| Lake Victoria | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Coordinates | |
| Primary outflows | White Nile River |
| Catchment area | 184,000 km² 238,900 km² basin |
| Basin countries | Tanzania Uganda Kenya |
| Max. In Hydrology, the discharge or outflow of a River is the volume of Water transported by it in a certain amount of time The White Nile ( Arabic: النيل الأبيض transliterated: an-Nīl al-Ābyadˤ) is a River of Africa, one of the two main A drainage basin is an extent of Land where Water from Rain or Snow melt drains downhill into a body of water such as a River, A drainage basin is an extent of Land where Water from Rain or Snow melt drains downhill into a body of water such as a River, Tanzania ˌtænzəˈniːə officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya The Republic of Uganda is a Landlocked country in East Africa. The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north Somalia to the northeast Tanzania to the south length | 337 km |
| Max. width | 250 km |
| Surface area | 68,800 km² |
| Average depth | 40 m |
| Max. depth | 83 m |
| Water volume | 2,750 km³ |
| Shore length1 | 3,440 km |
| Surface elevation | 1,133 m |
| Islands | 3,000 (Ssese Islands Uganda) |
| Settlements | Bukoba, Tanzania Mwanza, Tanzania Kisumu, Kenya Kampala, Uganda Entebbe, Uganda |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. The Ssese Islands are an Archipelago of eighty-four Islands in the northwest of Lake Victoria, Uganda, in the nation's Kalangala District Bukoba is a town in northwest Tanzania on the western shore of Lake Victoria. Mwanza is a city in northwest Tanzania and a southern Port of Lake Victoria. Kisumu is a Port city in western Kenya at 1131m with a population of 355024 (1999 census Kampala is the Capital city of Uganda. With a population of 1208544 (2002 it is the largest city in Uganda Entebbe is a city in Uganda with a population of approximately 90500 | |
Lake Victoria or Victoria Nyanza (also known as Ukerewe and Nalubaale) is one of the Great Lakes of Africa. The Great Lakes of Africa are a series of Lakes in and around the geographic Great Rift Valley formed by the action of the tectonic East African
Lake Victoria is 68,800 square kilometres (26,560 mi²) in size, making it the continent's largest lake, the largest tropical lake in the world, and the second largest fresh water lake in the world in terms of surface area (third largest if one considers Lake Michigan-Huron as a single lake). A lake (from Latin lacus) is a Terrain feature (or Physical feature) a body of Liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the Freshwater is a word that refers to bodies of water such as Ponds lakes rivers and streams containing low concentrations of dissolved Salts and other Total dissolved Lakes with a surface area of more than 4000 km² listed by area Lake Michigan-Huron is a designation given to the body of water (part of the North American Great Lakes) traditionally considered to be two separate lakes Lake Michigan Being relatively shallow for its size, with a maximum depth of 84 m (276 ft) and a mean depth of 40 m (131 ft), Lake Victoria ranks as the seventh largest freshwater lake by volume, containing 2,750 cubic kilometres (2. This article lists Lakes with a water volume of more than 100 km³ ranked by volume 2 million acre-feet) of water. An acre-foot is a unit of Volume commonly used in the United States in reference to large-scale water resources such as reservoirs, Aqueducts It is the source of the longest branch of the Nile River, the White Nile, and has a water catchment area of 184,000 square kilometres (71,040 mi²). The Nile (النيل, Ancient Egyptian iteru or Ḥ'pī, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing River The White Nile ( Arabic: النيل الأبيض transliterated: an-Nīl al-Ābyadˤ) is a River of Africa, one of the two main A drainage basin is an extent of Land where Water from Rain or Snow melt drains downhill into a body of water such as a River, It is a biological hotspot with great biodiversity. The lake lies within an elevated plateau in the western part of Africa's Great Rift Valley and is subject to territorial administration by Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. In Geology and Earth science, a plateau, also called a high plateau or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting The Great Rift Valley is a name given in the late 19th century by English explorer John Walter Gregory to the continuous geographic trough approximately in length that runs Tanzania ˌtænzəˈniːə officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya The Republic of Uganda is a Landlocked country in East Africa. The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north Somalia to the northeast Tanzania to the south The lake has a shoreline of 3,440 km (2138 miles), and has more than 3,000 islands, many of which are inhabited. An island (ˈaɪlənd or isle (/ˈaɪl/ is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water in two dimensions above high tide and isolated from other significant These include the Ssese Islands in Uganda, a large group of islands in the northwest of the Lake that are becoming a popular destination for tourists. The Ssese Islands are an Archipelago of eighty-four Islands in the northwest of Lake Victoria, Uganda, in the nation's Kalangala District
Lake Victoria is relatively young; its current basin formed only 400,000 years ago, when westward-flowing rivers were dammed by an upthrown crustal block. [1] The lake's shallowness, limited river inflow, and large surface area relative to its volume make it vulnerable to climate changes; cores taken from its bottom show that Lake Victoria has dried up completely three times since it formed. "Riverine" redirects here For the use of that term in Maritime geography, see there Climate change is any long-term significant change in the “average weather” that a given region experiences [2] These drying cycles are probably related to past ice ages, which are times when precipitation declined globally. An ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the Temperature of the Earth 's surface and atmosphere resulting in an expansion of continental Ice sheets In Meteorology, precipitation (also known as one class of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric [3] The lake last dried out 17,300 years ago, and filled again beginning 14,700 years ago; the fantastic adaptive radiation of its native cichlids has taken place in the short period of time since then. An adaptive radiation is a rapid Evolutionary radiation characterized by an increase in the morphological and ecological diversity of a single rapidly diversifying lineage Cichlids (ˈsɪklɪd are Fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. [4]
Contents |
Exploration history
The first recorded information about Lake Victoria comes from Arab traders plying the inland routes in search of gold, ivory, other precious commodities and slaves. The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 Ivory is formed from Dentine and constitutes the bulk of the Teeth and Tusks of animals such as the Elephant, Hippopotamus, Slavery is a social-economic system under which certain persons — known as slaves — are deprived of personal freedom and compelled to perform labour or services An excellent map known as the Al Idrisi map dated from the 1160s, clearly depicts an accurate representation of Lake Victoria, and attributes it as being the source of the Nile. A map is a visual representation of an area—a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, Regions, and Themes Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani al-Sabti or simply El Idrisi ( Arabic أبو عبد الله محمد الإدريسي Latin:
The lake was first sighted by a European in 1858 when the British explorer John Hanning Speke reached its southern shore whilst on his journey with Richard Francis Burton to explore central Africa and locate the great Lakes. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located This list of explorers is sorted by surname See also the links below. John Hannington Speke ( May 4 1827 &ndash September 15 1864) was an officer in the British Indian army who made three voyages of exploration Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS (19 March 1821 &ndash 20 October 1890 was an English Explorer, Translator, writer Believing he had found the source of the Nile on seeing this vast expanse of open water for the first time, Speke named the lake after Queen Victoria. Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901 was from 20 June 1837 the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Burton, who had been recovering from illness at the time and resting further south on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, was outraged that Speke claimed to have proved his discovery to have been the true source of the Nile, which Burton regarded as still unsettled. Lake Tanganyika is a large Lake in central Africa (3° 20' to 8° 48' South and from 29° 5' to 31° 15' East The Nile (النيل, Ancient Egyptian iteru or Ḥ'pī, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing River A very public quarrel ensued, which not only sparked a great deal of intense debate within the scientific community of the day, but much interest by other explorers keen to either confirm or refute Speke's discovery.
The well known British explorer and missionary David Livingstone failed in his attempt to verify Speke's discovery, instead pushing too far west and entering the Congo River system instead. Dr David Livingstone (19 March 1813 &ndash 1 May 1873 was a British Congregationalist pioneer medical Missionary with the London Missionary Society The Congo River (for a time known as the Zaire River) is the largest River in Western Central Africa. It was ultimately the Welsh-American explorer Henry Morton Stanley, on an expedition funded by the New York Herald newspaper, who confirmed the truth of Speke's discovery, circumnavigating the Lake and reporting the great outflow at Ripon Falls on the Lake's northern shore. In the 2000 Census 175 million Americans reported Welsh ancestry, 0 Sir Henry Morton Stanley, GCB, born John Rowlands ( January 28 1841 &ndash May 10 1904) was a British journalist The New York Herald was a large distribution Newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835 and 1924 Ripon Falls at the northern end of Lake Victoria in Uganda is often considered the source of the river Nile.
Ecology and social impacts
Lake Victoria plays a vital role in supporting the millions of people living around its shores, in one of the most densely populated regions on earth.
Introduction of fish species
The ecosystems of Lake Victoria and its surroundings have been badly affected by human influence. An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants animals and micro-organisms( Biotic factors in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical ( In 1954, the Nile perch (Lates niloticus) was first introduced into the lake's ecosystem in an attempt to improve fishery yields of the lake. The Nile perch ( Lates niloticus) is a Species of Freshwater Fish in family Latidae of order Perciformes Introduction efforts intensified during the very early 1960s. The species was present in small numbers until the early to mid 1980s, when it underwent a massive population expansion and came to dominate the fish community and ecology of the world's largest tropical lake. Also introduced was the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), now an important food fish for local consumption. The Nile Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus is a Cichlid fish of African origin which is native from Syria into east Africa through the The Nile perch (Lates niloticus) proved ecologically and socioeconomically devastating. Socioeconomics or socio-economics is the study of the relationship between economic activity and Social life. Together with pollution born of deforestation and overpopulation (of both people and domestic animals), the Nile perch has brought about a massive transformation in the lake ecosystem and to the disappearance of hundreds of endemic haplochromine cichlid species. Deforestation is the conversion of Forested areas to non-forest land for use such as Arable land, Pasture, urban use logged area or wasteland Endemism is the Ecological state of being unique to a place Endemic species are not naturally found elsewhere The haplochromine cichlids, Subfamily Haplochrominae are a grouping of genera including Haplochromis plus a number of closely related genera Many of these are now presumed to be entirely extinct. In Biology and Ecology, extinction is the cessation of existence of a Species or group of taxa. A number of other species are extinct in the wild, with populations being maintained in zoos and aquaria, e. Extinct in the Wild ( EW) is a Conservation status assigned to species or lower taxa the only known living members of which are being kept in captivity or as a naturalized A zoological garden, shortened to zoo, is an institution in which living animals are exhibited in captivity g. as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquarium's Species Survival Plan for these species. The American Species Survival Plan or SSP program was developed in 1981 by the (American Association of Zoos and Aquariums to help ensure the survival of selected Some species which were extirpated from Lake Victoria itself, are known to survive in nearby smaller so-called satellite lakes, such as Lake Kyoga, Lake Edward, and Lake Albert. Local extinction is where a Species (or other Taxon) ceases to exist in the chosen area of study but still exists elsewhere Lake Kyoga is a large shallow Lake complex of Uganda, about 1720 km² in area and at an elevation of 914 m Lake Edward or Edward Nyanza is the smallest of the Great Lakes of Africa. Lake Albert or Albert Lake may refer to Lake Albert (Africa, one of the African Great Lakes Lake Albert (South Australia
Also vanished from the big Lake Victoria is one of two native species of tilapia (another kind of cichlid fish), the Singidia tilapia or ngege (Oreochromis esculentus). Tilapia (təˌlɑpiə is the common name for nearly a hundred Species of Cichlid Fishes from the Tilapiine cichlid tribe Cichlids (ˈsɪklɪd are Fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. UserPolbot. -->The singidia tilapia ( Oreochromis esculentus) is a species of Fish in the Cichlidae The ngege is superior in taste and texture to Nile tilapia, but it does not grow as fast or as large and produces fewer young. Ngege and some representatives of haplochromine diversity survive in minute swamp ponds and lakes that dot the Lake Victoria Basin. The initial good returns on Nile perch catches, at their peak delivering export revenues of several hundred million dollars a year, have diminished dramatically due to poor enforcement of fisheries regulations. The proceeds from Nile perch sales remain an important economic engine in the region, but the resulting wealth is very poorly distributed and the overall balance sheet on the Nile perch introduction to Lake Victoria is well into the red despite the enormous value of the perch landings as an export commodity.
The three countries bordering Lake Victoria - Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania - have agreed in principle to the idea of a tax on Nile perch exports, proceeds to be applied to various measures to benefit local communities and sustain the fishery. However, this tax has not been put into force, enforcement of fisheries and environmental laws generally are lax, and the Nile perch fishery remains in essence a mining operation.
Currently, the Nile perch is being overfished. Populations of a few endemic cichlid species have increased again, particularly one to three species of zooplankton-eating, herring-like cichlids (Yssichromis) that school with the abundant native Silver Cyprinid (Rastrineobola argentea), known locally as dagaa (Tanzania), omena (Kenya) or mukene (Uganda). UserPolbot. --> Yssichromis is a genus of Fish in the Cichlidae family UserPolbot. -->The Silver Cyprinid ( Rastrineobola argentea) is a species of Ray-finned fish in the In 1996 The World Bank funded a project to restore and sustain the ecology of Lake Victoria and its fisheries, called LVEMP (Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project). The World Bank Group (WBG is a family of five International organizations responsible for providing Finance and advice to countries for the purposes of economic
Meanwhile, the EU invested another large sum in fisheries infrastructure and monitoring. One product of these foreign aid programs has been the training of a new generation of east African aquatic ecologists, conservation professionals, and fisheries scientists. There has also been an increase in the fishery research institutes of the lake.
Water hyacinth invasion
The water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes, a native of the tropical Americas, was introduced by Belgian colonists to Ruanda to beautify their holdings and then advanced by natural means to Lake Victoria where it was first sighted in 1988[5] There, without any natural enemies, it has become an ecological plague, suffocating the lake, diminishing the fish reservoir, and hurting the local economies. Eichhornia crassipes, commonly known as Common Water Hyacinth, is an Invasive species of plant which is native of Amazon basin. The Republic of Rwanda (ruːˈændə or /rəˈwɑːndə/ in English ɾwanda or in Kinyarwanda is a small Landlocked country in the By forming thick mats of vegetation it causes difficulties to transportation, fishing, hydroelectric power generation and drinking water supply. By 1995, 90% of the Ugandan coastline was covered by the plant. The Republic of Uganda is a Landlocked country in East Africa. With mechanical and chemical control of the problem seeming unlikely, the mottled water hyacinth weevil Neochetina eichhorniae was bred and released with good results. The mottled water hyacinth weevil, Neochetina eichhorniae, has been introduced to countries worldwide to control the spread of the weed Water hyacinth, Eichhornia On the Kenyan site ,however, neglect has led to siginificant economic impact making it difficult to reach the harbor of Kisumu, hurting fishing, and threatening the water supply. The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north Somalia to the northeast Tanzania to the south Kisumu is a Port city in western Kenya at 1131m with a population of 355024 (1999 census [5]
Nalubaale dam
The only outflow for Lake Victoria is at Jinja, Uganda where it forms the Victoria Nile. Nalubaale Power Station, often known by its old name Owen Falls Dam, is a Hydroelectric power station across the White Nile near to its source at Jinja is the second commercial centre in Uganda, Africa It was established in 1907 The water originally drained over a natural rock weir. In 1952 British colonial engineers blasted out the weir and reservoir. A standard for mimicking the old rate of outflow called the "agreed curve" was established, setting the maximum flow rate at 300 to 1,700 cubic meters per second (392 - 2,224 yd³/sec) depending on the lake's water level.
In 2002 Uganda completed a second hydroelectric complex in the area, with World Bank assistance. By 2006 the water levels in Lake Victoria had reached an 80-year low, and Daniel Kull, an independent hydrologist living in Nairobi, Kenya, calculated that Uganda was releasing about twice as much water as is allowed under the agreement [2], and was the primary culprit in recent drops in the lake's level.
At 55,372 cubic meters per second (35,000 yrd³), more than double the maximum agreed curve, it would take a year to drain 110. 75 cubic kilometres (89,500 acre-feet) from the lake. An acre-foot is a unit of Volume commonly used in the United States in reference to large-scale water resources such as reservoirs, Aqueducts That is approximately 4% of the lake's volume.
Transportation
Since the 1900s Lake Victoria ferries have been an important means of transport between Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. The Lake Victoria ferries are and were Steam - and Diesel -powered ships used for freight and passenger transport between Uganda, Tanzania and The Republic of Uganda is a Landlocked country in East Africa. Tanzania ˌtænzəˈniːə officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north Somalia to the northeast Tanzania to the south The main ports on the lake are Kisumu, Mwanza, Bukoba, Entebbe, Port Bell and Jinja. Kisumu is a Port city in western Kenya at 1131m with a population of 355024 (1999 census Mwanza is a city in northwest Tanzania and a southern Port of Lake Victoria. Bukoba is a town in northwest Tanzania on the western shore of Lake Victoria. Entebbe is a city in Uganda with a population of approximately 90500 Port Bell is a small industrial centre near Kampala in Uganda which has a rail link and a rail/road Ferry Wharf used for international Jinja is the second commercial centre in Uganda, Africa It was established in 1907 The steamer MV Bukoba sank in the lake on October 3, 1995, killing nearly 1,000 people in one of Africa's worst maritime disasters. MV Bukoba was a passenger steamer that sank in Lake Victoria, 30 kilometers from Mwanza, Tanzania on May 21 1996, killing Events 42 BC - First Battle of Philippi: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight an indecisive battle with Caesar's Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995
See also
- African Great Lakes
- Rift Valley lakes
- List of world's largest lakes
- Darwin's Nightmare (documentary dealing with the damage that has been caused by Nile Perch introduction)
References
- ^ Reader, John. The Great Lakes of Africa are a series of Lakes in and around the geographic Great Rift Valley formed by the action of the tectonic East African The Rift Valley lakes are a group of lakes in the Great Rift Valley formed by the East African Rift which runs through the whole eastern side of the African Lakes with a surface area of more than 4000 km² listed by area Darwin's Nightmare is a 2004 French-Belgian-Austrian documentary film written and directed by Hubert Sauper, dealing with the environmental Africa. Washington, D. C. : National Geographic Society, 2001. p. 227
- ^ Reader, p. 228
- ^ Reader, p. 228
- ^ Reader, p. 228
- ^ a b [1] Thilo Thielke: Die grüne Pest. Spiegel (de) 2/9/2008, accessed 2/9/2008
External links
- Decreasing levels of Lake Victoria Worry East African Countries
- Bibliography on Water Resources and International Law See Lake Victoria. Peace Palace Libray
- New Scientist article on Uganda's violation of the agreed curve for hydroelectric water flow.
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