Rwenzori Mountains

{{short description|Mountain range of eastern equatorial Africa}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}} {{Infobox mountain | name=Ruwenzori | image=1172 ruwenzori.jpg | image_caption= | country=[[Uganda]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] | parent= | area_km2= | borders_on= | length_km=120 | length_orientation= | width_km = | width_orientation= | highest=[[Mount Stanley]] | elevation_m=5109 | range_coordinates = | geology= | age= | orogeny= | coordinates = {{coord|00|23|09|N|29|52|18|E|type:mountain|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | map=Uganda | map_relief=1 }}

The '''Rwenzori''' (also known as the '''Ruwenzori''', '''Rwenzururu''' or '''Rwenjura''') are a [[mountain range|range]] of mountains in eastern [[equatorial Africa]], located on the border between [[Uganda]] and the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]. The highest peak of the Ruwenzori reaches {{convert|5109|m|ft}}, and the range's upper regions are permanently snow-capped and [[glacier|glaciated]]. Rivers fed by mountain streams form one of the sources of the [[Nile]].<ref name="readersnatural"/> Because of this, [[European exploration of Africa|European explorers]] linked the Ruwenzori with the legendary [[Mountains of the Moon (Africa)|Mountains of the Moon]], claimed by the Greek scholar [[Ptolemy]] as the source of the Nile. [[Virunga National Park]] in eastern DR Congo and [[Rwenzori Mountains National Park]] in southwestern Uganda are located within the range.

==Geology== {{Further|Lake Rwizongo}} [[File:Ruwenzori Map.jpg|thumb|Rwenzori in larger geographical context]] [[File:MargheritaPeak.jpg|thumb|Margherita Peak on [[Mount Stanley]] is the highest point in the range.]]

The mountains formed about three million years ago in the late [[Pliocene]] epoch and are the result of an uplifted block of [[Crystal|crystalline rocks]] including [[gneiss]], [[amphibolite]], [[granite]] and [[quartzite]].<ref name="ucl">{{cite web | url=http://www.geog.ucl.ac.uk/about-the-department/people/academic-staff/richard-taylor/research/climate-change-and-the-aquatic-ecosystems-of-the-rwenzori-mountains | title=Climate Change and the Aquatic Ecosystems of the Rwenzori Mountains | access-date=2 February 2014 | date=15 September 2007 | publisher=[[Makerere University]] and [[University College London]]}}</ref>

The Rwenzori mountains are the highest non-volcanic, non-[[Orogeny|orogenic]] mountains in the world.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.volcanocafe.org/the-mountains-of-the-moon/ | title=The Mountains of the Moon | date=20 February 2021 }}</ref>

This uplift divided the paleolake [[Obweruka]] and created three of the present-day [[African Great Lakes]]: [[Lake Albert (Africa)|Lake Albert]], [[Lake Edward]],<ref name="ucl" /> and [[Lake George (Uganda)|Lake George]].<ref>{{cite journal | last=Wayland | first=E. J. | title=Rifts, Rivers, Rains and Early Man in Uganda | journal=Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute | volume=64 | pages=333–352 | date=July–December 1934 | doi=10.2307/2843813 | jstor=2843813 | publisher=Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland }}</ref>

The range is about {{convert|120|km|mi}} long and {{convert|65|km|mi}} wide. It consists of six massifs separated by deep gorges: [[Mount Stanley]] ({{convert|5109|m|ft}}), [[Mount Speke]] ({{convert|4890|m|ft}}), [[Mount Baker (Uganda)|Mount Baker]] ({{convert|4843|m|ft}}), [[Mount Emin]] ({{convert|4798|m|ft}}), [[Mount Gessi]] ({{convert|4715|m|ft}}) and [[Mount Luigi di Savoia]] ({{convert|4627|m|ft}}).<ref name="Abruzzi">{{cite web |date=27 May 2006 |title=Rwenzori Mountains National Park |url=https://www.rwenzoriexpeditions.com/mountains/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305014225/http://www.rwenzoriabruzzi.com/mountains.html  |archive-date=2008-03-05 |access-date=6 May 2008 |work=Rwenzori Abruzzi}}</ref> Mount Stanley has several subsidiary summits, with Margherita Peak being the highest point.

== Human history == [[File:House on ledge in Kasese.jpg|thumb|upright|left|House and people in [[Kasese District]], Uganda]]

The mountains are occasionally identified with the legendary "[[Mountains of the Moon (Africa)|Mountains of the Moon]]", described in [[Classical antiquity|antiquity]] as the source of the [[Nile River]].<ref name="readersnatural">{{Cite book|title=Natural Wonders of the World|publisher=Reader's Digest Association, Inc|year=1980|isbn=0-89577-087-3|editor-last=Scheffel|editor-first=Richard L.|location=United States of America|pages=327|editor-last2=Wernet|editor-first2=Susan J.}}</ref> Modern European explorers observed the range beginning in the late nineteenth century, with [[Samuel Baker]] reporting what he called the "Blue Mountains" looming in the distance in 1864, and [[Henry M. Stanley]] visiting the range in 1875 and 1888, when he recorded the name as "Ruwenzori".<ref name="NYT Abruzzi">{{cite news |author= |date= November 15, 1908|title= Abruzzi's Conquest of Lofty "Ruwenzori"|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1908/11/15/archives/abruzzis-conquest-of-lofty-ruwenzori-the-great-snow-range-known-to.html|work= [[The New York Times]]|location= |access-date= October 20, 2022}}</ref>

In 1906, the [[Duke of Abruzzi]] mounted an expedition to the Ruwenzori, the account of which was subsequently published by [[Filippo De Filippi (explorer)|Filippo De Filippi]]. The expedition scaled the highest peaks of the range, several of which were named by the duke, while Mount Luigi di Savoia was named in his honour.<ref name="NYT Abruzzi"/> Accompanying the duke was photographer [[Vittorio Sella]], who had previously visited the mountains. His photographs of the [[glacier]]s and [[moraine]]s of the Ruwenzori demonstrated that the glaciers were already in retreat.<ref name="NYT Abruzzi"/><ref name="rwenzoriabruzzi">{{cite web|url=http://rwenzoriabruzzi.com/sella.html|title=Vittorio Sella|year=2006|publisher=Rwenzori Abruzzi Centenary Celebrations|access-date=2008-08-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080508223804/http://www.rwenzoriabruzzi.com/sella.html |archive-date=2008-05-08}}</ref> Sella's photographic work is conserved at the Museo Nazionale della Montagna in [[Turin]] and at the Istituto di Fotografia Alpina Vittorio Sella in [[Biella]], both in Italy. The [[Makerere University]], Uganda, also has a selection of his images.<ref name="flowers">''[http://www.sebastianschutyser.com/engels/flowers.html Flowers of the Moon, Afroalpine vegetation of the Rwenzori Mountains] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924095902/http://www.sebastianschutyser.com/engels/flowers.html |date=24 September 2015 }}'', Schutyser S., 2007, 5 Continents Editions, {{ISBN|978-88-7439-423-4}}.</ref>

The first traverse of the six massifs of the Ruwenzori was done in 1975, starting on 27 January and ending on 13 February. The traverse was done by Polish climbers Janusz Chalecki, Stanisław Cholewa and [[Leszek S. Czarnecki]], with Mirosław Kuraś accompanying them on the last half of the traverse.<ref name=taternik>''[http://pza.org.pl/download/taternik/332346.pdf Wielka Grań Ruwenzori 1975]'', Wojtera T., Taternik iss 3. 1976.</ref>

Since Uganda's independence from the [[British Empire]], the Rwenzori Mountains have repeatedly become sanctuaries to rebel groups. The [[secessionist]] [[Rwenzururu movement]] fought an insurgency in the mountains in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite book |title=Managing ethnic conflict in Africa: pressures and incentives for cooperation |last=Rothchild |first=Donald S. |year=1997 |publisher=Brookings Institution Press |isbn=978-0-8157-7593-5 |page=90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4L2ihzmlsCcC }}</ref> In course of the [[Ugandan Bush War]], the Rwenzururu movement reemerged and continued its struggle until signing a peace deal with Ugandan President [[Milton Obote]]'s government.<ref name="Forrest">{{cite book |last=Forrest |first=Joshua |year=2004 |title=Subnationalism in Africa: ethnicity, alliances, and politics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d9q7SewnBZgC |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers |isbn=978-1-58826-227-1 |access-date=6 June 2009}}</ref> In the Bush War's later stages, the [[National Resistance Army]] (NRA) rebel force operated in the mountains. After the NRA seized power in Uganda in 1986,<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/people-power/unla-commander-john-ogole-s-account-of-luweero-war-1779858 | title = UNLA commander John Ogole's account of Luweero war | date = 22 September 2018 | website = Daily Monitor | access-date = 3 May 2021}}</ref> [[War in Uganda (1986–1994)|another civil war]] broke out. This time, the Rwenzori Mountains hosted the bases of the [[National Army for the Liberation of Uganda]] (NALU){{sfn|Day|2011|p=447}} and the "Partie de Liberation Congolaise" (PLC), an anti-[[Mobutu Sese Seko|Mobutu]] rebel group.{{sfn|Prunier|2009|p=83}} In the early 1990s, a Congolese rebel group known as the [[National Council of Resistance for Democracy]] (''Conseil National de Résistance pour la Démocratie'', CNRD) led by [[André Kisase Ngandu]] began to wage an insurgency against Mobutu from the Rwenzori Mountains.{{sfn|Stearns|2012|loc=Chapter 6: Mzee}}

Militias aligned with the old Rwenzururu movement's ideology occupied the Rwenzori Mountains from 1997 to June 2001.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/rwenzor.html |title=Rwenzori Mountains National Park, Uganda |access-date=2008-06-03 |date=March 2003 |publisher=United Nations Environment Programme |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080510070450/http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/rwenzor.html  |archive-date = 2008-05-10}}</ref> In 2020, after being defeated across the border by the [[Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo]], some elements of the [[Allied Democratic Forces]] moved into the Rwenzori Mountains.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/understanding-new-us-terrorism-designations-africa |title=Understanding the New U.S. Terrorism Designations in Africa |author1=Dino Mahtani |author2=Nelleke van de Walle |author3=Piers Pigou |author4=Meron Elias |work=International Crisis Group |date=18 March 2021 |access-date=27 March 2021}}</ref>

==Natural history== ===Flora=== [[Image:Ruwenpflanzen.jpg|thumb|Lower Bigo Bog at 3400 m in the Ruwenzori, with giant [[lobelia]] in foreground]]

The Ruwenzori are known for their vegetation, ranging from [[tropical rainforest]] through alpine [[meadow]]s to snow. The range supports its own species and varieties of [[giant groundsel]] and [[giant lobelia]] and even has a {{convert|6|m|ft|adj=on}} tall [[Calluna|heather]] covered in [[moss]] that lives on one of its peaks. Most of the range is now a World Heritage Site and is covered jointly by Rwenzori Mountains National Park in southwestern Uganda and the Virunga National Park in the eastern Congo.<ref name="Abruzzi"/>

There is no water shortage in the Ruwenzori; yet, several members of the afro-alpine family resemble species that normally thrive in desert climates. The reason lies in their similar water economy. Water is not always readily available to the [[Afromontane|afroalpine]] plants when they need it. In addition, nightly frosts affect the sap transport in the plants and the intake of water by its roots. As the day begins, the air temperature and radiation level rise rapidly, putting strenuous demands on the exposed parts of the plants as they try to meet the transpiration demands of the leaves and maintain a proper water balance. To counter the effects of freezing, the afro-alpine plants have developed the insulation systems that give them such a striking appearance. These adaptations become more prominent as the elevation increases.<ref name=flowers/>

There are five overlapping vegetation zones in the Ruwenzori: the evergreen forest zone (up to {{convert|2800|m}}); the bamboo zone ({{convert|2800|to|3300|m}}); the heather zone ({{convert|3000|to|3800|m}}); the alpine zone ({{convert|3500|to|4500|m}}); and, the nival zone ({{convert|4400|to|5000|m}}). At higher elevations, some plants reach an unusually large size, such as lobelia and groundsels. The vegetation in the Ruwenzori is unique to equatorial alpine Africa.<ref name="systbot">{{cite web | url=http://www.systbot.unizh.ch/datenbanken/rwenzori/Rwenzori_desktop.pdf | title=Common plants of the Rwenzori, particularly the upper zones | access-date=6 June 2017 | last1=Linder | first1=H. Peter | last2=Gehrke | first2=Berit | author-link=University of Zurich | date=2 March 2006 | publisher=Institute for Systematic Botany, [[University of Zurich]] | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080530005602/http://www.systbot.unizh.ch/datenbanken/rwenzori/Rwenzori_desktop.pdf | archive-date=30 May 2008}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+Flora vs elevation |- style="font-weight:small;" ! Meters [[Order (biology)|Order]]!! 1500 !! 2000 !! 2500 !! 3000 !! 3200 !! 3400 !! 3600 !! 3800 !! 4000 !! 4200 !! 4400 !! 4600 !! 4800 !! 5000 !! 5100 |- ! [[Lamiales]] || || ||colspan="4"| ''[[Mimulopsis elliotii]]'' ''[[Mimulopsis arborescens]]'' || || || || || || || || || |- !rowspan="3"| [[Rosales]] |colspan="2"| ''[[Prunus africana]]'' || ||colspan="5"| ''[[Hagenia abyssinica]]'' || || || || || || |- || || || || || || || ||colspan="4"| ''[[Alchemilla subnivalis]]'' ''[[Alchemilla stuhlmanii]]'' ''[[Alchemilla triphylla]]'' ''[[Alchemilla johnstonii]]''|| || || || | |- || || || | ||colspan="8"| ''[[Alchemilla argyrophylla]]''|| || || || | |- ! [[Fabales]] |colspan="2"| ''[[Albizia gummifera]]'' || || || || || || || || || || || || || |- ! [[Cornales]] |colspan="2"| ''[[Alangium chinense]]'' || || || || || || || || || || || || || |- !rowspan="2"| [[Malpighiales]] |colspan="2"| ''[[Casearia battiscombei]]'' ''[[Croton macrostachyus]]'' ''[[Neoboutonia macrocalyx]]'' ''[[Symphonia globulifera]]'' || || colspan="6"|''[[Hypericum]]'' sp || || || || || |- || || || ||colspan="5"|''[[Hypericum revolutum]]'' ''[[Hypericum bequaertii]]'' || || || || || || || |- !rowspan="2"| [[Asparagales]] || ||colspan="8"| ''[[Scadoxus cyrtanthiflorus]]'' || || || || || || | |- || || || ||colspan="6"| ''[[Disa stairsii]]'' || || || || || || |- !rowspan="4"| [[Asterales]] || || || || || ||colspan="6"|''[[Dendrosenecio erici-rosenii]]''|| || || || |- || || || || colspan="6"| ''[[Dendrosenecio adnivalis]]'' ''[[Helichrysum]]'' sp. ''[[Lobelia bequaertii]]'' ''[[Lobelia wollastonii]]'' ||colspan="2"|''[[Helichchrysum guilelmii]]'' || || || |- || || || || || || || || || || colspan="4"|''[[Helichchrysum stuhlmanii]]'' || || |- || || || || || || || ||colspan="4"| ''[[Senecio transmarinus]]'' ''[[Senecio mattirolii]]'' || || || || |- ! [[Apiales]] || || || || || || || ||colspan="4"| ''[[Peucedanum kerstenii]]'' || || || |- ! [[Myrtales]] |colspan="2"| ''[[Syzygium guineense]]'' || || || || || || || || || || || || || |- ! [[Sapindales]] |colspan="2"| ''[[Allophylus abyssinicus]]'' || || || || || || || || || || || || || |- ! [[Gentianales]] |colspan="2"| ''[[Tabernaemontana]]'' sp. || || || || || ||colspan="4"| ''[[Galium ruwenzoriense]]'' || || || || |- !rowspan="2"| [[Ericales]] |colspan="2"| ''[[Aningeria adolfi-friederici]]'' || || colspan="6"| ''[[Erica arborea]]'' ''[[Erica trimera]]'' || || || || || |- || || || ||colspan="5"|''[[Erica silvatica]]'' ''[[Erica johnstonii]]'' || || || || || || ||| |- ! [[Brassicales]] || || || || || || || ||colspan="4"| ''[[Subularia monticola]]'' || || || || |- ! [[Primulales]] || || || || colspan="6"| ''[[Rapanea rhododendroides]]'' || || || || || |- ! [[Ranunculales]] || || || || || || || ||colspan="4"| ''[[Ranunculus oreophytus]]'' ''[[Arabis alpina]]'' || || || || |- ! [[Santalales]] |colspan="2"| ''[[Strombosia scheffleri]]'' || || || || || || || || || || || || || |- !rowspan="2"| [[Poales]] || || || ''[[Yushania alpina]]'' || || || || ||colspan="4"| ''[[Carex runssoroensis]]'' ''[[Festuca abyssinica]]'' || || || |- || || || || || || || || ||||||colspan="4"| ''[[Poa ruwenzoriensis]]'' || |- ! [[Lecanorales]] || || || || ||colspan="5"| ''[[Usnea]]'' || || || || || || |- ! [[Order (biology)|Order]] Meters!! 1500 !! 2000 !! 2500 !! 3000 !! 3200 !! 3400 !! 3600 !! 3800 !! 4000 !! 4200 !! 4400 !! 4600 !! 4800 !! 5000 !! 5100 |} Sources:<ref name="systbot"/><ref name="unep">{{cite web | url=http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/rwenzor.html | title=RWENZORI MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK, UGANDA | access-date=8 May 2008 | date=March 1994 | work=Protected Areas and World Heritage | publisher=[[United Nations Environment Programme]] | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080325070654/http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/rwenzor.html  | archive-date=25 March 2008}}</ref><ref name="fao-forest">{{cite web| url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/ad910e/AD910E30.htm | title=Forest Resources of Tropical Africa | access-date=12 May 2008 | year=1984 | edition=reprint | work=Tropical Forest Resources Assessment Project | publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]] of the [[United Nations]] | id=UN 32/6.1301–78–04}}</ref>

== Glacial recession == {{main|Retreat of glaciers since 1850#Tropical glaciers}} [[File:The Mountains Have Melted - Klaus Thymann.jpg|alt=Comparative Images of the Glaciers of the Rwenzori Mountains from 1906 to 2022|thumb|1906 (top left, archive) and 2022 (bottom left) comparative images of Mt Stanley 2012 (top right) and 2022 (bottom right) comparative images of West Stanley Glacier - altitude 4910 m asl created by Klaus Thymann on Project Pressure Expeditions]] [[File:Explorer Chapin with Club Flag -4.JPG|thumb|[[Ornithologist]] [[James Chapin|James P. Chapin]] on a Ruwenzori expedition under flag of [[The Explorers Club]], 1925]]

An ongoing concern is the [[effects of climate change|impact of climate change]] on the Ruwenzori's glaciers. In 1906, forty-three named glaciers were distributed over six mountains with a total area of {{convert|7.5|km2|mi2}}, about half the total glacier area in Africa. By 2005, less than half of these were still present, on only three mountains, with an area of about {{convert|1.5|km2|mi2}}. Recent scientific studies, such as those by Richard Taylor of [[University College London]], have attributed this retreat to global [[climate change]] and have investigated the impact of this change on the mountain's vegetation and [[biodiversity]].<ref name="Taylor2006">{{cite journal|last1= Taylor|first1=R. G.|last2= Mileham|first2= L.|last3= Tindimugaya|first3= C.|last4= Majugu|first4= A.|last5= Muwanga|first5= A.|last6= Nakileza|first6= B.|title= Recent glacial recession in the Rwenzori Mountains of East Africa due to rising air temperature|journal= Geophysical Research Letters|volume= 33|issue= 10|year= 2006|pages= L10402|doi= 10.1029/2006GL025962|bibcode=2006GeoRL..3310402T|s2cid=1081063 |url= http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/11205/1/2006GL025962.pdf}}</ref><ref>[[Tom Knudson]], [https://e360.yale.edu/features/in_the_mountains_of_the_moon_a_trek_to_africas_last_glaciers ''In the Mountains of the Moon, A Trek to Africa’s Last Glaciers''], [[Yale Environment 360]] Report, 4 February 2010</ref><ref>[Rwenzori Glaciers (East Africa)], Tropical Glaciology Group, Innsbruck University</ref> In 2012, 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2025; [[Klaus Thymann]] led expeditions with the environmental charity [[Project Pressure]] creating comparative photographs to visually document the glacier recession, the findings were published in global media including BBC One Planet,<ref>{{Cite web |title=One Planet - In Search of Africa's Ice - BBC Sounds |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p00nnksl |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=www.bbc.co.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref> The Guardian<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-06-02 |title=The race to map Africa's forgotten glaciers – in pictures |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2012/jun/02/africa-forgotten-glaciers-in-pictures |access-date=2022-05-02 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> and [[Yale Environment 360]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=For Uganda's Vanishing Glaciers, Time Is Running Out |url=https://e360.yale.edu/features/rwenzoris-mount-stanley-africa-glaciers-climate-change |access-date=2024-03-05 |website=Yale E360 |language=en-US}}</ref> The alteration can be seen in comparative images. As the temperature rises and the glaciers recede, vegetation slowly creeps up the mountain.

In 2025, Project Pressure created the world's first 3D model of the Ugandan glaciers on Mount Stanley using drone photography and GPS coordinates.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dieckman |first=Emily |date=2025-04-03 |title=A New 3D Map Shows Precipitous Decline of Ugandan Glaciers |url=https://eos.org/articles/a-new-3d-map-shows-precipitous-decline-of-ugandan-glaciers |access-date=2025-09-28 |website=Eos |language=en-US}}</ref> They found that the surface area of the Stanley Plateau glacier fell by 29.5% between 2020 and 2024. During the drone survey, the exhibition also discovered an accessible ice cave.

[[File:Comparative Image 2012. Mount Stanley (right) and Speke (left).tif|thumb|Comparative Image 2012. Mount Stanley (right) and Speke (left)]]

==See also== *[[1966 Toro earthquake]]

== Notes == {{reflist}}

===References=== {{refbegin}} * {{Cite journal |last= Day |first= Christopher R. |title = The Fates of Rebels: Insurgencies in Uganda |date = July 2011 |journal = Comparative Politics |issue = 4 |volume = 43 |pages = 439–458 |doi= 10.5129/001041511796301623 |jstor = 23040638 }} * ''Glaciers of the Middle East and Africa'', Williams, Richard S. Jr. (editor) In: U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 1991, pp.G1-G70 * ''Guide to the Ruwenzori'', Osmaston, H.A., Pasteur, D. 1972, Mountain Club of Uganda. 200 p. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120214101403/http://www.sundogpublishing.com/ ''Recession of Equatorial Glaciers. A Photo Documentation''], Hastenrath, S., 2008, Sundog Publishing, Madison, WI, {{ISBN|978-0-9729033-3-2}}, 144 pp. * ''Tropical Glaciers'', Kaser, G., Osmaston, H.A. 2002, Cambridge University Press, UK. 207 p. * ''Ruwenzori'', [[Filippo De Filippi (explorer)|De Filippi, F]]. 1909. Constable, London. 408 p. * [https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20060524230206/http://archive.greenpeace.org/~climate/docs/glacier.pdf Greenpeace article "The Death of the Ice Giants"] * [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4987186.stm BBC Article "Fabled ice field set to vanish"] * [http://www.geog.ucl.ac.uk/~rtaylor/data_disk/rwenzori/rwenzori.htm Dr Taylor's Homepage, with information about the impact of climate change on Ruwenzori.] * Kaser et al. 2006, in ''International Book of Climatology'' 24: 329–339 (2004) * {{cite book |last=Prunier |first=Gérard |year=2009 |title=Africa's World War : Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kp93kUfdhC0C |isbn=978-0-19-970583-2 }} * {{cite book |last=Stearns |first=Jason |year=2012 |title=Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa |title-link=Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa |location=New York City |publisher=PublicAffairs |isbn=978-1610391597}} {{refend}}

==External links== {{commons category|Ruwenzori Range}} {{Americana Poster|Ruwenzori}}

* {{NatGeo ecoregion|id=at1013|name=Ruwenzoris}} * [http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=exact&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=/agsafrica&CISOBOX1=Ruwenzori+Range+%28mountain+range%29 UWM.edu: 1937 aerial photographs of Rwenzori Mountains] – ''University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries Digital Collections''. * {{Cite NSRW|wstitle=Ruwenzori}}

[[Category:Rwenzori Mountains| ]] [[Category:Albertine Rift montane forests]] [[Category:Mountain ranges of Uganda]] [[Category:Mountain ranges of the Democratic Republic of the Congo]] [[Category:Great Rift Valley]] [[Category:Kasese District]] [[Category:North Kivu]] [[Category:Mountains of Uganda]]