African Lakes

Some thirty lakes make up the African lakes of the rift valley and they include some of the oldest and largest lakes in the world, providing work, food and sustenance for millions who live near them. It is believed that the human race first lived in this area with humanoid fossils of our ancestors being found there that are around 10 million years old. The area is also home to the fossilised remains of 'Lucy' who lived approximately 3.2 million years ago and is currently believed to have been the first humanoid to have walked upright. The Rift Valley itself, a crack or fissure in the earth's crust created by violent subterranean forces that tore apart the earth's crust, can be seen from space and it runs for approximately 4000 miles from Syria to Mozambique. The valley was formed by movements in the Arabian plate, the Nubian plate and the Somalian plate which are still drifting apart creating low areas where water has accumulated to form the lakes.

African Lakes	African Lakes	African Lakes
Lake Tanganyika A short video about Lake Tanganyika, the world's longest lake and second deepest. More >	Lake Malawi Take a virtual tour of Lake Malawi both above and underwater in another in our African lakes series. More >	Lake Chad Pictures and footage of the attempts to save Lake Chad as it shrinks to a mere fifth of its former size. More >
Lake Kivu Find out about Lake Kivu, one of the great African lakes in this article and stunning video. More >	Lake Victoria A video documentary about Lake Victoria, the largest of the African lakes and the world's largest tropical lake. More >	Lake Turkana A video documentary about Lake Turkana in Kenya, another of the African lakes at risk of drying up. More >
River Nile All about the River Nile as it winds its way through Africa from Jinja in Uganda to the Mediterranean Sea. More >	Niger River Explore the mighty Niger River as it flows West Africa including Mali then out into the Gulf of Guinea. More >	About Africa This African lakes page is part of our About Africa series for volunteers. More information here! More >

<h4>African Rift Valley Lakes</h4>

The Rift Valley is at its most magnificent in East Africa where the process of 'rifting' has led to the creation of the many spectacular lakes that are located in the region.

African Lakes and Rivers The process itself however is ongoing with many active volcanoes in the area along with numerous hot and boiling springs indicating underground activity.

The picture left shows the main African lakes of the Rift Valley with the red lines indicating the extent of the Rift valley itself.

It is believed that the ongoing underground volcanic activity around the rift will eventually cause the continent of Africa to split with low lying areas, currently under sea level, being filled from the Red Sea, creating a new ocean with the remains of Somalia, Tanzania and Mozambique forming a new off Africa continent.

The lakes are broadly grouped into the Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes which are mostly alkaline, the Eastern Rift Valley Lakes of which three are freshwater and five alkaline, the Western or Albertine Rift Valley Lakes which are freshwater and the Southern Rift Valley lakes which are all fresh water save for Lake Rukwa.

Above right is a video explaining how the Rift Valley itself was formed whilst below on this page we explore a number of the Great African lakes in a series of video documentaries.

Some of these show how at least two of the lakes are drying up, one because of the construction of a hydro-electric dam on its main tributary river and the implications of that process for those whose lives depend on the lakes.

On this page we also explore the River Nile, the world's longest river and the River Niger as it flows through west Africa before it discharges through the Niger Delta at the Gulf of Guinea.