| African Great Lakes | |
|---|---|
| |
 Satellite view of the African Great Lakes region and its coastline | |
  African Great Lakes  African Great Lakes | |
| Coordinates | 8°00′00″S 35°00′00″E / 8.00000°S 35.00000°E |
| Type | Freshwater lakes |
| Part of | East African Rift |
| Primary outflows | White Nile river, Congo river, Shire river |
| Basin countries | Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Zambia, Tanzania, and Uganda |
| Water volume | 31,000 cubic kilometres (7,400 cu mi) |
| Max. temperature | 35 °C (95 °F) |
| Min. temperature | 17 to 19 °C (63 to 66 °F) |
The African Great Lakes (Swahili: Maziwa Makuu; Kinyarwanda: Ibiyaga bigari) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. The series includes Lake Victoria, the second-largest freshwater lake in the world by area; Lake Tanganyika, the world's second-largest freshwater lake by volume and depth; Lake Malawi, the world's eighth-largest freshwater lake by area; and Lake Turkana, the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake.[1] Collectively, they contain 31,000 km3 (7,400 cu mi) of water, which is more than either Lake Baikal or the North American Great Lakes. This total constitutes about 25% of the planet's unfrozen surface fresh water. The large rift lakes of Africa are the ancient home of great biodiversity, and 10% of the world's fish species live in this region.
Countries in the area which are bounded by the lakes of the Great Lakes region include Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Zambia, Tanzania, and Uganda.[2]
- ^ "~ZAMBIA~". www.zambiatourism.com. Retrieved 2008-03-14.
- ^ "International Documentation Network on the Great African Lakes Region". Princeton University Library. Retrieved 22 November 2013.