Largest lakes & reservoirs in African Great Lakes by shoreline length
The length of the exterior shoreline around a lake is measured at the lake’s normal elevation. The shoreline length can be considerably shorter or longer when lake water levels are lower or higher than normal. A lake with many coves has a much longer shoreline than a lake of similar surface area that is nearly circular in shape.When known, the shoreline miles that we report in our statistics include only the lake’s exterior shoreline, and exclude the shorelines of islands located within a lake’s boundaries. In lakes with many islands, those islands’ combined shorelines may exceed a lake’s exterior shoreline.
You can find many of the world’s longest-shoreline lakes on LakeLubbers. Note: For some lakes, "Longest Shorelines" data is unknown or does not apply, so this table may display fewer lakes than the total 5 articles we have published for African Great Lakes lakes.
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Below are lakes within African Great Lakes > Compared by longest shoreline length in miles. This list does not represent all lakes in African Great Lakes, only the 5 African Great Lakes lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Shoreline length in miles |
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) |
2,138 mi | 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 Tanganyika, African Great Lakes (African Great Lakes, Burundi, Congo (DRC), Kigoma Region, Tanzania, Rukwa Region, Tanzania, Tanzania, Zambia) |
1,181 mi | Located in the Western Great Rift Valley of Africa, the crystal clear water of Lake Tanganyika reaches across four countries – Burundi, Zambia, Democr… |
| Lake Kivu (African Great Lakes, Congo (DRC), Rwanda) |
250 mi | Also known as Lac Kivu Lake Kivu is one of the youngest of the African Great Lakes. Located in the Rift Valley, Lake Kivu is thought to be only 15,000 years old. Forming par… |
| Lake Malawi, African Great Lakes (African Great Lakes, Iringa Region, Tanzania, Malawi, Manda Wilderness Region, Mozambique, Mbeya Region, Tanzania, Mozambique, Ruvuma Region, Tanzania, Tanzania, The Lakeshore Region, Malawi) |
152 mi | Also known as Lake Nyasa, Lake Nyassa, Lake Niassa, Lago Niassa Located in the East African Rift Valley system between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, Lake Malawi — also known as Lake Nyasa, Lake Nyassa, Lake Nia… |