What is the deepest lake in Africa?
Quick answer
Lake Tanganyika is the deepest lake in Africa, reaching about 1,470 m (4,820 ft). It’s the second-deepest lake in the world, after Russia’s Lake Baikal, and the longest freshwater lake on Earth, at about 673 km (418 mi). It’s shared by four countries: Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Zambia.
Key facts
- Maximum depth
- About 1,470 m (4,820 ft)
- Length
- About 673 km, the longest freshwater lake
- Countries
- Tanzania, DR Congo, Burundi, Zambia
- Age
- Roughly 9–12 million years
Born in the Rift Valley
Lake Tanganyika fills a deep crack in the East African Rift, where the African continent is slowly pulling apart. That’s why it’s so long, narrow and deep. Its bottom lies about 650 m below sea level.
Layers of water
Only the top 100–200 m contain enough oxygen for most fish. Below that, the water is almost oxygen-free and has stayed that way for thousands of years, so it holds a huge volume of ancient water, about 16% of the world’s available fresh water.
Fish found nowhere else
Lake Tanganyika is famous for its cichlid fish:
- More than 250 cichlid species, almost all endemic (found only here)
- Some live in empty snail shells
- Many are popular in aquariums
Its fisheries, especially small sardine-like fish called dagaa, feed millions of people in the region.
Africa’s Great Lakes compared
| Lake | Area | Maximum depth |
|---|---|---|
| Victoria | 68,800 km² (largest) | About 80 m |
| Tanganyika | 32,900 km² | About 1,470 m (deepest) |
| Malawi | 29,600 km² | About 700 m |
See the largest lake in Africa.
The world’s deepest lakes
| Rank | Lake | Depth |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baikal, Russia | About 1,642 m |
| 2 | Tanganyika | About 1,470 m |
| 3 | Caspian Sea | About 1,025 m |
| 4 | Vostok, Antarctica (under ice) | About 900 m |
For the deepest US lake, see the deepest lake in the United States.
History on its shores
At Ujiji, on the Tanzanian shore, journalist Henry Morton Stanley found the explorer David Livingstone in 1871, supposedly greeting him with the famous words “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”
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