Lake Kyoga

Where is Lake Kyoga?

Countries on its shores: Uganda.

Middle of the lake: 1.46° N, 33.02° E

The story behind it

Lake Kyoga is very shallow: most of it is less than 4 metres deep, and its deepest point is only 5.7 metres. It lies 1 033 metres above sea level and reaches about 200 km across the land. In the shallow parts, water lilies cover the surface, and papyrus, a tall water plant, grows along the swampy shores. Pieces of papyrus can break loose and form floating islands that drift between the small fixed islands. In 1997 and 1998, after very heavy rains, floating mats of papyrus and water hyacinth even blocked the way out to the Nile. Many Nile crocodiles live here. Fishing is very important: at least 60 kinds of small cichlid fish live in the lake, but today fishers mostly catch Nile perch and Nile tilapia. Smaller lakes, such as Lake Kwania and Lake Bisina, are joined to it.

Find it on the globe

Lake Kyoga is there as a small blue dot with its name, right on the water. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.