Which country is the largest in the Great Lakes region of Africa by area?

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the largest country in Africa’s Great Lakes region by area.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo covers about 2.34 million square kilometres, making it Africa’s second-largest country after Algeria. Its eastern provinces border several Great Lakes countries, including Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and Tanzania across Lake Tanganyika or other lake waters.

The African Great Lakes region is a geographic area rather than a single universally fixed political grouping. It commonly includes the countries around Lakes Victoria, Tanganyika, Kivu, Albert, and Edward. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the region’s largest sovereign state and contains a major portion of Lake Tanganyika’s western shoreline.

It is distinct from the Republic of the Congo, a much smaller neighboring country west of the Congo River. The two states are often confused because both use “Congo” in their names.