Lake TurkanaThe world's largest permanent desert lake and largest alkaline lake
A jade sea in the middle of the desert.
- Surface area
- 6,750 km²
- Water volume
- 204 km³
- Max depth
- 109 m
See its true size
One shared area scaleBoth outlines share one area scale. The bars compare water volume.
Reference data: Encyclopædia Britannica: jezioro Bajkał (2024).
Simplified outlines: Natural Earth (public domain), reprojected to one shared scale.
among the 18 lakes in this section
Turkana covers 6,750 km² amid an arid landscape. It is larger than many European lakes, although its mean depth is only 30 m. A desert setting does not imply a small surface area.
The map intuition
There is no large body of water in a desert.
About the lake
Turkana lies in a hot, desert section of Kenya's East African Rift. It is fed mainly by Ethiopia's Omo River and has no outlet. Water leaves through evaporation while dissolved salts remain, making the lake brackish and alkaline.
It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and largest alkaline lake. Nearby fossil sites have yielded key remains of human ancestors, so the region is often called the 'cradle of humankind'.
- Mean depth
- 30 m
- Surface elevation
- 360 m a.s.l.
- Location
- Kenya / Ethiopia
- Type
- rift, endorheic (alkaline) lake
Where the lake is
Lake Turkana: Questions
The lake has no outlet, so water leaves mainly through evaporation while salts and minerals remain. Algae contribute to its greenish colour, which inspired the name 'Jade Sea'.
It is a body of water with no outlet to the sea. Incoming water leaves mainly through evaporation, so salts accumulate. Turkana is the world's largest permanent desert lake of this type.
Because some of the most important fossils of human ancestors were found nearby, including the nearly complete 'Turkana Boy' skeleton.
Sources and data year
Outline: Natural Earth, public domain. Simplified and reprojected.