Tanzania The Promised Land Tanzania The Promised Land | Page 11

LAKE VICTORIA
is the World’s Largest Tropical Lake
Tanzania The Promised Land
Lake Victoria is an African great lake. It is Africa’s largest lake by area,
the world’s largest tropical lake and the world’s second largest fresh
water lake by surface area. In terms of volume, Lake Victoria is the
world’s ninth largest continental lake. The lake is spread between 3
countries, with 49% of its area in Tanzania, 45% in Uganda and 6% in
Kenya.
Lake Victoria is home to the second largest diversity of fish species
in the world, the first being Lake Nyasa. This lake’s fish population
has seen a large decline in endemic varieties, as a high percentage of
them have gone extinct during the last 50 years.
The most abundant fish in Lake Victoria are
the haplochromine cichlids with more than
500 different species, almost all are
endemic and some still have yet to
be identified.
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