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Concept
Lake Albert (Africa)
Summary
Lake Albert, originally known as Lake Mwitanzige and temporarily Lake Mobutu Sese Seko, is a lake located in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is Africa's seventh-largest lake, as well as the second biggest of Uganda's Great Lakes.
Lake Albert is located on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the northernmost of the chain of lakes in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift.
It is about long and wide, with a maximum depth of , and a surface elevation of above sea level.
Lake Albert is part of the complicated system of the upper Nile. Its main sources are the White Nile, ultimately coming from Lake Victoria to the southeast, and the Semliki River, which issues from Lake Edward to the southwest. The water of the Victoria Nile is much less saline than that of Lake Albert. The lake's outlet, at its northernmost tip, is the Albert Nile section of the White Nile. The river later becomes known as the Mountain Nile when its course enters South Sudan.
At the southern end of the lake, where the Semliki comes in, there are swamps. The Rwenzori Mountains are to the south of the lake and to the northwest, the Blue Mountains. The few settlements along the shore include Butiaba and Pakwach.
Unlike the very deep Lake Malawi, Lake Tanganyika and Lake Kivu, Lake Albert's water temperature is relatively stable throughout, typically around , and even its deeper sections contain oxygen.
The water has a pH of around or just below 9 and an electric conductivity of around 720–780 μS/cm. These are both very high for a freshwater lake but nevertheless lower than Lake Edward.
Lake Albert is home to many aquatic and semi-aquatic animals, including the river hippopotamus, Ugandan kob, red as well as Nile lechwe, Nile crocodile, Nile monitor lizard, African softshell turtle, Central African mud turtle, and Williams' mud turtle. Also present is the giant African bullfrog and the rock python, which can be observed warming themselves on smooth rocks near the water’s edge.
Official source
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