Lakes in Africa Ranked by Maximum depth
Lakes recorded in Wikidata, ranked by Maximum depth. Figures can vary with water level and season. Only items Wikidata places in Africa (directly or through their country) are included. Source: Wikidata (CC0 1.0 (public domain)).
Summary
Lake Tanganyika ranks #1 with 1,433 m. That is 2 times Lake Malawi in second place (704 m). The top five are Lake Tanganyika, Lake Malawi, Lake Kivu, Lake Nyos and Lake Guinas. The median across all 17 is 83 m; Lac de Sidi Mohamed Benali is last at 30 m.
- #1
- Lake Tanganyika · 1,433 m
- Median
- 83 m
- Coverage
- 17 lakes in Africa
- Data year
- As recorded in Wikidata
- Last updated
- 2026-11-14
Full ranking
| Rank | Lake | Location | Maximum depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lake Tanganyika | Tanzania, Zambia | 1,433 |
| 2 | Lake Malawi | Tanzania, Malawi | 704 |
| 3 | Lake Kivu | Congo, Dem. Rep., Rwanda | 485 |
| 4 | Lake Nyos | Cameroon | 210 |
| 5 | Lake Guinas | Namibia | 132 |
| 6 | Kainji Lake | Nigeria | 121 |
| 7 | Lake Edward | Congo, Dem. Rep., Uganda | 117 |
| 8 | Lake Hayq | Ethiopia | 88 |
| 9 | Lake Victoria | Kenya, Tanzania | 83 |
| 10 | Lake Ngozi | Tanzania | 74 |
| 11 | Lake Albert | Congo, Dem. Rep., Uganda | 58 |
| 12 | Lake Langano | Ethiopia | 46 |
| 13 | Lake Sibhayi | South Africa | 43 |
| 14 | Aguelmame Sidi Ali lake | Morocco | 43 |
| 15 | Lake Mweru | Zambia, Congo, Dem. Rep. | 37 |
| 16 | Ifni Lake | Morocco | 30 |
| 17 | Lac de Sidi Mohamed Benali | Algeria | 30 |
About the top 10
#1 Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika ranks #1 on this list with 1,433 m.
- Countries
- Tanzania, Zambia, Burundi, Congo, Dem. Rep.
- Length
- 673 km
- Elevation
- 773 m
- Area
- 32,900 km²
- Maximum depth
- 570 m
Also ranks #2 in maximum depth · #7 in volume · #8 in surface area.
#2 Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi ranks #2 on this list with 704 m.
- Countries
- Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique
- Length
- 570 km
- Elevation
- 474 m
- Area
- 29,600 km²
- Maximum depth
- 704 m
Also ranks #6 in maximum depth · #12 in surface area · #13 in volume.
#3 Lake Kivu
Lake Kivu ranks #3 on this list with 485 m.
- Countries
- Congo, Dem. Rep., Rwanda
- Length
- 89 km
- Elevation
- 1,463 m
- Area
- 2,700 km²
- Maximum depth
- 485 m
Also ranks #16 in maximum depth · #26 in volume · #58 in surface area.
#4 Lake Nyos
Lake Nyos ranks #4 on this list with 210 m.
- Country
- Cameroon
- Length
- 2 km
- Elevation
- 1,091 m
- Area
- 1.58 km²
- Maximum depth
- 210 m
Also ranks #99 in maximum depth.
#5 Lake Guinas
Lake Guinas ranks #5 on this list with 132 m.
- Country
- Namibia
- Length
- 0 km
- Elevation
- 1,250 m
- Area
- 0.0066 km²
- Maximum depth
- 132 m
#6 Kainji Lake
Kainji Lake ranks #6 on this list with 121 m.
- Country
- Nigeria
- Elevation
- 150 m
- Area
- 1,150 km²
- Maximum depth
- 121 m
#7 Lake Edward
Lake Edward ranks #7 on this list with 117 m.
- Countries
- Congo, Dem. Rep., Uganda
- Length
- 77 km
- Elevation
- 912 m
- Area
- 2,150 km²
- Maximum depth
- 117 m
Also ranks #59 in volume · #72 in surface area.
#8 Lake Hayq
Lake Hayq ranks #8 on this list with 88 m.
- Country
- Ethiopia
- Length
- 7 km
- Elevation
- 1,908 m
- Area
- 23 km²
- Maximum depth
- 88 m
#9 Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria ranks #9 on this list with 83 m.
- Countries
- Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
- Length
- 337 km
- Elevation
- 1,133 m
- Area
- 68,100 km²
- Maximum depth
- 83 m
Also ranks #5 in surface area · #16 in volume.
#10 Lake Ngozi
Lake Ngozi ranks #10 on this list with 74 m.
- Country
- Tanzania
- Elevation
- 2,622 m
- Area
- 4.6 km²
- Maximum depth
- 74 m
- Range
- Poroto Mountains
Profile facts: Wikidata (CC0).
Source and method
Lakes recorded in Wikidata, ranked by Maximum depth. Figures can vary with water level and season. Only items Wikidata places in Africa (directly or through their country) are included.
Source: Wikidata. Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain). Retrieved: 2026-11-14.
Data: Wikidata (CC0)
Values are shown as published. Provider terms: Wikidata. All licences: Sources & licences.