Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria or Victoria Nyanza (also known as Ukerewe and Nnalubaale) is a lake in Africa. It is bordered and governed by the countries of Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. The lake is in the western part of Africa's Great Rift Valley.
Description
[change | change source]Lake Victoria is 68,800 square kilometres (26,560 mi²) in size. It is Africa's largest lake, and the second largest fresh water lake in the world. It was named for Queen Victoria. The White Nile flows out of the lake.
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)).[1]
The lake has a maximum depth of approximately 80 metres (260 ft) and an average depth of 40 metres (130 ft).[2] The deepest part is offset to the east of the lake near Kenya.
Ports and port infrastructure
[change | change source]
The main ports on the lake are in Kisumu in Kenya; Mwanza, Musoma, Bukoba in Tanzania; Entebbe, Port Bell and Jinja in Uganda. Many smaller Lake Victoria ports are also in use, the number of ports served by ferries in Tanzania alone reaches 30.
On 20 September 2018, at least 228 people died when the overloaded motor ferry Nyerere, carrying "close to 270 passengers", capsized on Lake Victoria between Ukerewe Island and Ukara Island, Tanzania.[3][4][5]
The ferry Bukoba sank in the Lake Victoria on 21 May 1996 with a loss of between 800 and 1,000 lives, making it one of Africa's worst maritime disasters.[6]
In popular culture
[change | change source]- Lake Victoria, its shores, and islands are featured in Jules Verne's novel Five Weeks in a Balloon, in which travelers cross the lake from east to northwest in search of the source of the Nile (chapters 18 and 19).[7][8]
- In the adventure film Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962), Professor Ferguson and his companions fly across Lake Victoria by hot air balloon during an expedition from Zanzibar to West Africa, to the Volta River.[9]
- In Ivan Yefremov's historical novel At the Edge of Oikoumene (The Land of Foam), an expedition of ancient Egyptians reached the land of Punt (present-day Somalia) by ship, and from there the foot troops reached the Zambezi River and Lake Victoria (Part 1, "The Journey of Baurdjed", 1953).[10][11]
- In Andrei Gusev's story Consummation in Mombasa (2017), the main characters, Andy and Jennifer, go on a honeymoon from Mombasa to Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria, and then relax in a boarding house on the Kenyan island of Takawiri in the middle of Lake Victoria.[12][13][14]
Other websites
[change | change source]References
[change | change source]- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Hamilton, S.E. (2016). "Creation of a Bathymetric Map of Lake Victoria, Africa". Salisbury.edu. Salisbury, MD: Salisbury University. doi:10.7910/DVN/SOEKNR. Archived from the original on 2016-10-25. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ↑ "Hundreds missing after ferry capsizes". BBC News. 2018-09-21. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
- ↑ Anonymous (22 September 2018). "Survivor pulled from capsized Tanzanian ferry as death toll reaches 166". Reuters. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ↑ "MV Nyerere Retrieval Ends". Daily News. 29 September 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
- ↑ Harris, Edward (29 September 2002). "Diver's recover 180 bodies from Africa's worst ferry disaster". Panama City News Herald. Panama city, Florida. p. 8. Retrieved 6 April 2018 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
The tragedy was one of Africa's deadliest maritime disasters. On May 21st 1996, at least 500 people died in the sinking of the MV Bukova on Lake Victoria.
- ↑ Butcher, William (2008). Jules Verne: The Definitive Biography. Hong Kong: Acadien. p. 29.
- ↑ Воздушное путешествие через Африку. Составленное по запискам доктора Фергюссона Юлием Верн. — М., изд. М. А. Головачёва, 306 стр., 1864
- ↑ Five Weeks in a Balloon on IMDb
- ↑ Ефремов И.А. «На краю Ойкумены» — М.: Стройиздат, 1982. — 447 с.
- ↑ Ерёмина О. А., Смирнов Н. Н. Иван Ефремов. — М.: Молодая гвардия, 2013. — 682 с. — (Жизнь замечательных людей; вып. 1440). — ISBN 978-5-235-03658-1
- ↑ Рецензия на повесть «Консуммация в Момбасе» Archived 2020-11-05 at the Wayback Machine — на сайте общественного фонда «Союз литераторов Москвы», 2020
- ↑ Андрей Гусев «Консуммация в Момбасе», 2017. Archived 2020-08-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Андрей Гусев «Консуммация в Момбасе» Archived 2020-06-09 at the Wayback Machine — in Lady’s Club, 2017
