African Great Lakes
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. They include Lake Victoria, the second-largest fresh water lake in the world by area, Lake Tanganyika, the world's second-largest freshwater lake by volume and depth, and Lake Malawi, the world's eighth-largest fresh water lake by area.[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.
| 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 |
| Type | Freshwater lakes |
| Native name |
|
| 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) |
Riparian countries in the African Great Lakes region include Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Zambia, Tanzania, and Uganda.[2]