Which eight lakes are the largest in East Africa?

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East African mountains and lakes — East African lakes Mountains and lakes of East Africa.

The eight largest lakes in East Africa, ranked by their surface area, are as follows:

| Lake | Area (sq miles) | Area (sq km) |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Lake Victoria | 26,828 | 69,485 |
| Lake Tanganyika | 12,700 | 32,900 |
| Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) | 11,430 | 29,600 |
| Lake Rudolf (Lake Turkana) | 2,473 | 6,405 |
| Lake Albert | 2,160 | 5,594 |
| Lake Kivu | 1,040 | 2,693 |
| Lake Rukwa | 1,000 | 2,590 |
| Lake Edward | 830 | 2,150 |

Most of these lakes are situated within the East African Rift System, a series of massive fissures in the Earth's crust. With the exception of Lake Rukwa, which lies entirely within Tanzania, these major water bodies are shared by multiple nations across the region.1