Almost 25% of the Ugandas surface area is covered by water. Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa and second largest freshwater body in the world, is shared by Uganda with Tanzania and Kenya. Lakes Albert, Edward and George lie on or close to the Congolese border. All the big lakes have a natural connections through channels and rivers. At Jinja, on the Lake Victoria shore, Owen Falls (now submerged by the Owen Falls Dam) is regarded as the official source of the Nile, the world's longest river. The Victoria Nile passes through Lakes Kyoga and Albert. Lake Albert is drained to the north by the Albert Nile, which further down the river becomes the White Nile. In Sudan near Khartoum the White Nile flows together with the Blue Nile, which rises in the central Ethiopian Plateau. At many places of the country there are still extended, with papyrus covered wettlands. There is the home for the rich fauna and flora. The endangered, shy shoebill is probably the most amazing inhabitant of the papyrus swamps and marshy lakes. The most dangerous African aquatic animals, hippopotamus and crocodile, could survive only inside the national parks and other protected areas.