Lake Turkana - largest desert lake in the world

Lake Turkana is located in East Africa in Northern Kenya on the border with Ethiopia. It is the largest desert lake in the world and the largest lake wholly in Kenya. In kenya it’s on the borders of Turkana, Samburu and Marsabit counties.
The lake is thought to have been formed partly as a result of damming of water by an uplift block during the formation of the great rift valley. It’s believed to have been connected to the River Nile system ages ago due to presence of the Nile crocodiles in the lake. Interestingly, Lake Turkana has the highest number of the Nile crocodiles in the world.
The lake is long and narrow measuring about 249km long with the widest part being 44km. It covers an area of 7,560 square kilometres km2 and has an average depth of 30m with the deepest parts being about 84m.
The lake has many local names as per the communities living around it such as the Turkana, Samburu, Rendille, Elmolo, waata and Gabbra in Kenya and Daasanach who live in Kenya & Ethiopia. The Turkana call it Anam Ka'alakol, meaning "the sea of many fish" and the Samburu call it Basso Narok which means the black lake. It was named Lake Rudolf after Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria by Count Sámuel Teleki and Ludwig Ritter Von Höhnel, on 6 March 1888. However, it was renamed lake Turkana after the dominant community who live in the area in 1973 after Kenya gained independence by the then Kenyan president Jomo Kenyatta.
The lake is also known as the Jade sea due to its beautiful green / turquoise color that comes from algae that grows in the lake.
River Omo is the largest river flowing into the lake. It contributes over 90% of the water and it starts from the Ethiopian highlands. Other rivers are Turkwel, and Kerio in Kenya. The lake is Saline since it lacks any outflow and it loses water through evaporation.
Lake Turkana and its source rivers form the Lake Turkana basin that covers an area of approximately 70,000square kilometres km2 in Kenya and Ethiopia.
The North, Central and South islands are the 3 main volcanic islands in the lake. Central and south islands are designated as national parks in Kenya. These island are famous breeding ground for the Nile crocodiles.
Lake Turkana, Sibiloi national park, Central and south islands form the Lake Turkana National Park.
There are many animals, fish, algea and plants that are found in and around the lake.
The major animals are Nile crocodile, hippos, snakes, mud turtles, zebras, oryx, topi, giraffe, lions, gazelle, cheetahs, Flamingos and other migratory birds.
There are over 50 species of fish in the lake which include Nile perch, Nile tilapia, Tiger fish, cow fish, catfish, mudfish, moonfish, silverside, Turkana carp, wahrindi, cichlid, elephant fish, and African bony tongue among others.
The plants include shrubs and seasonal grasslands that grow around the lake.
The Koobi Fora deposits, near the lake, are rich in pre human and human fossils. These fossils identified by Dr. Richard Leaky among others include Austrolophithecus anamensis, Homo habilis/rudolfensis, Paranthropus boisei, Homo erectus and Homo sapiens.
The lake provides economic sustenance through tourism, fishing and as a source of water mainly for domestic use.
The areas of tourism interest in and around the lake are Central and South islands , sibiloi national parks, Koobi Fora deposits, Namoratunga (which is an archaeastronomical site dated 300BC), Nabiyotum/Nabuyatom Crater and chalbi desert.

[@feisalhaji9148]

Thanks for sharing this information on lake turkana.
Why most of the lakes in rift valley are rising including lake turkana.

[@naima3d]

It's mainly due to increased rainfall, siltation and surface runoff. Experts also add it's because the lakes are in active fault lines that are changing underground outflows.

[@haroonsuresh2326]

Amazing video. Thanks