lakes library

The most notable African lakes are along the Great Rift Valley. Learn about Lake Albert, Lake Chad and Lake Tanganyika and other famous African lakes.

Featured Article: Lake Chad

Chad, Lake, a large, shallow freshwater lake in north-central Africa, bordered by Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger. See more »

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Lake Albert

Albert, Lake, or Albert Nyanza, a lake in the Great Rift Valley of eastern Africa.

Lake Chad

Chad, Lake, a large, shallow freshwater lake in north-central Africa, bordered by Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger.

Lake Edward

Edward, Lake, or Edward Nyanza, a lake in east-central Africa, on the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.

Lake Nyasa

Nyasa, Lake, or, a freshwater lake in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa. Lake Nyasa is bounded on the northeast by Tanzania, on the southeast by Mozambique, and on the south and west by Malawi.

Lake Tana

Tana, Lake, the largest lake in Ethiopia. It lies in the northwestern highlands at an elevation of 5,856 feet (1,785 m), and is the source of the Blue Nile, called the Abbay in Ethiopia.

Lake Tanganyika

Tanganyika, Lake, a large freshwater lake in east-central Africa. It lies at an elevation of 2,530 feet (770 m) in the Great Rift Valley and borders Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zaire.

Lake Turkana

Turkana, Lake, a lake in the Great Rift Valley of eastern Africa. It lies in northern Kenya with a tip jutting into Ethiopia.

Lake Victoria

Victoria, Lake, Africa's largest lake and a part of the Nile River system. It lies in a broad, shallow basin on the vast East African Plateau and is shared by Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.