Lake Turkana

E81538

Lake Turkana is a large, saline lake in Kenya’s arid north, renowned for its striking turquoise waters, rich biodiversity, and significant archaeological sites along its shores.

Aliases (1)

Statements (59)
Predicate Object
instanceOf lake
rift valley lake
saline lake
alsoKnownAs Jade Sea
archaeologicalRegion Turkana Basin
associatedWithDiscovery Turkana Boy fossil
averageDepth approximately 30 meters
basinCountry Ethiopia
Kenya
borderedBy Marsabit County
Turkana County
climate arid
color turquoise
country Kenya
elevation approximately 360 meters above sea level
hasIsland Central Island NERFINISHED
North Island
South Island
humanUse fishing
pastoralism along shores
inflow Kerio River
Omo River
Turkwel River
knownFor Nile crocodile populations
fossil hominid remains
large colonies of waterbirds
paleontological discoveries
rich biodiversity
significant archaeological sites
striking turquoise waters
locatedIn East Africa
Great Rift Valley
Kenya’s arid north
maximumDepth approximately 110 meters
maximumLength approximately 250 km
maximumWidth approximately 30–40 km
nearSite Koobi Fora
Lothagam
Nariokotome
outflow endorheic (no outlet)
partOf East African Rift system
protectedArea Central Island National Park
Sibiloi National Park
South Island National Park
region Northern Kenya
salinity brackish to saline
supportsSpecies Nile crocodile
cichlid fishes
hippopotamus
tilapia
surfaceArea approximately 6,400 square kilometers
threat climate variability
overfishing
upstream damming on Omo River
UNESCOInscriptionYear 1997
UNESCOSiteType natural
UNESCOWorldHeritageSite Lake Turkana National Parks
waterType alkaline
saline

Referenced by (3)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
East African Rift
contains
Kenya
lake
Kisumu ("Winam Gulf")
locatedOn

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