Lake Albert

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: African Geography

Lake Albert
Lake Albert - Lake Albert on a 2002 NASA MODIS satellite picture. The dotted grey line is the border between Congo (DRC) (left) and Uganda (right).
Lake Albert on a 2002 NASA MODIS satellite picture. The dotted grey line is the border between Congo (DRC) (left) and Uganda (right).
Coordinates 1°0′N 30°5′E
Primary sources Victoria Nile
Primary outflows Albert Nile
Catchment area  
Basin countries Democratic Republic of Congo
Uganda
Max-length 160 km
Max-width 30 km
Surface area 5,300 km²
Average depth 25m
Max-depth 58m
Water volume 280 km³
Shore length1  
Surface elevation 615 m
Islands  
Settlements Butiaba
Pakwach
1 Shore length is an imprecise measure which may not be standardized for this article.

Lake Albert – also Albert Nyanza and formerly Lake Mobutu Sese Seko – is one of the Great Lakes of Africa. It is Africa's seventh largest lake.

Lake Albert is located in the centre of the continent, on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire). Lake Albert is the northernmost of the chain of lakes in the Great Rift Valley; it is about 160 km (100 mi) long and 30 km (19 mi) wide, with a maximum depth of 51 m (168 ft), and a surface elevation of 619 m (2,030 ft) above sea level.

Lake Albert is part of the complicated system of the upper Nile. Its main sources are the Victoria Nile, ultimately coming from Lake Victoria to the southeast, and the Semliki River, which issues from Lake Edward to the southwest. Its outlet, at the northernmost tip of the lake, is the Albert Nile (which becomes known as the Mountain Nile when it enters Sudan).

Rivers and lakes of Uganda. Click image to enlarge.
Enlarge
Rivers and lakes of Uganda. Click image to enlarge.

At the southern end of the lake, where the Semliki comes in, there are swamps. Farther south loom the mighty Ruwenzori Range, while a range of hills called the Blue Mountains tower over the northwestern shore. The few settlements along the shore include Butiaba and Pakwach.

In 1864, the explorer Samuel Baker became the first European to discover the lake; he named it after the recently deceased Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria.


Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Albert"