Lake Victoria - 255 Updates

Lake Victoria covers an area of ​​68,800 square kilometers (26,600 square miles), it is the largest lake in Africa. In addition, it is the largest tropical lake in the world, and the second largest freshwater lake on the planet. Only Lake Superior in North America is the largest.

The shape of the quadrilateral is irregular, its shores, with the exception of the west, are profoundly toothed. Its maximum length from north to south is 210 miles (337 km), and its largest width is 150 miles (240 km). Its coastline exceeds 2,000 miles (3,220 km).

Its waters fill a shallow low in the middle of the great plateau that stretches between the rift valleys east and east. The surface of the lake is 3,720 feet (1134 meters) above sea level, and its definite depth is 270 feet (82 meters). There are many archipelagos within the lake, as well as many coral reefs, often beneath the surface of clear waters. Lake Victoria contains more than 200 species of fish, of which tilapia is the most economically important. The lake basin area is 92,240 square miles (238,900 sq km).

The shores of the lake differ in terms of sides. The southwestern shore of the lake, supported by 300-foot (90-meter) cliffs, lends itself to the western coast of the sedge and marshes that characterize the Kagera River Delta. The northern coast of the lake is extremely flat and bare. A narrow canal leads to Kavirundo Bay, which has an average width of 16 miles (25 km) and extends 40 miles (64 km) east to Kisumu, Kenya.

The Ugandan cities of Kampala and Entebbe are located along or near the northern coast. In the southeastern corner of the lake is Speke Bay, and in the southwest corner of Emin Pasha Bay. Among the many islands in the lake, Ukerewe, north of Spik Bay, is the largest, with wooded hills rising 650 feet (200 meters) above the lake. It is of high population density. In the northwestern corner of the lake, there are 62 islands of the Sisi Archipelago, some of which are of stunning beauty.

The Kagera River, the largest and most important lake in the lake, enters the western side of Lake Victoria north of latitude 1 ° south. The only other river to enter from the west is Katunga, north of Kagera. The only outlet for the lake is the Victoria River, which exits the northern coast.

Europeans' search for the source of the Nile led to the British explorer John Hanning Speke seeing the lake in 1858. Formerly known to the Arabs as Okri, it was called Speke in honor of Queen Victoria Victoria.

Sir William Garsten conducted a detailed survey of the lake in 1901. Plans to gradually raise the lake's water level were completed in 1954 with the construction of the Owen Falls Dam (now Nalupali Dam) on the Victoria River in Jinja, Uganda. The dam provides large-scale hydroelectric power and made the lake a large reservoir. The second dam, Kira, was later built one kilometer (1 km) from Nalupali. It was completed in 1999 and hydroelectric production started in the following year.

Lake Victoria is one of the most densely populated areas in Africa. 50 miles (80 km) from its beaches, several million people live, most of them speak Bantu. There are local steamship services around the lake.