Lake Onangué

Where is Lake Onangué?

Countries on its shores: Gabon.

Largest lake of: Gabon.

Middle of the lake: 0.96° S, 10.07° E

The story behind it

Near the town of Lambaréné there are several lakes, such as Lake Zilé, Lake Evaro and Lake Onangué. Lake Onangué is huge compared with Lake Zilé, which is about 7 km long and 2 km wide. It covers about 160 km² – much more than Lake Anengué, another lake in Gabon, with 56 km². Its depth changes a lot from place to place: in the dry season some parts are only 2 metres deep, while the middle is up to 17 metres deep. By boat along the main arm of the Ogooué river, the sea at Port-Gentil is about 160 km away. If you watch carefully, you may see hippos in the lake. Visitors can also try seine fishing, where a long net is pulled through the water. Lake Onangué is the largest natural lake in Gabon.

Find it on the globe

Lake Onangué is there as a small blue dot with its name, right on the water. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.