What is the largest lake in Africa?

The largest lake in Africa is Lake Victoria, measured by surface area. It occupies about 59,947 square kilometres in the elevated basin between Africa's eastern and western rift systems, with shores in Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya.

Lake Victoria is also the world's largest tropical lake and the second-largest freshwater lake by surface area, after North America's Lake Superior. It is comparatively shallow for its enormous size, with an average depth of about 40 metres and a maximum depth of roughly 81 metres. Rainfall supplies most of its water, while the lake's main outflow is the White Nile near Jinja, Uganda.

A frequent mix-up involves Lake Tanganyika. Tanganyika is Africa's second-largest lake by area, but it is dramatically deeper and contains far more water by volume. Lake Victoria is famous for its exceptional cichlid diversity, though introduced Nile perch, pollution, habitat change, and overfishing have placed serious pressure on native species. The lake is divided among three countries, making it both a major ecological system and an important regional fishery.