Lake · Tanzania
Lake Rukwa
Lake Rukwa is a shallow lake in south-western Tanzania, lying in a long valley between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi. Its size can change enormously, because it depends on the rain and the rivers.
Picture credit: Lichinga (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Lichinga (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Lake Rukwa?
Countries on its shores: Tanzania.
Middle of the lake: 8.00° S, 32.42° E
The story behind it
Lake Rukwa has no outlet. Rivers such as the Rungwa, Lupa, Songwe and Momba flow in, but the water leaves only by evaporating in the sun. Because the lake is so shallow, on average only about 3 metres deep, its size depends on how much water the rivers bring. In 1929 it was only about 48 kilometres long; ten years later it had grown to about 128 kilometres. When the water is low, the lake splits into two parts, and the northern part sometimes dries out completely. The water is brackish and alkaline, and there are salt pans near its south-western end. Crocodiles and hippos live in the lake, and it is full of fish such as cichlids and catfish. Almost half of the lake lies in the Uwanda Game Reserve. About 33 000 years ago, the lake was so full that it overflowed into Lake Tanganyika.
Find it on the globe
Lake Rukwa 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.
Questions children ask
How big is Lake Rukwa?
Lake Rukwa is usually given as about 5 760 km², about 180 km long and 32 km wide. But its size changes so much that some sources give less than half of that, about 2 600 km².
Why does Lake Rukwa change its size so much?
The lake is very shallow and has no outlet, so its size depends on how much water the rivers bring in. In dry years it shrinks and can split into two parts; in wet years it spreads out again.
Which animals live in Lake Rukwa?
Crocodiles and hippos live in and around the lake. There are also many kinds of fish, including cichlids and catfish.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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