Great Rift Valley

First named by the British explorer John Walter Gregory, the Great Rift Valley is an enormous geological feature that runs for 5,000km from northern Syria in southwestern Asia to central Mozambique in East Africa.

The Great Rift Valley's width varies from thirty to one hundred kilometres, and its depth varies from hundreds to many thousands of metres. Many of the great lakes in the region - Lake Victoria, Lake Nakuru, and Lake Malawi among others - are also supported by the Great Rift Valley.

The African portion of the Great Rift Valley begins at the Afar Triangle where the Red Sea enters the Gulf of Aden. It continues in the southwesterly direction, splitting into two - the Eastern Rift and the Western Rift (also called the Albertine rift).

The Western Rift gives rise to some of the tallest mountains in Africa (including the east African Virunga Volcanoes) and contains some of the deepest lakes in the world - particularly Lake Tanganyika at 1,470 metres deep.

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