Lake Victoria (or Nyanza in Kiswahili) is the largest freshwater lake in Africa and the second largest in the world, with 68,100 km2, twice the size of Belgium. It stretches over 320 km in length (north to south) and 275 km in width - a sea within a continent! It owes its name to the English explorers Burton and Speke, who discovered it in 1858 and named it after Queen Victoria. Quite shallow, it lies at an altitude of nearly 1,100 m. It is also bordered by Kenya and Uganda, forming a triple frontier. It is the source of the White Nile, the Nile's longest tributary, and formed by a depression between the two branches of the Great Rift Valley formed 400,000 years ago. The western and southern shores of the lake are inhabited by the Wahayas, who were already cultivating coffee long before the arrival of Europeans. On the Tanzanian side of Lake Victoria, there are three major towns: Mwanza, Bukoba and Musoma, as well as the Saanane Island Reserve, Rubondo Island National Park and the interesting islands of Ukerewe, Kome and Maisome not far from Mwanza.Beware: bilharzia is quite prevalent along the entire south coast of Lake Victoria, so we strongly advise against swimming.Nile perch, overfishing and pollution. Made infamous in 2004 by Austrian Hubert Sauper's documentary filmDarwin's Nightmare, Africa's largest lake, once best known as the source of the Nile, is not doing so well. In the 1950s, the introduction of the Nile perch for commercial purposes and export to Europe had already proved an ecological disaster. With its incredible voracity, this fish - which now accounts for 80% of the lake's fish - has been responsible for the disappearance of some 200 species over the last 40 years. As a result of this sudden and rapid extinction, Lake Victoria is ranked first in the list of lakes with the fastest extinction of vertebrates, some of which are 14,000 years old! The water hyacinth is also an invasive plant species.What's more, the lake's water level is dropping significantly... If fish stocks are falling, so is fishing. Profits are plummeting for the populations of the three countries concerned. Tilapia are responsible for the closure of several fishing companies. Illegal fishing is also on the increase, to the point where even the Nile perch is overfished. The decline in Nile perch numbers can be attributed to too many boats. From 130,000 fishermen in 2000, there are now over 200,000, providing a livelihood for 4 million people. Juvenile fish are not given time to grow. The authorities are reacting by, for example, encouraging entrepreneurs to invest in fish farms, especially for Nile perch. This would be one of the conditions for obtaining a license to export fish from Lake Victoria. Another major problem is pollution. The lake is heavily polluted by a multitude of substances discharged by cities, including large quantities of plastic waste and chemical fertilizers. The situation is very worrying. The water is cloudy near the cities, and fish are becoming even scarcer. Pollution is advancing inexorably. However, international funding is attempting to counter major problems. Over the past ten years, the French Development Agency (AFD) has allocated 950 million euros to the water and sanitation sectors in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Thanks to these projects, more than 11 million people benefit from improved access to drinking water, and over 3 million have access to a sanitation system, one of the lake's biggest pollution problems. In Mwanza, the large Tanzanian town on the lake's edge, water contaminated by excrement has contaminated the lake and led to epidemics. In 2018, AFD financed the installation of a "simplified sewage system" for the treatment of domestic wastewater, the reinforcement of wastewater treatment plants and the construction of toilets in schools.Economy. Lake Victoria remains an essential economic lung for the East African region. Controlled by Tanzania (49%), Uganda (45%) and Kenya (6%), this 69,000 km2 lake (larger than Rwanda and Burundi combined) represents a means of survival for 30 million people living along its shores. This makes the lake basin one of the most densely populated regions in the world. In addition to fishing, agriculture, livestock breeding, floriculture, transport and tourism are among the sectors whose growth is boosted by the lake.

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