Lake Victoria
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia | Date: 2007
[or Victoria Nyanza] Largest lake in Africa and chief reservoir of the Nile River, east-central Africa. The southern half lies in Tanzania, the northern half in Uganda; it borders Kenya in the northeast. With an area of 26,828 sq mi (69,484 sq km), it is the second largest freshwater lake in the world (after Lake Superior in North America). It is about 210 mi (337 km) long, 150 mi (240 km) wide, and up to 270 ft (82 m) deep. Though the Kagera River is its largest tributary, the most important source of water for the lake is rainfall. Its only outlet is the Victoria Nile. John Hanning Speke, searching for the source of the Nile in 1858, was the first European to sight it. He named it for Queen Victoria; the Arabs had called it Ukerewe. Henry Morton Stanley circumnavigated it in 1875. It became a reservoir when the water level was raised after completion of Owen Falls Dam (now the Nalubaale Dam) in 1954.
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Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles from HighBeam Research
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Lake Victoria perch - at the head of the predatory food chain
The Independent Weekly; 11/30/2005; Anonymous; 787 words
; Some weeks ago, I was browsing the fish counter at Whole Foods when my eye was caught by the legend: "Lake Victoria Perch." It caught my eye because I, like many, am a sucker for that kind of specificity in a food description. Would you like mussels or Prince Edward Island mussels? Would you like
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EU/KENYA/UGANDA/TANZANIA: EURO 30 MILLION AID FOR LAKE VICTORIA FISH MANAGEMENT.(European Union gives aid to governments bordering lake)(Brief Article)
European Report; 1/8/2003; 283 words
; A Euro 29.9 million aid programme to implement a fisheries management plan for Africa's Lake Victoria has been approved by the European Commission. The aid will be sent through the lake's three surrounding countries, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and will aim to help regenerate fish stocks that are
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Useful disasters: the complexity of response to stress in a tropical lake ecosystem [Introduction of Nile perch to Lake Victoria]
Anthropologica; 1/1/1996; Pratt, Marion; 787 words
; Abstract: The introduction of the Nile perch in the 1960s enhanced the economic value of the local fishery and encouraged women to become involved in fish processing and marketing. Over time, however, the predatory perch has severely reduced stocks of popular indigenous fishes. Currently,
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A growing role in the Lake Victoria Basin: after a recent visit to the Kisumu area Ronald Watts reviews progress in Kenya and the potential for the whole region.(Kenya)
African Review of Business and Technology; 11/1/2006; Watts, Ronald; 787 words
; ALTHOUGH UGANDA HAS a key role in the ongoing saga of Lake Victoria, because of its control of the Owen Falls Dam, Kenya and Tanzania are critical partners. Because of its greater industrialisation Kenya should be able to lead the way in creating more jobs in the Lake Victoria Basin. A major boost
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"Africa's great lakes in peril." (Lake Victoria)
World Watch; 11/1/1994; Chege, Nancy; 512 words
; (March/April 1992). For several decades, Lake Victoria, Africa's largest and the world's second largest fresh-water lake, has been a victim of overfishing, pollution, and sedimentation, as World Watch reported in early 1992. Victoria has been referred to as a dying lake by some scientists because
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