About the Lake
Location
Lake Tanganyika is found on the western border of Tanzania. It is actually shared between four countries – Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Zambia, with Tanzania (46%) and DRC (40%) possessing the majority of the lake.
Area
The lake covers 32,900 km2 (12,700 sq mi), with a shoreline of 1,828 km (1,136 mi), a mean depth of 570 m (1,870 ft) and a maximum depth of 1,471 m (4,826 ft) (in the northern basin). It holds an estimated 18,900 cubic kilometres (4,500 cu mi).[7]
When to go
Getting there
What to do
Park Map
More Details
Lake Tanganyika, Africa’s oldest lake, while remote demonstrates how our world is bound together. Over millions of years, the lake has given life to the plants and animals of the region. Around 100,000 years ago, this also became the “Cradle of Mankind” near the center of the Great Rift Valley from where Homo sapiens colonized our world. The lake has also been the focus of conflict; between tribes, colonial powers and, more recently, between regional warlords. Today, Lake Tanganyika is at the center of the most fundamental crisis of all –mankind’s future on the planet. Its basin is rich in natural resources like oil and minerals and contains hundreds of unique species, along with nearly 20 percent of the world’s available fresh water. For all these reasons, the lake is fast emerging as one of the most strategically significant places on Earth
