Ukerewe Island

Ukerewe Island (Kisiwa cha Ukerewe in Swahili) is a freshwater island located in Lake Victoria. The island is administratively part of Ukerewe District in Mwanza Region, Tanzania. ^[1]The island fifth-largest lake island in the world. With an area of 530 km² (200 sq mi), it is also the largest island in Lake Victoria and the largest lake island in Africa.^[2]

Ukerewe Island

Old map of Ukerewe Island
Ukerewe Island
Geography
Location	Lake Victoria
Coordinates	02°02′36″S 33°01′41″E
Archipelago	Ukerewean Archipelago
Length	46 km (28.6 mi)
Width	20 km (12 mi)
Administration
Tanzania
Region	Mwanza Region
District	Ukerewe District
Largest settlement	Nansio
Demographics
Demonym	Ukerewean
Languages	Kerewe & Swahili
Ethnic groups	Kerewe people

Ukerewe Island is located 45 km (28 mi) north of the city of Mwanza to which it is linked by ferry.^[3] A ferry crossing of 3.8 km (2.4 mi) links the island to a dirt road on the eastern lake shore, which runs to Kibara and the city of Musoma in Mara Region. The shoreline of Ukerewe Island is carved into numerous bays and it is surrounded by at least a dozen smaller islands. Its largest community is the town of Nansio.

Ukerewe island is known for having a large population of Tanzanians with albinism. Many of the first of them to live there were taken to and abandoned on the island by their families as children. Despite comprising an exceptionally high percentage of the island's population, they are still, as throughout Tanzania, an oppressed minority on the island, though it appears to have avoided the killings of albinos, who are "harvested" for black magic rituals, that regularly occurs in Tanzania.^[4]

Gallery

• 
  Coastal land, Ukerewe island, Tanzania
• 
  Sorghum field, Ukerewe island, Tanzania
• 
  Ukerewe Island-Mwanza Ferry leaving the port of Nansio
• 
  Boats in Speke Gulf

Notable people

• Alex Magaga - this musician is an activist, documentary producer and member of the Tanzania Albinism Collective.^[5][6][7][8]
• Aniceti Kitereza (1896–1981) was a Tanzanian Catholic cleric and novelist, born in 1896 on the island of Ukerewe.
• Gertrude Mongella (13 September 1945) is a Tanzanian politician who was the first president of the Pan-African Parliament and was president of the African Union Commission from 2003 to 2008.^[9]

See also

• Kerewe people