Largest lakes & reservoirs in Kenya by acres
There is no widely-accepted minimum surface area that defines a lake. What LakeLubbers describes as a lake, you might call a pond. Acreage of a lake (or sometimes square kilometers) is most often measured at the top surface area when the lake is at normal elevation. The surface area can be considerably smaller or larger when lake levels are lower or higher than normal. North America’s Lake Superior is the world’s largest freshwater lake by this measure.The other measure of a lake’s size is the lake’s water volume. By that measure, the world’s largest freshwater lake is Lake Baikal in Siberia.
You can find many of the world’s largest lakes (acres) on LakeLubbers in the comparison table below. Note: For some lakes, "Largest Lakes - Acres" data is unknown or does not apply, so you may see fewer lakes than the total 8 articles we have published for Kenya lakes.
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Below are lakes within Kenya > Compared by surface area in acres. This list does not represent all lakes in Kenya, only the 8 Kenya lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Surface area in acres |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Victoria, African Great Lakes (African Great Lakes, Central Uganda, Kagera Region, Tanzania, Kenya, Mara Region, Tanzania, Mwanza Region, Tanzania, Nyanza Region, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Western Region, Kenya) |
17,000,350 ac | Also known as Victoria Nyanza, Victoria Ukerewe, Victoria Nalubaale Lake Victoria — also known as Victoria Nyanza, Ukerewe, and Nalubaale — rakes in the superlatives: it is the largest lake on the African continent b… |
| Lake Turkana, Kenya (Eastern Region, Kenya, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rift Valley Region, Kenya) |
1,667,961 ac | Also known as Lake Rudolf Lake Turkana, located in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya and stretching into Northern Ethiopia, is said to be the world’s largest permanent desert lake… |
| Lake Natron (Arusha Region, Tanzania, Kenya, Rift Valley Region, Kenya, Tanzania) |
148,263 ac | Lake Natron in northern Tanzania is a very special lake. Lying close to the Kenya border in the eastern branch of Africa’s Rift Valley, Lake Natron is… |
| Lake Naivasha (Kenya, Rift Valley Region, Kenya) |
32,620 ac | Rare in Kenya’s east Rift Valley, Lake Naivasha is the country’s second largest freshwater lake. Long the traditional territory of the Maasai people,… |
| Lake Bogoria (Kenya, Rift Valley Region, Kenya) |
25,000 ac | Lake Bogoria in Kenya’s East Rift Valley has several natural phenomena that make it an ideal destination for eco-tourists. The extremely salty lake ha… |
| Lake Nakuru (Kenya, Rift Valley Region, Kenya) |
9,664 ac | Lake Nakuru is the most-visited lake in the country of Kenya. That might seem odd once people realize that this alkaline lake in Kenya’s East Rift Val… |
| Lake Elementaita (Kenya, Rift Valley Region, Kenya) |
5,436 ac | Also known as Lake Elmenteita, Lake Elmentaita, Lake Elementeita One of the lesser-known ‘soda lakes’ in Kenya’s East Rift Valley, Lake Elementaita is becoming a major eco-tourism destination. As one of the three sa… |