Lake TanganyikaThe world's second deepest lake and second largest freshwater lake by volume
A long, deep gash of the East African Rift.
- Surface area
- 32,600 km²
- Water volume
- 18,900 km³
- Max depth
- 1,470 m
See its true size
One shared area scaleBoth outlines share one area scale. The bars compare water volume.
Reference data: Encyclopædia Britannica: jezioro Bajkał (2024).
Simplified outlines: Natural Earth (public domain), reprojected to one shared scale.
among the 18 lakes in this section
It is the world's second largest freshwater lake by volume. Its depth of 1,470 m allows it to hold almost seven times as much water as the larger Lake Victoria.
The map intuition
Tanganyika's narrow outline gives little sense that it is one of Earth's largest freshwater reserves.
About the lake
Tanganyika fills a straight, narrow section of the East African Rift for about 660 km. It is the longest freshwater lake in the world. Its floor drops to 1,470 m, making it the second deepest lake on the planet after Baikal.
With a surface of 32,600 km², comparable to Baikal, it holds 18,900 km³ of water. This is the second largest volume of fresh water in a single lake. Tanganyika contains almost 17 percent of the world's available surface fresh water.
- Mean depth
- 570 m
- Surface elevation
- 773 m a.s.l.
- Location
- DR Congo / Tanzania / Burundi / Zambia
- Type
- rift (tectonic) lake
Where the lake is
Lake Tanganyika: Questions
Baikal is deeper by 172 m. It reaches 1,642 m, while Tanganyika reaches 1,470 m. Tanganyika remains the world's second deepest lake and Africa's deepest.
Yes. It runs about 660 km along the rift, making it the longest freshwater lake on Earth.
About 18,900 km³. This is the second largest volume of fresh water in a single lake, behind only Baikal. It equals about 83 percent of the Great Lakes' combined volume.
Sources and data year
Outline: Natural Earth, public domain. Simplified and reprojected.