Lake Victoria

For other places with the same name, see Lake Victoria (disambiguation).

Lake Victoria
see caption
Lake Victoria partially obscured by clouds taken on the International Space Station
Location of Lake Victoria in Africa.
Location of Lake Victoria in Africa.
Lake Victoria
LocationAfrican Great Lakes
Coordinates1°S 33°E / 1°S 33°E / -1; 33
Primary inflowsKagera River
Primary outflowsWhite Nile
Catchment area169,858 km2 (65,583 sq mi)
229,815 km2 (88,732 sq mi) basin [1]
Basin countriesBurundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda[1]
Max. length359 km (223 mi)[2]
Max. width337 km (209 mi)[2]
Surface area59,947 km2 (23,146 sq mi)[3]
Average depth40.4 m (133 ft)[3]
Max. depth81 m (266 ft)[3]
Water volume2,424 km3 (582 cu mi)[3]
Shore length17,142 km (4,438 mi)[3]
Surface elevation1,135 m (3,724 ft)[4]
Islands985 (Ukerewe Island, Tanzania;Ssese Islands,[3] Uganda; Maboko Island, Kenya)[5]
Settlements
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.
Victoria Nyanza. The black line indicates Stanley's route.

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]

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.

  1. ^ a b Hamilton, Stuart (Salisbury University) (2016). "Basin, Lake Victoria Watershed (inside), vector polygon, ~2015" (Data Set). Harvard Dataverse. doi:10.7910/DVN/Z5RMYD. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ a b Hamilton, Stuart (Salisbury University) (2016). "Shoreline, Lake Victoria, vector polygon, ~2015" (Data Set). Harvard Dataverse. doi:10.7910/DVN/PWFW26. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e f Hamilton, Stuart (2018). "Lake Victoria Statistics from this Dataverse" (Data Set). Harvard Dataverse. doi:10.7910/DVN/FVJJ4A. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ Database for Hydrological Time Series of Inland Waters (DAHITI) – Victoria, Lake, retrieved 20 April 2017.
  5. ^ For a comprehensiwe list of these islands, see: sw:Ziwa Viktoria
  6. ^ Stuart, Hamilton (5 October 2016). "Shoreline, Lake Victoria, vector polygon, ~2015" (Data Set). Harvard Dataverse. doi:10.7910/dvn/pwfw26. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ a b c Stuart, Hamilton (13 November 2018). "Lake Victoria Statistics from this Dataverse" (Data Set). Harvard Dataverse. doi:10.7910/dvn/fvjj4a. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ Saundry, Peter. "Lake Victoria".
  9. ^ "Lake Victoria". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  10. ^ a b Stuart, Hamilton; Taabu, Anthony Munyaho; Noah, Krach; Sarah, Glaser (17 May 2018). "Bathymetry TIFF, Lake Victoria Bathymetry, raster, 2017, V7" (Data Set). Harvard Dataverse. doi:10.7910/dvn/soeknr. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ^ United Nations, Development and Harmonisation of Environmental Laws Volume 1: Report on the Legal and Institutional Issues in the Lake Victoria Basin, United Nations, 1999, page 17
  12. ^ Stuart, Hamilton (12 November 2017). "Basin, Lake Victoria Watershed (inside), vector polygon, ~2015". Harvard Dataverse (Data Set). doi:10.7910/dvn/z5rmyd.
  13. ^ Hamilton, Stuart (11 October 2016). "Shoreline, Lake Victoria, vector line – 2015 – LakeVicFish Dataverse" (Data Set). Harvard Dataverse. doi:10.7910/dvn/5y5ivf. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. ^ C.F. Hickling (1961). Tropical Inland Fisheries. London: Longmans.
  15. ^ J. Prado, R.J. Beare, J. Siwo Mbuga & L.E. Oluka, 1991. A catalogue of fishing methods and gear used in Lake Victoria. UNDP/FAO Regional Project for Inland Fisheries Development (IFIP), FAO RAF/87/099-TD/19/91 (En). Rome, Food and Agricultural Organization.