The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria that the country shares with Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda lies in the Great Lakes region and the Nile basin of Africa. The country is located on the East African Plateau, lying mostly between latitudes 4°N and 2°S (a small area is north of 4°), and longitudes 29° and 35°E. It averages about 1,100 metres (3,609 ft) above sea level, sloping very steadily downwards to the Sudanese Plain to the north. The country gained her independence on the 9th day of October, 1962 from British colonial rule under which she had been placed as a “Protectorate” in 1894.