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LAKE VICTORIA

The 68,000 sq km Lake Victoria is Afria’s largest lake – and the world’s second largest fresh-water lake.  It is relatively shallow for its size, with a maximum depth of 84 m (276 ft) and a mean depth of 40 m (131 ft). It is the source of the longest branch of the River Nile, and has a water catchment area of 184,000 square kilometres. 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.  It forms the administration border for three East Africa countries, namely Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.

The lake has a shoreline of 3,440 km (2,138 miles), and has more than 3,000 islands, many of which are inhabited. These include the Ssese Island in Uganda, Mfangano Island and Rusinga Island and Kenya and Rubondo Island in Tanzania – all of which are becoming popular destinations for tourists.  Fishing is the mainstay of the people who live along the lake shore, with Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and Nile perch (Lates niloticus) being fished for local and export markets.  The introduction into the lake of Nile perch, a carnivorous fish, has resulted in the disappearance of hundreds of endemic haplochromine cichlid species.

Many of these are now presumed to be extinct in the wild. Bird species found around Lake Victoria but rarely if ever seen anywhere else in the region include the Blue-breasted Bee-easter, Blue Swallow, Swamp Flycatcher, Greater Swamp-warbler, White-winged Warbler, Papyrus Yellow Warbler, Carruthers' Cisticola, Papyrus Gonolek, Red-chested Sunbird, Red-headed Quelea, Slender-billed Weaver, Yellow-backed Weaver, Northern Brown-throated Weaver, Black-throated Seedeater and the Papyrus Canary.  It is also variously known by its local names, Lake Nyanza, Ukerewe and Nalubaale.