.
It is a province-level administrative unit in its own right.
City facts sourced from Wikipedia: Kigali.
Frequently asked questions
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Capitals of neighbouring countries
See the full profile of Rwanda on its country page, or browse every capital city.
Capital and country data from open datasets; city and metropolitan populations are hand-curated per city and cited where they are shown. Populations of countries come from the World Bank (SP.POP.TOTL). Full sources and vintage on the data page. Last updated . Report a correction.