Lake Victoria's Maximum Depth: 84 Meters in Africa's Largest Lake

Lake Victoria — Africa's largest lake by area (68,800 km²) and the world's second-largest freshwater lake — is surprisingly shallow for its size. Its **maximum recorded depth is 84 meters (276 feet)**, with a mean depth of only **40 meters (131 feet)**.

Depth Profile

• Maximum: 84 m (276 ft) — in the eastern basin, near the Kenyan shore
• Mean: 40 m (131 ft)
• Volume: 2,750 km³ (660 cu mi)
• Shore length: 7,142 km (4,438 mi) — highly indented
• Basins: Three main basins (Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya) separated by sills

Why So Shallow?

Victoria sits in a **shallow tectonic depression** on the upwarped shoulder of the East African Rift — not a deep rift valley like Tanganyika (1,470 m max) or Malawi (706 m). It's a "broad saucer" lake, vulnerable to climate fluctuations.

Ecological Implications

• Stratification: Weak thermal stratification; mixes frequently → oxygenates deep water but resuspends nutrients
• Eutrophication risk: High nutrient loads + shallow depth = algal blooms, water hyacinth, hypoxia
• Fisheries: Nile perch (introduced 1950s) exploited oxygenated depths; cichlid diversity collapsed
• Climate sensitivity: 1–2 m level drop exposes vast shelves; 1980s drought nearly closed Nile outflow

Comparison

Lake Victoria's modest depth belies its ecological and economic magnitude — 40 million people depend on its shallow, productive waters.