Bukavu is a city on the southwestern shores of Lake Kivu and the capital of the Sud-Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The city has a population of over 245,000, with another 250,000 people living in the surrounding towns and villages.

Bukavu was established in 1901 by the Belgian colonial authorities. Originally named Costermansville, it had a prominent European population under colonial rule.

Following the Rwandan Genocide it became a center of the Hutu insurgency against the new Tutsi government of Rwanda. It was attacked in November 1996 by Rwandan government forces during the First Congo War. Bukavu saw sporadic fighting between government forces and the rebel Rally for Congolese Democracy throughout the Second Congo War, in particular in 2004.