Lake Tanganyika is one of the African Great Lakes and a natural wonder of global significance. It is the world’s longest freshwater lake, the second-oldest, the second-deepest, and the second-largest by volume. Situated in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the Great Rift Valley, this immense body of water is renowned for its dramatic landscape, exceptional age, and staggering biodiversity, hosting hundreds of species found nowhere else on Earth. Shared by four countries, the lake is a vital resource for millions of people and a key area for the study of evolution, making it a truly unique and important feature of the planet.

Name and Address

• Name: Lake Tanganyika.
• Address: Straddling the borders of four East African countries:
  • Tanzania (controlling 46% of the lake)
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (controlling 40%)
  • Burundi (northern end)
  • Zambia (southern end)

How to Get There

Accessing Lake Tanganyika depends on which country and which part of the lake you intend to visit.

• To Kigoma, Tanzania (Most Common Route): Kigoma is the largest Tanzanian port on the lake and a primary hub. You can get there:
  • By Air: Flights are available from Dar es Salaam.
  • By Train: A historic, multi-day train journey runs from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma.
• To Bujumbura, Burundi: The former capital is located at the northern tip of the lake and has an international airport.
• To Mpulungu, Zambia: This is the main port at the southern end of the lake, accessible by road from Lusaka.
• Visitor Tip: Travel around the lake can be an adventure. The historic MV Liemba ferry, which has been operating for over a century, runs the length of the Tanzanian coast from Kigoma to Mpulungu and is a legendary travel experience.

Landscape and Architecture

The “architecture” of Lake Tanganyika is its spectacular natural geology and the pristine ecosystems it supports.

• Rift Valley Lake: The lake fills a deep, narrow trough in the Great Rift Valley. Its landscape is defined by the steep, mountainous walls of the valley that plunge directly into the water, creating a dramatic and fjord-like coastline.
• Immense Scale: The lake is vast, stretching approximately 676 kilometers (420 miles) long and averaging 50 kilometers (31 miles) wide. Standing on its shore often feels like looking out at a sea rather than a lake.
• Crystal-Clear Waters: The water in Lake Tanganyika is exceptionally clear, with visibility often exceeding 20 meters. This clarity, combined with its depth, gives the water a stunning deep blue color.
• Diverse Shoreline: While much of the coast is rocky, there are also beautiful sandy beaches, papyrus swamps, and river deltas, creating a variety of habitats along its 1,900-kilometer shoreline.

What Makes It Famous

Lake Tanganyika is famous for its superlative statistics, its incredible age, and its unparalleled biodiversity.

• An Ancient Lake: At an estimated 9-12 million years old, it is one of the world’s ancient lakes. This great age has allowed for a unique evolutionary history to unfold within its waters.
• Depth and Volume: It is the second-deepest lake in the world, with a maximum depth of 1,471 meters (4,826 feet). It contains an immense volume of fresh water—approximately 16% of the world’s total available surface fresh water.
• A Hotspot of Endemic Species: Its primary claim to fame is its incredible biodiversity. The lake is home to over 2,000 species, with more than 500 being endemic (found nowhere else on Earth). It is particularly famous for its hundreds of species of cichlid fish, which have undergone a remarkable adaptive radiation, making the lake a “natural laboratory” for studying evolution.
• Chimpanzee Sanctuaries: The forested mountains on its eastern shore in Tanzania are home to two world-famous chimpanzee research sites: Gombe Stream National Park (where Jane Goodall conducted her pioneering research) and Mahale Mountains National Park.

Differences from Other Wonders

Lake Tanganyika stands in a class of its own, even among the other great lakes of the Rift Valley.

• Deep and Ancient vs. Broad and Shallow: While Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa by surface area, it is relatively shallow and much younger. Lake Tanganyika is profoundly deep and ancient, which has given rise to a completely different and more diverse evolutionary ecosystem.
• A Contained Evolutionary Laboratory: Unlike a vast river system like the Congo or the Nile, Lake Tanganyika’s isolated, “inland ocean” environment has acted as a contained evolutionary cradle, particularly for its cichlid fish, in a way that is globally unique.
• Rift Valley Scenery: The dramatic, mountainous escarpments that plunge directly into the lake give it a distinct fjord-like character, a different type of landscape from the flatter shorelines of many other large lakes.