Albert, Lake

Albert, Lake, or Albert Nyanza (nīăn`zə, nyän`zä), 2,064 sq mi (5,346 sq km), on the Congo (Kinshasa)–Uganda border, E central Africa. The lake is c.100 mi (160 km) long and c.19 mi (30 km) wide, with a maximum depth of 168 ft (51 m). Lying in the Great Rift Valley, 2,030 ft (619 m) above sea level, Lake Albert receives the Semliki River and the Victoria Nile and is drained by the Albert Nile, which becomes the Bahr-el-Jebel when it enters Sudan. Under Mobutu Sese Seko, the official name of the lake in Zaïre (now Congo) was Lake Mobutu Sese Seko.

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Albert, Lake

Lake, east-central Africa. Lying at an altitude of 2,021 ft (616 m), it is 100 mi (160 km) long and has an average width of about 20 mi (32 km). In the southwest, the Semliki River brings into the lake the waters of Lake Edward; at its northeastern corner, just below Murchison Falls, it receives the Victoria Nile from Lake Victoria. In 1864 the lake's first European visitor, Samuel Baker, named it after Queen Victoria's consort. Initially part of Uganda, it now forms part of the Uganda-Congo border.

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Albert, Lake 

a lake in East Africa, on the border between the Congo (capital Kinshasa; since 1971, Republic of Zaire) and Uganda. It is located at an altitude of 617 m, covers an area of 5,600 sq km, and its depth reaches 58 m. It is in the tectonic basins within the central African graben (a depressed segment of the earth’s crust bounded on at least two sides by faults). The shores are slightly jagged and most of them are steep; the bottom is flat. The Semliki River (which drains Lake Edward) and the Victoria-Nile (which drains Lake Victoria) flow into the Albert-Nile. The lake receives 4.6 cubic kilometers of water a year from precipitation and 24.9 cu km from the rivers of the basin; the evaporation is 7.5 cu km and the drainage is 22 cu km. The temperature of the water at the surface reaches 30°C. The lake is rich in fish (more than 40 species, including Nile perch and tiger fish) and is navigable. The major ports are Butiaba (Uganda) and Kasenyi (Congo). It was discovered in 1864 by the British explorer S. W. Baker, and named after Queen Victoria’s spouse.