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Uganda’s water system is built around two kinds of lakes. In the east and south is Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake, a shallow basin shared with Kenya and Tanzania from which the Nile flows north at Jinja. In the west, along the Albertine Rift, lie the long, deep rift lakes: Albert and Edward, shared with Congo, and the small Lake George, linked to Edward by the Kazinga Channel. The Nile ties them together, passing through Lake Kyoga and Lake Albert on its way to Sudan. Together these waters cover about a sixth of Uganda’s area.
Lake Victoria
At around 68,800 km², Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the largest tropical lake in the world, with Uganda holding roughly 45% of it. It is shallow for its size, at most about 80 metres deep, and supports a huge fishery. The introduction of Nile perch in the 1950s helped the fishing industry but contributed to the loss of many of the lake’s native cichlid fish, and water hyacinth choked shores in the 1990s. Entebbe, Kampala and Jinja sit on its northern shore. See our guide to the source of the Nile.
Lake Kyoga and the Victoria Nile
From Jinja, the Victoria Nile flows north into Lake Kyoga, a shallow, swampy lake fringed with papyrus and water lilies, then west through Karuma and over Murchison Falls before entering Lake Albert. This stretch is rich in birds, and the delta at Lake Albert is one of the best places to see the shoebill. See our guide to Murchison Falls.
The rift lakes: Albert, Edward and George
Lake Albert lies in the Rift Valley floor beneath steep escarpments, shared with Congo; its shores hold Uganda’s oil fields, now being developed. The Albert Nile leaves its northern end towards South Sudan. Further south, Lake Edward and Lake George sit in Queen Elizabeth National Park, joined by the 32-km Kazinga Channel, famous for its hippos, buffalo and waterbirds. Lake Edward drains north through the Semliki River into Lake Albert, linking the whole system. See our guide to Queen Elizabeth and the Kazinga Channel.
Smaller lakes worth visiting
Beyond the great lakes, Uganda has dozens of crater lakes around Fort Portal and in Queen Elizabeth, Lake Mburo with its hippos and zebra, and the highland lakes of the south-west, Bunyonyi and Mutanda, popular after a gorilla trek. The gorilla permit costs US$800, or US$600 in April, May and November. See our guides to the crater lakes and Lake Bunyonyi.
Frequently asked questions
Lake Victoria, Lake Albert and Lake Edward, with Lake George and Lake Kyoga.
Roughly 45%; the rest is in Kenya and Tanzania.
A 32-km natural channel joining Lakes Edward and George in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
The Nile links Victoria, Kyoga and Albert; the Semliki River links Edward to Albert.
