Which river is the only outflow of Lake Victoria?

The Victoria Nile is the only river flowing out of Lake Victoria. It begins at the lake’s northern shore near Jinja, Uganda, and carries the lake’s water onward toward Lake Kyoga and eventually the White Nile.

Lake Victoria receives water from rainfall, small streams, and major tributaries such as the Kagera River. The Kagera is often confused with the outlet because it is one of the lake’s largest inflowing rivers. It enters Lake Victoria from the west, whereas the Victoria Nile drains water away from the lake.

The name “Victoria Nile” describes the river section between Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga. Farther downstream, after passing through Lake Kyoga and continuing through the region of Lake Albert, the waterway is generally known as the Albert Nile and then the White Nile.

This distinction also explains a frequent Nile-related mix-up. Lake Victoria is the principal source of the Nile’s longest branch, but the Nile Basin’s most distant headwaters are associated with tributaries of the Kagera in Rwanda or Burundi. For the lake itself, however, the single outflow is the Victoria Nile.