Which African lake was discovered by British explorer John Hanning Speke?

Lake Victoria was the African lake reached and identified by British explorer John Hanning Speke.

Speke first saw the lake in 1858 during an expedition with Richard Burton, while travelling inland from the East African coast. He named it Lake Victoria in honour of Queen Victoria. Speke later returned with James Augustus Grant and argued that the lake was the main source of the White Nile.

His conclusion was controversial. Burton doubted that Speke had proved the Nile’s source, and later explorers continued investigating the lake’s outlets and surrounding rivers. Henry Morton Stanley’s expedition in the 1870s helped confirm that the Nile flows northward from Lake Victoria through the Ripon Falls area.

“Discovered” here means the first European recognition and mapping in the conventional exploration narratives. The lake was already well known to African communities, and Speke’s expeditions depended heavily on African guides and caravan leaders, including Sidi Mubarak Bombay and Mabruki. Lake Tanganyika is a common mix-up because Speke and Burton reached it before Speke saw Lake Victoria.