Lake Tanganyika
Its borders
Lake Tanganyika,is a famous lake,which is located in east central Africa, in the Great Rift Valley.This lake is bordered by
1)Burundi on the north
2)By Tanzania on the east
3By Zambia on the south
4)By Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west
Why it is famous?
The length of the lake is 420 miles,i.e 680 km amnd it is considered as the longest freshwater lake on the earth. The important feature of this lake is that it is relatively narrow, and it width varies from 16 to 72 km.Another important fact about this lake i sthat this is the lake which has the second deepest point in all lakes in the world, after Lake Baikal in Siberia and the greatest depth of this lake is about 1.436 km .
In terms of the surface area also this comes second in the list in Africa after with a surface area of about 32,900 sq km,Lake Victoria.This lake has the surface elevation of about 760 m and it is fed by a number of rivers and the principal rivers includes
1)The Ruzizi
2)The Malagarasi
3)The Kalambo
but it drains only through the Lukuga, which then flows into the Congo.
Its history
Until the middle of the 18th century,the Arabs and slave traders did not reach Lake Tanganyika and their main depot on the lake was Ujiji, Tanzania, just southeast of Kigoma on the lake’s eastern shore. Still Ujiji is an active trading post despite the decline of its harbor. Till 1858 European explorers did not arrive along Lake Tanganyika and it was expored when British explorers Sir Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke came upon the lake while trying to locate the source of the Nile.
Fishing and cultivation
This lake is a heaven to the fishermen as more than 200 native species of fish inhabit this lake’s waters.Apart from fishes crocodiles and hippopotamuses are found on the shores of this lake which makes the human existance on the shores impossible.Usually the Bantu-speaking peoples make the best use of this lake and they inhabit the area catch fish and they also cultivate rice in the fertile lake waters and surrounding lands.The Bantu- Speaking people are shown below
Ports
The busiest port on this lake is Bujumbura, Burundi.Apart from this port the city of Kalemie, DRC, is also another important port on this lake.When it comes to tourism, the MV Liemba is the main passenger ferry on the lake and credit goes to this ferry as it is one of the oldest regularly operating steamers in the world and credit goes to Germans, who built this in 1914.This historic ship connects Bujumbura,Kigoma, Tanzania, and Mpulungu, Zambia.The image of MV Liemba is shwon below
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