Kivu (kē´vōō, kēvōō´), region, c.89,000 sq mi (230,510 sq km), E Congo (Kinshasa). It borders on Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Lake Tanganyika on the east. Kivu is divided into three provinces, Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, and Maniema. Coffee, cotton, rice, and palm oil are produced, and tin and some gold are mined. The Ruwenzori Mts., Kahuzi-Biega National Park, and part of Maiko National Park are in the region. Most of Kivu was controlled (1961–62) by the breakaway regime of Antoine Gizenga, which was centered at Kisangani (then Stanleyville). Kivu has been a base for various rebel groups and militias, including Hutu guerrilla forces from neighboring Rwanda and Burundi, since the 1990s, and fighting has continued in parts of the region after the election (2006) of a new Congolese government. Some 1.7 million people have been displaced there as a result of the conflict there.

Kivu, lake, 1,042 sq mi (2,699 sq km), 55 mi (89 km) long, on the Congo-Rwanda border, E central Africa; highest lake in Africa (4,788 ft/1,459 m). It is drained by the Ruzizi River, which flows S into Lake Tanganyika. Beneath the lake lie vast reserves of methane gas (and carbon dioxide) which have not been exploited; localized natural releases of the gases sometimes asphyxiate individuals. Lake Kivu is a tourist center. Goma, Congo, on the N shore, is subject to the eruptions of nearby Mt. Nyiragongo.