Batete

Batete lies in Kivu, the highland region of the eastern Congo that borders Lake Kivu on the western arm of the East African Rift. The lake shore stands about 1,500 metres above sea level, and volcanic soils from the nearby Virunga volcanoes, lush vegetation and a long growing season make the area highly productive. These conditions link lakeside communities with inland districts across a broad borderland.

Before colonial rule this was a densely settled farming and herding country of Bantu-speaking peoples, including small kingdoms such as Bushi and Buhavu, bordered on the east by the powerful kingdom of Rwanda. Farmers grew bananas, beans, sorghum and millet, kept cattle, goats and sheep, and fished the lake, whose waters drain south to Lake Tanganyika by the Ruzizi River. Batete therefore belongs to a highland environment shaped by volcanoes, lakes and its position at the crest of the Rift.

The later city of Bunia lies here.