Goma, Congo, Democratic Republic of the

Goma is a large city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Located in the Western Rift of the Great Rift Valley, Goma neighbors Nyiragongo Volcano directly to its north, and hugs the coast of Lake Kivu to its south.

It lies next to the Virunga National Park and was home to an airport and was known for its nightlife.

Goma was one of the locations Rwandese fled to during the genocide of 1994 (the Rwandan provisional government being based in neighbouring Gisenyi). Shortly after the arrival of nearly one million refugees, a deadly cholera outbreak claimed thousands of lives. In 1997 and 1998, government forces from Rwanda stormed the camps at Goma searching for Hutu genocidaires, killing thousands more.

In 2002, Nyiragongo erupted, sending a stream of lava through the center of the city. The lava destroyed some the city's buildings and paved over part of the airport's runway.

In the Legend of Zelda video game series Goma is a boss monster that appears in several of the titles, such as Ocarina of Time, Oracle of Seasons, and Wind Waker. Goma appears as either a giant arachnid or a giant crustacian, but always has the distinguishing feature of a single large eye, which also happens to be its only weakness. Goma is often accompanied by its larvae, which are much smaller but also dangerous, and can be slain by having its eye repeatedly damaged.