Amazing Facts About Lake Victoria

Interested in Lake Victoria? In this post, you’ll learn 19 interesting facts about Lake Victoria, including size, location, cichlids, wildlife, and the Ssese Islands

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1. The Largest Lake on the Continent

When discussing the most interesting things about Lake Victoria size is an unavoidable topic

2. A Lake Fit for a Queen

Lake Victoria’s rather regal-sounding name originated in 1858 when it was discovered by British Indian Army officer John Hanning Speke.

Speke named the sizable freshwater lake after Queen Victoria, the current Queen of the United Kingdom. Queen Victoria’s reign ended in 1901, but Lake Victoria retains its royal name to this day.

3. Lake Victoria’s Other Names

Lake Victoria is known by many other names. Here are some of the other names in the local languages. The lake name is in bold, the language name in brackets.

4. A History that Predates its Name

While John Hanning Speke discovered Lake Victoria for Europeans, the lake is about 400,000 years old. In geological terms, this makes Lake Victoria fairly young.

Traders from the Arab world used the lake hundreds of years prior to its modern discovery, and it can be seen on maps dating back to the 12th century.

5. An Eventful History

Lake Victoria is especially sensitive to changes in weather and climate. According to geologists, the lake has lost all of its water multiple times throughout history.

The most recent time this occurred was over 17,000 years ago

6. Where is Lake Victoria Located?

In addition to its size and history, many of the more interesting facts about this massive tropical lake relate to its central location.

So, where is Lake Victoria located, exactly? The simplest answer to that question would be eastern central Africa.