Lake Tanganyika

Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika from space, June 1985
Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika map
Coordinates	6°06′S 29°30′E / 6.1°S 29.5°E / -6.1; 29.5
Lake type	Ancient lake, Rift Valley Lake
Primary inflows	Ruzizi River Malagarasi River Kalambo River
Primary outflows	Lukuga River
Catchment area	231,000 km2 (89,000 sq mi)
Basin countries	Burundi, DR Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia
Max. length	673 km (418 mi)
Max. width	72 km (45 mi)
Surface area	32,900 km2 (12,700 sq mi)
Average depth	570 m (1,870 ft)
Max. depth	1,470 m (4,820 ft)
Water volume	18,750 km3 (4,500 cu mi)
Residence time	5500 years[1]
Shore length1	1,828 km (1,136 mi)
Surface elevation	773 m (2,536 ft)[2]
Settlements	Kigoma, Tanzania Kalemie, the DRC Bujumbura, Burundi Mpulungu, Zambia
References	[2]
Ramsar Wetland
Official name	Tanganyika
Designated	2 February 2007
Reference no.	1671[3]
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Tanganyika (/ˌtæŋɡənˈjiːkə, -ɡæn-/;^[4] Kirundi : Ikiyaga ca Tanganyika) is an African Great Lake.^[5] It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia.^[6][7] It is the world's longest freshwater lake.^[6] The lake is shared among four countries—Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the DRC), Burundi, and Zambia—with Tanzania (46%) and the DRC (40%) possessing the majority of the lake. It drains into the Congo River system and ultimately into the Atlantic Ocean.^{[citation needed]}