Which African lake is the world’s largest tropical lake by surface area?

Lake Victoria is the world’s largest tropical lake by surface area.

Lake Victoria lies in East Africa between Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya. It covers about 59,947 square kilometres, making it Africa’s largest lake by surface area and the world’s second-largest freshwater lake by surface area after Lake Superior. The lake is relatively shallow compared with the other great lakes of the region.

The lake’s principal outlet is the Victoria Nile, which flows north toward Lake Kyoga and then Lake Albert before joining the White Nile system. Its water supports fisheries, transport, agriculture, and millions of people living around its shores.

The lake was named by the British explorer John Hanning Speke, who saw it in 1858 and named it after Queen Victoria. Lake Victoria is not the deepest or the largest by volume in Africa; Lake Tanganyika is much deeper and holds more water. Pollution, invasive species, and pressure on fish stocks remain major environmental concerns.