Uganda’s Rift Valley Lakes

The East African Rift Valley, which stretches across eastern Africa from Ethiopia in the north to Malawi in the south, includes the Africa Great Lakes in the south, is home to a number of stunning rift valley lakes spread across the nation. An elongated valley created by the depression of a section of the earth’s surface between two faults is known as a rift valley. These valleys are created on divergent plate boundaries, spreading portions of the surface, or crustal extensions that are further deepened by erosion.

The East African Rift Valley contains the four main lakes that make up Uganda’s Rift Valley: Lake Edward, Lake Albert, Lake George, and Lake Kyoga, which are detailed in more depth below.

Lake Albert

With a surface area of 5,300 square kilometers, Lake Albert, formerly known as Lake Mobutu Sese Seko and locally referred to as Lake Mwitanzige, is the second largest of the Great Lakes in Uganda and the seventh largest lake in Africa. It is situated in both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.

The explorers Samuel Baker and Sass Flora were the first Europeans to set foot at Lake Albert in 1864. They named the lake after Prince Albert, Consort of Queen Victoria, who had just passed away. The lake was briefly named after former Zarian President Mobutu Sese Seko in the 20th century.

Geographically speaking, Lake Albert is situated in the northernmost lake chain in the Albertine Rift, on the western branch of the East Africa Rift, and sits on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Lake Albert has a maximum depth of 51 meters, measures around 160 kilometers in length and 30 kilometers in width, and is 619 meters above sea level on the surface.

Lake Victoria to the southeast and the Semuliki River, which rises from Lake Esward to the southwest, are the two primary sources of white water for Lake Albert, which is a component of the intricate upper Nile system. The waters of Lake Albert, which is located at the northernmost point of the lake and has an outlet on the White Nile, are far less salinized than those of the Victoria Nile. When the White Nile eventually reaches South Sudan, it is referred to as the Mountain Nile.

Lake Kyoga

One of the lakes of the Rift Valley in Uganda is Lake Kyoga, often spelled Kioga. It is a huge, shallow lake with an area of roughly 1,720 square kilometers and a height of 1,033 meters. The middle route of the Victoria Nile formed Lake George, which is situated in central Uganda to the north of Lake Victoria.

The Nalubaale Power Station in Jinja fully controls the main inflow from Lake Victoria. The Victoria Nile flows through the lake on its route from Lake Victoria to Lake Albert. The Mount Elgon region on the Ugandan-Kenyan border is another source of water for Lake Kyoga.

About 5.7 meters is the maximum depth reached by Lake Kyoga; the remaining 4 meters or less are entirely covered in water lilies, and papyrus and water hyacinth cover a large portion of the marshy shoreline. Lake Kwanja, Lake Bisina, and Lake Opeta are some of the extension lakes of Lake Kyoga. During the rainy season, swampland surrounds these lakes.

Lake Edward 

One of the smallest lakes in the African Great Lakes, Lake Edward (formerly known as Lake Rutanzige), is located in the Albertine Rift in the western branch of the East African Rift, on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The lake’s northern shores extend a few kilometers south of the equator.

At its longest and widest sections, Lake Edward is 77 kilometers long and 40 kilometers wide, with an elevation of 920 meters. Lake Edward is the fifteenth largest lake on the African continent, with a surface area of 2,325 square kilometers.

River Rutshuru is the source of Lake Edward’s inflow. The lake is one of the bodies of water in Queen Elizabeth National Park, and the well-known Kazinga Channel connects it to Lake George.

Lake George

One of the stunning lakes in the series of Great Lakes in Africa, George, also known as Lake Dweru, is located in Uganda. The lake bears Prince George’s name, a member of the British Royal family who went on to become King George V of the United Kingdom.

With a surface area of 250 square kilometers (97 sq.mi), Lake George is connected to another rift valley lake and is situated in the western portion of East Africa’s rift valley. One of the highlights of Queen Elizabeth National Park is Lake Edward by the Kazinga Channel.

The British explorer Henry M. Stanely is credited with being the first European to observe Lake George in 1875. During the trans-African journey, Stanely followed the Katonga River’s path from Lake Victoria.

The primary entrances to Lake George are Mpanga and Dura from the northeast and Rumi, Nsonga, and Mubuku from the southeast. Lake George empties into Lake Edward to the southwest via the Kazinga Channel. The Lake receives its nourishment from