Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named after Queen Victoria by the explorer John Hanning Speke, the first Briton to document it. Speke accomplished this in 1858, while on an expedition with Richard Francis Burton to locate the source of the River Nile. However, the Lake is called Lolwe by the Luo who inhabit most of its shores in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. In Uganda it is called Nalubaale and in Kinyarwanda, it is called Nyanza by many of the Bantu speaking communities.
With a surface area of approximately 59,947 square kilometers, Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest lake by area, the world’s largest tropical lake, and the world’s second largest fresh water lake by surface area after Lake Superior in North America.
It is the chief reservoir of the Nile, lying mainly in Tanzania and Uganda but bordering on Kenya. Its area is 26,828 square miles (69,484 square km). Among the freshwater lakes of the world, it is exceeded in size only by Lake Superior in North America.
The lake receives most of its water from direct precipitation. Its largest in-fluent is the Kagera River, the mouth of which lies on the lake’s western shore. Among other major contributors to the Lake includes the Mara River which begins in the highlands of the Mau Forest and water tower in Kenya, snaking down the Maasai Mara into The Serengeti and proceeding to empty its water after hosting the Wildebeest migration at the border with Tanzania
In Uganda, The only river to leave the lake (flowing north) the White Nile (known as the “Victoria Nile”), leaves at Jinja, on the lake’s north shore. At the Source of the Nile in Jinja, the Lake ends and River begins its northward flow to the Mediterranean cutting across Uganda, South Sudan, and Sudan where it meets with the Blue Nile in Khartoum and continues stealthily through Egypt before pouring into the Mediterranean.
Lake Victoria is relatively shallow and supports diverse species of fish including the Nile Perch, Tilapia, Dagaa (Sardine) and catfish among many. Other major activities supported by this great lake include transport, tourism, water sport, and Inter-countries trade. It has given growth to big cities along its shores like Kisumu in Kenya, Entebbe and Kampala in Uganda and Mwanza in Tanzania.
It is truly an amazing Landmark and water feature in Africa which can be accessed and be viewed from any of the 3 countries of choice whenever one visits East Africa.
, Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest lake by area, the world’s largest tropical lake, and the world’s second largest fresh water lake by surface area after Lake Superior in North America.
It is the chief reservoir of the Nile, lying mainly in Tanzania and Uganda but bordering on Kenya. Its area is 26,828 square miles (69,484 square km). Among the freshwater lakes of the world, it is exceeded in size only by Lake Superior in North America.
The lake receives most of its water from direct precipitation. Its largest influent is the Kagera River, the mouth of which lies on the lake’s western shore. Among other major contributors to the Lake includes the Mara River which begins in the highlands of the Mau Forest and water tower in Kenya, snaking down the Maasai Mara into The Serengeti and proceeding to empty its water after hosting the Wildebeest migration at the border with Tanzania
In Uganda, The only river to leave the lake (flowing north) the White Nile (known as the “Victoria Nile”), leaves at Jinja, on the lake’s north shore. At the Source of the Nile in Jinja, the Lake ends and River begins its northward flow to the Mediterranean cutting across Uganda, South Sudan, and Sudan where it meets with the Blue Nile in Khartoum and continues stealthily through Egypt before pouring into the Mediterranean.
Lake Victoria is relatively shallow and supports diverse species of fish including the Nile Perch, Tilapia, Dagaa (Sardine) and catfish among many. Other major activities supported by this great lake include transport, tourism, water sport, and Inter-countries trade. It has given growth to big cities along its shores like Kisumu in Kenya, Entebbe and Kampala in Uganda and Mwanza in Tanzania.
It is truly an amazing Landmark and water feature in Africa which can be accessed and be viewed from any of the 3 countries of choice whenever one visits East Africa.