Lake Edward, lake on the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Lake Edward lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, with its northern shore a few kilometres south of the equator. It measures 77 kilometres long by 40 kilometres wide at its maximum points and covers 2,325 square kilometres. The western escarpment of the Great Rift Valley rises up to 2,000 metres above the western shore, while the southern and eastern shores are flat lava plains.

Henry Morton Stanley first saw the lake in 1888 during the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition and named it after Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII. In 1973 Uganda and Zaire renamed it Lake Idi Amin; it regained its former name after Idi Amin's overthrow in 1979. In 2014 the lake was at the centre of an oil dispute when SOCO International entered Virunga National Park to prospect.

The lake was named after Prince Edward, son of Queen Victoria, when an explorer named it in 1888. Local communities depend on its waters daily for fishing, washing, and drinking, making it central to their way of life and traditions.

The lake lies entirely within Virunga National Park in the DRC and Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, with no extensive habitation on its shores except at Ishango in the north, home to a park ranger training facility. The nearest cities are Kasese in Uganda, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) to the northeast, and Butembo in the DRC, about 150 kilometres (93 mi) to the northwest by road. Other settlements include Vitshumbi in the DRC and Mweya and Katwe in Uganda.

The lake was shaped partly by volcanic activity, and small crater lakes near the Katwe-Kikorongo area remind visitors of prehistoric eruptions. The waters are connected to nearby Lake George through the Kazinga Channel, a rare natural link between two large bodies of water.