African Great Lakes

This article is about the lakes in Africa. For other uses of the term "Great Lakes", see Great Lakes (disambiguation).

Satellite view of the African Great Lakes region and its coastline.

The African Great Lakes (Swahili: Maziwa Makuu) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the second largest fresh water lake in the world by area, and Lake Tanganyika, the world's second largest freshwater lake by volume and depth.^[1] Collectively, they contain 31,000 km³ (7400 cu mi) of water, which is more than either Lake Baikal or the North American Great Lakes, and constitutes about 25% of the planet's unfrozen surface fresh water.

The large rift lakes of Africa are the ancient home of great biodiversity; 10% of the world's fish species live there.

Countries in the African Great Lakes region (sometimes also called Greater Lakes region) include Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.^[2] A conference will be held in 2017 in Uganda on the lakes region.^[3]

Catchments

The African Great Lakes system, in blue.

The African Great Lakes are divided among three different drainage/catchments river basins. Another number also have Endorheic basin systems, such as Lake Turkana. In order of size from largest to smallest, the following are included on most lists of the African Great Lakes:

Some include only Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, and Lake Edward, because they are the only three that empty into the White Nile. Lake Kyoga is part of the Great Lakes system. However, it is not itself considered a Great Lake, based on size alone. Lake Tanganyika and Lake Kivu both empty into the Congo River system, while Lake Malawi is drained by the Shire River into the Zambezi. Lake Turkana has no outlet.

African Great Lakes Region

The African Great Lake region consists of countries that surround the African Great Lakes. It comprises Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.^[2]

The Bantu Swahili language is the most commonly spoken language in the African Great Lakes region.^[4] It also serves as a national or official language of four nations in the region: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Due to the high population density of an estimated 107 million people, and the agricultural surplus in the region, the area became organized into a number of small states. The most powerful of these monarchies were Buganda, Bunyoro, Rwanda, and Burundi. Unusual for sub-Saharan Africa, the traditional borders were largely maintained by the colonial powers.

Being the long sought after source of the Nile, the region had long been of interest to Europeans. The first Europeans to arrive in the region in any numbers were missionaries who had limited success in converting the locals, but did open the region to later colonization. The increased contact with the rest of the world led to a series of devastating epidemics affecting both humans and livestock. While seen as a region with great potential after independence, the region has in recent decades been marred by civil war and conflict, from which only Tanzania has escaped. According to the UNHCR, Tanzania hosted the most Congolese refugees of the region. The worst affected areas have been left in great poverty.^[5]

Climate

The highlands are relatively cool, with average temperatures of 17-19˚C and abundant rainfall. Major drainage basins include those of the Congo-Zaire, Nile, and Zambezi rivers, which drain into the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean, respectively.

Forests are dominant in the lowlands of the Congo-Zaire Basin, while grasslands and savannas are most common in the southern and eastern highlands. Temperatures in the lowlands average a hot mid-90s (Fahrenheit). Around Lake Turkana, the climate is hot and very dry. A short rainy season in October is followed by a longer one from April to May.

Flora and fauna

The Western Rift Valley lakes are freshwater and home to an extraordinary number of endemic species. Approximately 1,500 cichlid fish species live in the lakes, as well as other fish families. (Cichlids are perch-like fishes that occur only in tropical and subtropical freshwaters. The family contains more species than any other fish family.) The lakes are also important habitats for a number of amphibian species. Crocodiles are numerous. Mammals include elephants, gorillas and hippopotamus.

The Lake Turkana area is home to hundreds of species of birds endemic to Kenya. The flamingo wades in its shallows. The East African rift system also serves as a flyway for migrating birds, bringing in hundreds more. The birds are essentially supported by plankton masses in the lake, which also feed the fish there.

Vegetation ranges from rainforest to savanna grasses. In some lakes, rapidly growing invasive plants, like the surface-choking water hyacinth and shore-clogging papyrus, are problems. Water hyacinth have thus far affected only Lake Victoria.

Geology

Until 12 million years ago, the bountiful waters of the equatorial plateau either flowed west into the Congo River system or east to the Indian Ocean. Creation of the Great Rift Valley changed that. A rift is a weak place in Earth's crust due to the separation of two tectonic plates, often accompanied by a graben, or trough, in which lake water can collect. This rift began when East Africa, impelled by currents in the mantle, began separating from the rest of Africa, moving to the northeast. The basins that resulted from the geological uplifts filled with water that now flowed north.

Lake Victoria is not actually within the Rift Valley. It occupies a depression between the Eastern and Western Rifts, formed by the uplift of the rifts to either side.

Archaeology

Around two to three million years ago, Lake Turkana was larger and the area more fertile, making it a center for early hominids. Richard Leakey led numerous anthropological excavations in the area, which yielded many important discoveries of hominin remains. The two-million-year-old Skull 1470 was found in 1972. It was originally thought to be Homo habilis, but some anthropologists have assigned it to a new species, Homo rudolfensis, named after the lake (previously known as Lake Rudolf). In 1984, the Turkana Boy, a nearly complete skeleton of a Homo erectus boy was discovered. More recently, a 3,500,000-year-old skull was discovered there, named Kenyanthropus platyops, which means "The Flat-Faced Man of Kenya".

Economy

Fishing—primarily of tilapia species but also of Nile perch—provides the main livelihood. With four Great Lakes on its borders, Uganda ranks as one of the world's largest producers of freshwater fish. The climate and rich volcanic soils in the highlands also sustain intensely cultivated croplands.

The economies of the Great Lakes region states have different structures and are at various stages of development. The GDP real growth rate ranges from 5.1 percent in Burundi to 6.4 in DRC. GDP per capita fluctuates between $700 in DRC and Burundi and $1,900 in Uganda.

Notes

↑ "~ZAMBIA~". www.zambiatourism.com. Retrieved 2008-03-14.
1 2 "International Documentation Network on the Great African Lakes Region". Princeton University Library. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
↑ "Great Lakes of Africa's website".
↑ Shema, Rutagengwa Claude. "Great Lakes Region of Africa – Burundi". Regional Coordinator Great Lakes Peace Initiative (GLPI). Retrieved 22 November 2013.
↑ "Great Lakes Region News". UNHCR. Retrieved 22 October 2015.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to African Great Lakes.

Jean-Pierre Chrétien. The Great Lakes of Africa: Two Thousand Years of History trans Scott Straus

Regions of the world

	Africa	Mediterranean Northern Gibraltar Arc Maghreb (Barbary Coast) Barbara (region) Atlas Mountains Sahara Sahel Egypt (Upper Egypt, Middle Egypt, Lower Egypt, Bashmur) Nubia (Lower Nubia) Nile Valley Nile Delta Middle East Sub-Saharan Western East East African Rift: Great Rift Valley, Western or Albertine Rift Valley, Eastern or Gregory Rift Valley, Southern Rift Valley, Rift Valley Lakes (Great Lakes) Central Mittelafrika Southern Horn Ethiopian Highlands (Roof of Africa) Sudan (region) Guinea region Rhodesia (region) (Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia) Negroland Mayombe Igboland (Mbaise) Maputaland Congo Basin Chad Basin Swahili coast Pepper Coast Gold Coast Slave Coast Ivory Coast Tropical Africa Islands Madagascar Anglophone Africa Francophone Africa Lusophone Africa Arabophone Africa
	North America	Contiguous United States Northern Pacific Northwest Northeastern United States New England Midwest Mid-Atlantic Western United States Southwest Llano Estacado Mountain States South Central United States Southern United States East Coast West Coast Gulf Coast Bible Belt Rust Belt Appalachia Great Plains Great Lakes Eastern Canada Western Canada Canadian Prairies Northern Canada Atlantic Canada North Mexico Gulf of Mexico West Indies Caribbean (Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles, Lucayan Archipelago Western Caribbean Zone Central Isthmus of Panama Mosquito Coast Middle Mesoamerica Aridoamerica Oasisamerica Anglo French Latin (Hispanic) American Cordillera Ring of Fire
	South America	Southern Northern (Guianan states) West South America (Andean States) West Indies Patagonia Pampas Pantanal Amazon Amazonia Altiplano Andes Brazilian Highlands Caribbean South America Gran Chaco Llanos Atacama Desert Cerrado Latin (Hispanic) American Cordillera Ring of Fire
	Asia	Central Aral Sea Aralkum Desert Caspian Sea Dead Sea Transoxiana (Turan) Greater Khorasan Ariana Khwarezm Sistan Kazakhstania Far East Russian Far East Extreme North Eurasian Steppe Pontic–Caspian steppe Wild Fields Yedisan Muravsky Trail Ural (region) Volga region Idel-Ural Kolyma Transbaikal Pryazovia Bjarmaland Kuban Zalesye Ingria Novorossiya Gornaya Shoriya Tulgas Siberia Eastern Northeastern Inner Asia Manchuria Outer Manchuria Tibet Guanzhong Huizhou (region) Wu (region) Ordos Loop Yangtze River Delta Northern Southern Southeastern Mainland (Indochina) Maritime (Malay Archipelago) East Indies (Greater India) Indian subcontinent Himalayas Mahabharata Range Hindu Kush Ganges Basin Ganges Delta Balochistan Rajputana Punjab (region) Thar Desert Indus Valley Indus River Delta Indo-Gangetic Plain Eastern Coastal Plains Western Coastal Plains Hindi Belt Doab Great Rann of Kutch Little Rann of Kutch Deccan plateau Coromandel Coast Konkan Lakshadweep Andaman and Nicobar Islands Maldive Islands Western Red Sea Middle East (Near East) Arabian Peninsula Persian Gulf Pirate Coast Najd Hejaz Tihamah Eastern Arabia Southern Arabia Hadhramaut Mediterranean Sea Eastern Mediterranean Zagros Mountains Tigris–Euphrates river system Mesopotamia (Upper Mesopotamia, Lower Mesopotamia, Sawad) Canaan Aram (Biblical region) Levant (Mashriq) Southern Levant Levantine Sea Gaza Strip West Bank Galilee Gilead Judea Samaria Arabah Transjordan Jordan Rift Valley Sinai Peninsula Caucasus Transcaucasia Arabian Desert Syrian Desert Fertile Crescent Syria (region) (Greater Syria) Palestine (region) Anatolia (Asia Minor) Cilicia Cappadocia Asia-Pacific Tropical Asia Ring of Fire

	Europe	Central Mitteleuropa Danubian countries Prussia (region) Lithuania Minor Northern Nordic Northwestern Scandinavia Scandinavian Peninsula Fennoscandian Peninsula Sápmi Eastern Baltic Crimea Donbass Sloboda Ukraine Southeastern Balkans (Balkan Peninsula) North Caucasus Kabardia Southern Russia European Russia Middle East Southern Italian Peninsula Insular Italy Iberia Gibraltar Arc Southeastern Mediterranean Western Alpine countries Benelux Low Countries Northwestern British Isles Channel Islands Germanic Romance Celtic Slavic countries Eurasian Steppe Pontic–Caspian steppe Wild Fields Pannonian Basin Volhynia Karelia (East Karelia, Karelia (historical province of Finland))
	Oceania	Australasia Australia Capital Country Eastern Australia/East Coast of Australia (Eastern Seaboard) Lake Eyre basin Murray–Darling basin Northern Australia Nullarbor Plain Outback Southern Australia Sunraysia Great Victoria Desert New Guinea Zealandia Pacific Islands Micronesia Melanesia Polynesia
	Polar	Antarctic Arctic
	Oceans	World (Sea) Arctic Atlantic Indian Pacific Great Barrier Reef Mariana Trench Ring of Fire Southern Convergence List of seas

Continents of the world / List of seas / Physical Earth

Coordinates: 8°00′S 35°00′E / 8.000°S 35.000°E / -8.000; 35.000

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