Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately 59,947 km2 (23,146 sq mi),[6][7] Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake,[8] and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after Lake Superior in North America.[9] In terms of volume, Lake Victoria is the world's ninth-largest continental lake, containing about 2,424 km3 (1.965×109 acre⋅ft) of water.[7][10] Lake Victoria occupies a shallow depression in Africa. The lake has an average depth of 40 m (130 ft) and a maximum depth of 80–81 m (262–266 ft).[7][10][11] Its catchment area covers 169,858 km2 (65,583 sq mi).[12] The lake has a shoreline of 7,142 km (4,438 mi) when digitized at the 1:25,000 level,[13] with islands constituting 3.7% of this length.[14]
For other places with the same name, see Lake Victoria (disambiguation).Lake Victoria
169,858 km2 (65,583 sq mi)
229,815 km2 (88,732 sq mi) basin [1]
359 km (223 mi)[2]
337 km (209 mi)[2]
59,947 km2 (23,146 sq mi)[3]
40.4 m (133 ft)[3]
81 m (266 ft)[3]
2,424 km3 (582 cu mi)[3]
7,142 km (4,438 mi)[3]
1,135 m (3,724 ft)[4]
985 (Ukerewe Island, Tanzania;Ssese Islands,[3] Uganda; Maboko Island, Kenya)[5]
The lake's area is divided among three countries: Tanzania occupies 49% (33,700 km2 (13,000 sq mi)), Uganda 45% (31,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi)), and Kenya 6% (4,100 km2 (1,600 sq mi)).[15]
The lake is home to many species of fish which live nowhere else, especially cichlids. Invasive fish, such as the Nile perch, have driven many endemic species to extinction.
Names[edit]
Though having multiple local language names (Swahili: Ukerewe; Dholuo: Nam Lolwe; Luganda: 'Nnalubaale; Kinyarwanda: Nyanza),[16][17] the lake was renamed after Queen Victoria by the explorer John Hanning Speke, the first Briton to document it in 1858, while on an expedition with Richard Francis Burton.[18][19]
Native wildlife[edit]
Mammals[edit]
Many mammal species live in the region of Lake Victoria, and some of these are closely associated with the lake itself and the nearby wetlands. Among these are the hippopotamus, African clawless otter, spotted-necked otter, marsh mongoose, sitatunga, bohor reedbuck, defassa waterbuck, cane rats, and giant otter shrew.[34]
Reptiles[edit]
Lake Victoria and its wetlands has a large population of Nile crocodiles, as well as African helmeted turtles, variable mud turtles, and Williams' mud turtle.[35] The Williams' mud turtle is restricted to Lake Victoria and other lakes, rivers, and swamps in the upper Nile basin.[35]