Lake George or Lake Katunguru is a lake in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. It covers a total surface area of and is a part of the

African Great Lakes The African Great Lakes ( sw, Maziwa Makuu; rw, Ibiyaga bigari) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the second-largest fresh water lake in the ...

system, although it is not considered one of the Great Lakes. Like the other lakes in the region, it was renamed after a member of the British royal family, in this case Prince George, later to become King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

. Lake George drains to the southwest into

Lake Edward Lake Edward (locally Rwitanzigye or Rweru) is one of the smaller African Great Lakes. It is located in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift, on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, w ...

through the

Kazinga Channel The Kazinga Channel in Uganda is a wide, long natural channel that links Lake Edward and Lake George (Uganda), Lake George, and a dominant feature of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The channel attracts a varied range of animals and birds, with ...

. The area surrounding the lake is populated by the Batooro, Basongora, Banyampaka and

Banyankore Ankole (Runyankore: ''Nkore''), was a traditional Bantu kingdom in Uganda and lasted from the 15th century until 1967. The kingdom was located in south-western Uganda, east of Lake Edward. History Ankole Kingdom is located in the South-Western ...

peoples, among others. All these nations speak closely-related dialects which are generally referred as

Runyakitara Runyakitara is a standardized language based on four closely related languages of western Uganda: * Nyoro or ''Runyoro'' * Kiga (Chiga) or ''Rukiga'' * Nkore or ''Runyankole'' * Tooro or ''Rutooro'' Jouni Filip Maho's 2009 New Updated Guthrie ...

language. ''Akatunguru'' is a word which means ‘onion’ and is used by all these different peoples. Thus, the lake came to be known as Katunguru because of its onion-like shape. The explorer

Henry Morton Stanley Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author and politician who was famous for his exploration of Central Africa Cen ...

was the first European to see the lake in 1875, after following the course of the

Katonga River The Katonga River is a river in Uganda, in East Africa. Location and description The Katonga River is located in the southwestern part of Uganda. Its channel is continuous between Lake Victoria and Lake George, reflecting that it once drained awa ...

from

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria 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 after ...

during his trans-African expedition. Thinking it was part of Lake Albert, he renamed it ''Beatrice Gulf''.Newman, James L.(2004) ''Imperial Footprints'', Potomac Books, , p. 121 Exploration plans were aborted because of the threat of conflict with the kingdom of

Bunyoro Bunyoro or Bunyoro-Kitara is a Bantu kingdom in Western Uganda. It was one of the most powerful kingdoms in Central and East Africa from the 13th century to the 19th century. It is ruled by the King (''Omukama'') of Bunyoro-Kitara. The current ...

. On his second visit to the area, in 1888 during the

Emin Pasha Relief Expedition The Emin Pasha Relief Expedition of 1886 to 1889 was one of the last major European expeditions into the interior of Africa in the nineteenth century, ostensibly to the relief of Emin Pasha, General Charles Gordon's besieged governor of Equato ...

, Stanley discovered

, and realizing that there were two independent lakes, he gave Lake George its current name.

References

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

Katonga River Ramsar sites in Uganda {{Uganda-geo-stub