Goma is a city in the eastern Democratic Republic of
the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan
city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the
western branch of the East African Rift system. Goma lies only 13 to 18 km due
south of the crater of the active Nyiragongo Volcano. The recent history of
Goma has been dominated by the volcano and the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, which
in turn fuelled the First and Second Congo Wars. The aftermath of these
