LAKE VICTORIA BASIN

Nile river basin

Cairo

Rapids on the Nile River, Uganda

EGYPT

Lago Nasser

Of the five countries within the Lake Victoria Basin, only three share its 3,460 km shoreline: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania (See Table 1.1 and Figure 1.1). The part of Lake Victoria that is regularly filled is 412 km from north to south and 355 km from east to west. Situated at an altitude of 1,134 m above sea level, the Lake is located between latitudes 0 ° 30’ N and 34 ° 12’ S, and longitudes 31 ° 37’ E and 34 ° 53’ E (Lake Victoria Basin Commission 2007a). Climate The LVB has an equatorial, hot and humid climate with a biannual rainfall pattern – the long rains are experienced from March to May and short rains from October to December. Rainfall varies considerably from one part of the Basin to another (Williams and others 2014). The Ssese Islands have the highest annual rainfall in Uganda, with an average of approximately 2,400 mm, while Tanzania and Kenya have between 1,350 and 2,400 mm annually. Burundi and Rwanda have an average rainfall of 1,800 mm annually. Rainfall amounts for Burundi and Rwanda increase from east to west from 600 to 2,800 mm annually, and the average for the year is 1,800 mm (Lake Victoria Basin Commission 2007a). July is the coolest month of the year and the warmest month varies between October and February; in most of the Basin countries, temperatures reach their maximum in February, just before the March equinox, and range from 28.6˚C to 28.7˚C. Temperatures drop to their lowest in July following the height of the June equinox, during which time they vary between 14.7˚C and 18.2˚C. A comparison of temperature records for the period 1950–2000 and 2001–2005 show that current maximum temperatures have increased by an average of 1 ˚C (Lake Victoria Basin Commission 2007a). (See Chapter 2 for more details on climate change.)

A t b a r a h

N i l e

ERITREA

Khartum

Lago Tana

SUDAN

W h i t e N i l e

B l u e N i l e

B a h r e l A r a b

S o b a t

B a r o

SOUTH SUDAN

ETHIOPIA

Juba

D. R. C.

UGANDA

Lago Albert

KENYA

Kampala

0

200 km

Lago Edward

Lake Victoria

Kigali

BURUNDI RWANDA

Nile river basin

TANZANIA

Lake Victoria sub-basin

Bujumbura

Copyright©2016GRID-Arendal ·Cartografare ilpresente/NievesLópez Izquierdo

Figure 1.2: TheWhite Nile flows out of LakeVictoria into the Nile, Africa’s longest river

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