Lake Kivu
Cool, deep and clean, in the heart of Africa.
Lake Kivu is located in the heart of Africa
Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, which flows south into Lake Tanganyika.
Africa’s 8th largest lake
Its irregular shape makes the surface area hard to measure. At 475 m maximum depth, Lake Kivu is the world’s eighteenth deepest lake, and the ninth deepest by mean depth (220 m). It is one of the deeper Rift Valley lakes.
- 90 km
- Length
- 50 km
- At its widest
- 2,700 km²
- Surface area
- 1,460 m
- Above sea level
- 475 m
- Maximum depth
- 28 °C
- Average water temperature
Serving the most densely populated region in Africa
Over 40 million people live in close proximity to Lake Kivu. According to the World Bank, the area around the lake, including Rwanda, Burundi and Eastern DRC, is the most densely populated region on the African continent.
