Lake Malombe is a lake in southern part of Malawi. It is located on the Shire River, in the Southern Region around -14.66667°N, 35.25°W, about 20 km south of much larger Lake Malawi. It has an area of about 450 km2. In recent years the number of fishermen on the lake has risen substantially, and this has led to local decline in some fish species, especially the chambo cichlids which is an important source of food throughout Malawi. The lake is extremely shallow with an average depth of approximately eight feet, and during periods of dry weather the water level recedes and can even disappear. The lake-bed was dry for several hundred years until it refilled in the middle of the 19th century.