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South of the Ethiopian highlands, the Rift Valley splits in two. The Eastern Rift is home to the Kenyan Rift Valley lakes, and most of the Central African Rift Valley lakes lie in the Western Rift. The Kenyan section of the Rift Valley is home to eight lakes, of which two are freshwater and the rest alkaline. The largest of the Kenyan lakes is Lake Turkana (elevation 360 m), a large alkaline lake on the border of Kenya and Ethiopia with an area of 6405 kmē. Lake Logipe is a seasonal lake just south of Lake Turkana. Further south are lakes Baringo, Bogoria, Nakuru , Elmenteita , Naivasha and Magadi.
Lake Baringo is the second largest of the Kenyan Rift Valley lakes at 80 square miles, and is one the two fresh water lakes in Kenya. Four hundred birdFor other meanings of bird see bird (disambiguation). Many see text Birds are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrates characterized primarily by feathers, forelimbs modified as wings, and hollow bones. There are almost 9000 known species of birds in speciesThis article discusses biological species. Also see combinatorial species for the mathematical meaning of the term. Species is also a movie by Roger Donaldson. In English "species" is both singular and plural. The word " specie" is unrelated and is used t have been listed in the area, and the Goliath heronry is located on a rocky islet in the lake known as Gibraltar. Lake Naivasha is Kenya's other freshwater lake, with an area of 160 square kilometres, which varies somewhat with rainfall. It is the highest of the Kenya's Rift Valley lakes at an altitude of 1,890 m (5900 ft). Njorowa gorge used to form the lake's outlet, but it is now high above the lake and the forms the entrance to Hell's Gate National Park . Over 450 species of birds are found in the immediate area. Kenya's other rift valley lakes are small shallow soda lakes, with crystallised salt turning the shores white. The lakes are famous for the large flocks of flamingoFor the seminal American doo-wop group, best known for "I Only Have Eyes for You" ( 1959), see The Flamingos. Phoenicopterus roseus ''Phoenicopterus minor ''Phoenicopterus jamesi ''Phoenicopterus andinus ''Phoenicopterus chilensis ''Phoenicopterus ruber F that feed on the crustaceanCrustaceans Hyalella azteca Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum Crustacea Classes Remipedia Cephalocarida Branchiopoda Ostracoda Maxillopoda Malacostraca The crustaceans (Crustacea) are a large group of arthropods (55,s. Lake Nakuru (40 kmē, elevation 1759 m) is a national park since 1968, and Lake Bogoria (34 kmē, elevation 960 m) is a national preserve. The eastern rift continues into Tanzania, where alkaline Lake NatronLake Natron is a lake located in northern Tanzania, close to the Kenyan border, in Africa's Great Rift Valley. The alkali salt crust on the surface of the lake is often colored red or pink by the salt-loving microorganisms that live there. And the lake is and Lake Eyasi host huge flocks of flamingoes.
The lakes of the Western or Albertine Rift, together with Lake VictoriaGeography Lake Victoria or Victoria Nyanza is one of the Great Lakes of Africa. Lake Victoria is 68,870 square kilometres in size, making it the continent's largest lake, the largest tropical lake in the world, and the second largest fresh water lake in t, include the largest, deepest and oldest of the Rift Valley lakes. The Central African lakes are freshwater, home to an extraordinary number of endemic species. Upwards of 800 cichlidCichlids Apistogramma Dwarf Cichlids Astronotus ( Oscars) Boulengerochromis Cichlasoma American Ciclids Crenicichla Pterophyllum Freshwater Angelfish Symphysodon Discus Teleogramma Tilapia Cichlids are a family of perciform fishes. Types and characteristi fish (Cichlidae) species live in the lakes. In addition to the cichlids, endemic species of Clariidae, Claroteidae, Mochokidae, Poeciliidae, Mastacembelidae, Centropomidae, Cyprinidae, Clupeidae and other fish families are also found in these lakes. The lakes are also important habitats for a number of amphibian species, including Bufo kisoloensis, Bufo keringyagae, Cardioglossa cyaneospila, and Nectophryne batesii.
The World Wildlife Fund has designated the Rift Valley lakes one of its Global 200 priority ecoregions for conservation.
Lake Victoria (elevation 1134 m), with an area of 68,800 kmē, is the largest lake in Africa, but 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. Lake Albert (5300 kmē, elevation 615 m) is the northernmost lake in the western rift. Lake Albert, Lake Victoria, and Lake Edward (2325 kmē, elevation 912 m), which drains north into Lake Albert, are part of the Nile River watershed. Just south of Lake Edward in the Western rift is Lake Kivu (2220 kmē, elevation 1460 m), which empties into Lake Tanganyika via the Ruzizi River . Lake Tanganyika (32,000 kmē, elevation 773 m) is the deepest of the Rift Valley lakes (more than 1400 meters), and is thought to be the second-oldest lake on the planet (after Lake Baikal). Lake Tanganyika is part of the Congo River watershed, into the Congo via the Lukuga River . Lake Mweru (4350 kmē, elevation 922 m) lies southwest of Lake Tanganyika on the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, in a geologic depression called the Lake Mweru-Luapula graben, which is outside the Albertine rift, but is part of the African rift system.The alkaline Lake Rukwa lies in Tanzania to the southeast of Lake Tanganyika and north of Lake Malawi, in a parallel branch of the rift system. Lake Malawi (30,000 kmē, elevation 500 m) lies south of Lake Tanganyika in the rift valley, and is the second deepest at over 700 meters. It empties south into smaller Lake Malombe , which is drained by the Shire River, a tributary of the Zambezi River. Lake Chilwa (1750 kmē, elevation 622 m) lies southeast of Lake Malombe, and is the southernmost of the Rift Valley lakes.
Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika, and Lake Malawi are sometimes collectively known as the African Great Lakes.
Two other lakes on the Great Rift Valley the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee are located in Asia.
Rift Valley lakes Rift Valley lakes