0:21N-3:00S, 31:39-34:53E 1,134 m above sea level.
Lake Victoria, the largest of all African Lakes, is also the second widest freshwater body in the world. Its extensive surface belongs to three countries. The northern part to Uganda, the southern to Tanzania, and part of the northeastern sector to Kenya.
The lake occupies a wide depression near the equator, between the East and West Great Rift Valleys. Its drainage basin is relatively small, being slightly less than three times the lake's surface in area. The lake water is drained at a rate of about 600 m3 /sec, at Jinja on the northern shore, into the Victoria Nile which flows northward via Lake Albert and the White Nile forming the uppermost reaches of the Nile River.
The lake shore is highly indented, and there are many isles in the lake, some of which, especially the Sesse Group, are known for their beautiful landscape, health resorts and sightseeing places. Abundant prehistoric remains found around the lake indicate the early development of agriculture.
There are a number of coastal towns such as Kisumu in Kenya, Entebe in Uganda and Bukoba, Muwanza and Musoma in Tanzania. There are ship routes connecting them and also to Nairobi and the cities of the Indian Ocean coast by railways.
A dam with a hydropower plant at Owen Falls on the Victoria Nile supplies water for various uses in Uganda and electricity for Uganda and Kenya.
