Lake Edward

Lake Edward

lake

Part of	African Great Lakes
Native label	Lake Edward
Inflows	Kazinga Channel, Rutshuru River
Outflows	Semliki River
Drainage basin	Nile basin
Basin country	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda
Dem name after	Edward VII
Named by	Henry Morton Stanley
Country	Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Located in protected area	Virunga National Park
Coordinate location	0°20′0″S 29°36′0″E

Lake Edward (locally Rwitanzigye anaa Rweru) be one of de smaller African Great Lakes. Dem locate am for de Albertine Rift insyd, de western branch of de East African Rift, for de border between de Democratic Republic of de Congo (DRC) den Uganda top, plus ein northern shore a few kilometres south of de equator.

History

Welsh explorer Henry Morton Stanley first see de lake for 1888 insyd, during de Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. Dem name de lake for honour of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales insyd, son of then British monarch Queen Victoria, den e later becam King Edward VII.

For 1973 insyd, Uganda den de then Zaire (DRC) rename am Lake Idi Amin after Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. After dem overthrow am for 1979 insyd, e recover ein former name.

For 2014 insyd, de lake be de center of an oil dispute. SOCO International enter de premises of de Virunga National Park wey dem situate de lake to prospect give oil. Howeva, villagers den workers wey attempt to stop de oil company from entering de area, dem beat'em up den even dem kidnap den torture. Dem take plans to redraw de lines of Virunga ein boundaries den exclude de lake into consideration. Howeva, since de park be a world heritage site den de lake dey part of am, such plans naturally dey go against de World Heritage Convention.

Geography

Topography den drainage

Lake Edward dey lie at an elevation of 920 metres (3,020 ft), be 77 kilometres (48 mi) long by 40 kilometres (25 mi) wide at ein maximum points, den dey cover a total surface area of 2,325 square kilometres (898 sq mi), wey e make am de 15th-largest for de continent top. De Nyamugasani River feed de lake, de Ishasha River, de Rutshuru River, de Ntungwe River, den de Rwindi River. Lake George to de northeast dey empty into am via de Kazinga Channel. Lake Edward dey empty to de north via de Semliki River into Lake Albert, wey e dey join de White Nile, ultimately dey flow to de Nile.

De western escarpment of de Great Rift Valley dey tower up to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) above de western shore of de lake. De southern den eastern shores be flat lava plains. De Ruwenzori Mountains dey 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of de lake.

Map of de Lake Edward drainage basin anaa watershed. Interactive map

Volcanism

De region dey show much evidence of volcanic activity ova de last 5000 years. De Katwe-Kikorongo den Bunyaruguru Volcanic Fields, plus extensive cones den craters, wey dey lie either side of de Kazinga Channel for de northwest shore of de lake top. Dem think say Lakes George den Edward use to be joined as one larger lake, but lava from dem fields flow insyd den divide am, wey e lef only de Kazinga Channel as de remnant of de past union. To de south dey lie de May-ya-Moto thermally active volcano 30 kilometres (19 mi) away, den de Nyamuragira volcano for de western Virunga Mountains insyd dey lie 80 kilometres (50 mi) south, but ein lava dey flow reach de lake for de past insyd.

De Katwe-Kikorongo field dey feature dozens of large craters den cones wey dey cover an area of 30 kilometres (19 mi) by 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) between lakes Edward den George, den dey include seven crater lakes. De largest of dem, de 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) long Lake Katwe, e occupy a crater 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) across den dem separate am from Lake Edward by just 300 metres (980 ft) of land. De crater dey about 100 metres (330 ft) deep, den Lake Katwe ein surface dey about 40 metres (130 ft) lower dan Lake Edward own. E dey remarkable dat de volcanic origin of dis area southeast of de Ruwenzoris wey dem no know am until G. F. Scott Elliot report am for 1894 insyd. Stanley visit Lake Katwe for 1889 insyd den note de deep depression, de salinity of de lake, den a spring of sulphurous water nearby, but e fail to connect dis to volcanism.

High-resolution analyses of de elemental composition of calcite den biogenic silica (BSi) content for piston cores insyd from Lake Edward, equatorial Africa, document complex interactions between climate variability den lacustrine geochemistry ova de past 5400 years.

De similarly sized Bunyaruguru field for de oda side of de Kazinga Channel top dey contain about 30 crater lakes, sam of wey dey larger dan Lake Katwe.

Settlements

Lake Edward from Mweya for Queen Elizabeth National Park insyd

Lake Edward dey lie completely within de Virunga National Park (DRC) den de Queen Elizabeth National Park (Uganda) den no get extensive human habitation for ein shores top, except at Ishango (DRC) for de north insyd, home to a park ranger training facility. About two-thirds of ein waters dey for de DRC insyd den one third for Uganda insyd. Apart from Ishango, de main Congolese settlement for de south insyd be Vitshumbi, while de Ugandan settlements be Mweya den Katwe for de northeast insyd, near de crater lake of dat name, wey be de chief producer of salt give Uganda. De nearest cities be Kasese for Uganda insyd to de northeast den Butembo for de DRC insyd to de northwest, wey dey respectively about 50 kilometres (31 mi) den 150 kilometres (93 mi) wey road distant am.

Ecology

Lake Edward be home to many species of fish, wey dey include populations of Bagrus docmak, Oreochromis niloticus, Oreochromis leucostictus, den ova 50 species of Haplochromis den oda haplochromine species, of wey dem formally describe only 25. Fishing be an important activity among local residents. Fauna wey dey live for de banks of de lake top – wey dey include chimpanzees, elephants, crocodiles, den lions – de national parks protect am. De area sanso be home to many perennial den migratory bird species.

Decline of hippos den tilapia

Photo of Lake Edward Katwe Landing site

For de 1970s insyd, Lake Edward hold a population of around 29,000 hippos insyd den around de area of de lake. But sekof an increase for poaching insyd ova de years, der be a 95% decline for de population insyd, plus de population plummeting to only a few hundred by de end of 2006. Dem conduct a terrestrial census for 2019 insyd wey e assess say de population dey rydee at 1,500 individuals. Dem often poach hippopotamus give ein large amount of meat as well as de ivory dem find for ein teeth insyd. Fueled by de high prices dat hippo meat den ivory fetch, poachers dey consistently hunt give dem animals, wey e dey cause a negative impact no only for de hippopotamus population top, but de Lake Edward ecosystem den de local fishermen dat dey depend for de lake top give survival.

De hippopotamus population dey extremely important to de ecosystem of Lake Edward sekof e dey be a keystone species. Hippos dey produce dung, wey feed tilapia, a once abundant fish species dem find for Lake Edward insyd. One hippo fi produce around 25 kilograms anaa 55 pounds of dung per day, wey fi feed thousands of tilapia within de ecosystem. Plus de hippopotamus population wey dey decline sekof poaching, de food dem provide to de tilapia fish start to disappear as well. Dis cause an immense decline for de tilapia population insyd, as de hippo population wey dey decrease no fi support de same amount of de tilapia fish species as e do before, wey e cause a growing problem no only give de ecosystem, but de fishermen within de villages dat dey surround Lake Edward.

Fishermen on Lake Edward

Being so close to Lake Edward, de villages dat dey within de area dey often rely for de fish top, specifically tilapia, to support demma families plus food den money. For de past insyd, Lake Edward fi support de fish demand give de entire eastern DRC. De lake get a production capacity of between 15,000 den 20,000 metric tons of tilapia annually, plus an estimate of around 700 fishing canoes for de lake top. Sekof de decline of hippos for de area insyd sekof poaching, dis impact de amount of tilapia for de lake insyd, wey cause de fishermen for de nearby villages insyd to suffer, as well as de rest of de eastern DRC. Many markets dey unable to sustain demma own fish, rydee dey get to import fish from oda areas to continue plus demma business.

Though, de hippo populations wey dey decline no be de only threat to de tilapia for Lake Edward insyd. Sekof de decrease for tilapia populations insyd, wey dey spawn areas den fisheries give de fish dey off limits to fishermen. But sam rebel groups as well as robbers anaa illegal fishers dey try demma luck at dem areas, wey e often cause even more problems wen dey try to conserve den increase de tilapia population for de area insyd. Sekof dis, many villages around Lake Edward as well as de ecosystem of Lake Edward dey suffer.

2018 Lake Edward Skirmish

For July 6, 2018 top, der be a naval skirmish between de two nations of Uganda den de Democratic Republic of the Congo for Lake Edward top. Dis skirmish begin as a result of Congolese naval vessels wey dem send to investigate reports of de Ugandan navy wey e apprehend several Congolese fishing vessels, den civilians. Dis clash result for de death of one person insyd, den de wounding of three odas.

Early reports by local Congolese officials dey claim say dem kill seven for de clash insyd, howeva, dis no back up by either national government. For July 9 top, North Kivu official Muhindo Kyakwa claim dat dem kill twelve Congolese fishermen for de clashes insyd.

External links

• Cana, Frank Richardson; Garstin, William Edmund (1911). "Albert Edward Nyanza" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). p. 502.
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Archived 2008-03-14 at the Wayback Machine
• World Lake Database