Longest lake

The world's longest lake, and indeed body of fresh water, is Lake Tanganyika. Forming at various points at the borders between Zambia, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi, the lake measures 673 kilometres (418 miles) in length and is the second deepest in the world, at 1,436 metres (4,710 feet), after Lake Baikal in Russia. Tanganyika is a narrow lake, varying in width from 16 to 72 kilometres (10 to 45 miles), and covering around 32,900 square kilometres (12,700 square miles). It owes its shape to being part of the southern end of the Western Great Rift Valley in Africa.