Lake George covers a total surface area of 250 square kilometers and is a part of Africa’s Great Lakes system although not considered one of the Great Lakes. It was named after a member of the British royal family prince George who later became King George V of the United Kingdom. Lake George drains to the southwest into Lake Edward through the Kazinga channel.
Henry M. Stanley was the first European to see the Lake in 1875, after following the course of the Katonga river from Lake Victoria during his Trans-African Expedition. He named it Beatrice Gulf thinking that it was part of Lake Albert. Exploration plans were aborted due to the threat of conflict with the kingdom of Bunyoro. On his second visit to the area in 1888 during the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, Stanley also discovered Lake Edward and realizing that there were two independent lakes and gave Lake George its current name.