Lake Malawi
View from orbit
Coordinates	12°11′S 34°22′E
Lake type	Rift lake
Primary inflows	Ruhuhu[1]
Primary outflows	Shire River[1]
Basin countries	Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania
Max. A lake (from Latin lacus) is a Terrain feature (or Physical feature) a body of Liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the The Rift Valley lakes are a group of lakes in the Great Rift Valley formed by the East African Rift which runs through the whole eastern side of the African In Hydrology, the inflow of a Body of water is the source of the Water in the body of water In Hydrology, the discharge or outflow of a River is the volume of Water transported by it in a certain amount of time The Shire is a river in Malawi and Mozambique. It is the outlet of Lake Malawi and flows into the Zambezi. A drainage basin is an extent of Land where Water from Rain or Snow melt drains downhill into a body of water such as a River, length	560 km[1] to 580[2]
Max. width	75 km[1]
Surface area	29,600 km²[1]
Average depth	292 m[3]
Max. depth	706 m[3]
Water volume	8,400 km³[3]
Surface elevation	500 m
Islands	Likoma and Chizumulu
References	[3][1]

Lake Malawi (also known as Lake Nyasa, Lake Nyassa, Lake Niassa, and Lago Niassa in Mozambique), is the most southerly lake in the East African Rift valley system. Likoma Island is the larger of two inhabited islands in Lake Nyasa (as known in Malawi but known elsewhere as Lake Malawi) the smaller being the nearby Chizumulu island Chizumulu Island is the smaller of two inhabited islands in Lake Malawi, the larger being the nearby Likoma island which together make up the Likoma District Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique (Moçambique or República de Moçambique, ʁɛ'publikɐ d musɐ̃'bik is a country in southeastern Africa A lake (from Latin lacus) is a Terrain feature (or Physical feature) a body of Liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the The East African Rift is part of the larger Great Rift Valley. The lake, third largest in Africa and ninth largest in the world, is situated between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania. The Republic of Malawi (məˈlɑːwi or; formerly Nyasaland) is in southern Africa. Tanzania ˌtænzəˈniːə officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya It is also the second deepest lake in Africa but its placid and nature at its northerly shore gives no hint of this feature. The lake's tropical waters teem with more fish species than any other lake on Earth.

Geography

Lake Malawi is between 560^[1] and 579 km long^[2] and is 75 km wide at its widest point; its total surface area is approximately 29,600 km². Surface area is the measure of how much exposed Area an object has ^[1] The lake is bordered by western Mozambique, eastern Malawi, and southern Tanganyika, the mainland portion of Tanzania. Tanganyika is the name of an East African territory lying between the largest of the African great lakes Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika Its largest tributary is the Ruhuhu and its outlet is the Shire River, a tributary of the Zambezi. The Shire is a river in Malawi and Mozambique. It is the outlet of Lake Malawi and flows into the Zambezi. The Zambezi (also spelled Zambesi) is the fourth-longest River in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa ^[2]

Lake Malawi lies in the rift valley formed by the East African Rift where the African tectonic plate is splitting in two. The East African Rift is part of the larger Great Rift Valley. The African Plate is a Tectonic plate which includes the Continent of Africa, as well as oceanic crust which lies between the continent and various surrounding The lake itself is approximately 40,000 years old. ^[1]

It is approxiamately 350km south east of Lake Tanganyika. Lake Tanganyika is a large Lake in central Africa (3° 20' to 8° 48' South and from 29° 5' to 31° 15' East

European discovery and colonization

David Livingstone was the first European to reach the lake, arriving at its shores in 1859 and naming it "Lake Nyasa. "^[2] Much of the area surrounding the lake was subsequently claimed by the United Kingdom to form the colony of Nyasaland. The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. The History of Malawi covers the area of present-day Malawi. The region was once part of the Maravi Empire. Although Portugal took control of the eastern shores of the lake, the islands of Likoma and Chizumulu (which lie just off the shore) were colonised by Scottish missionaries from Nyasaland, and as a result were incorporated as part of Nyasaland rather than Mozambique. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Likoma Island is the larger of two inhabited islands in Lake Nyasa (as known in Malawi but known elsewhere as Lake Malawi) the smaller being the nearby Chizumulu island Chizumulu Island is the smaller of two inhabited islands in Lake Malawi, the larger being the nearby Likoma island which together make up the Likoma District A missionary is a member of a Religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith someone who proselytizes. Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique (Moçambique or República de Moçambique, ʁɛ'publikɐ d musɐ̃'bik is a country in southeastern Africa Today they form lacustrine enclaves: Malawian territory surrounded by Mozambique waters.

On August 16, 1914, the lake saw a brief naval engagement when the British gunboat Guendolen, commanded by Captain Rhoades, heard that World War I had begun and received orders to "sink, burn, or destroy" the German Empire's only gunboat on the lake, the Hermann von Wissmann, commanded by Captain Berndt. Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year A gunboat is literally a Boat carrying one or more Guns The term is rather broad and the usual connotation has changed over the years (sometimes encompassing World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Rhoades's crew located the Hermann von Wissmann in a bay near Sphinxhaven, in German East Africa's territorial waters, and disabled it with a single shot from a range of 2,000 yards. German East Africa (Deutsch-Ostafrika was a German Colony in East Africa, including what is now Burundi, Rwanda and Tanganyika The encounter was hailed by The Times as the British Empire's first naval victory of World War I. The Times is a daily national Newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. ^{[4] [5]} (Germany had controlled what would become Tanzania up to this point. The East African nation of Tanzania dates formally only from 1964 )

Borders on the lake

A view of the lake from Likoma Island

The largest part of the lake is in Malawi, while about a quarter of the lake area is under the jurisdiction of Mozambique; this includes the area surrounding the Malawian islands of Likoma and Chizumulu, which are the lake's only two inhabited islands. Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique (Moçambique or República de Moçambique, ʁɛ'publikɐ d musɐ̃'bik is a country in southeastern Africa Likoma Island is the larger of two inhabited islands in Lake Nyasa (as known in Malawi but known elsewhere as Lake Malawi) the smaller being the nearby Chizumulu island Chizumulu Island is the smaller of two inhabited islands in Lake Malawi, the larger being the nearby Likoma island which together make up the Likoma District Likoma is dominated by a huge stone Anglican cathedral, built by missionaries in the early 20th century. A notable feature of both islands is the large number of Baobab trees. Baobab is the common name of a Genus ( Adansonia) containing eight species of Trees native to Madagascar (having six species mainland The islands support a population of several thousand people, who, besides fishing the waters of the lake, grow cassava, bananas and mangos. The cassava, yuca, manioc, or mandioca ( Manihot esculenta) is a woody Shrub of the Euphorbiaceae (spurge family native For the fruit see Banana. For other meanings see Banana (disambiguation. Mangoes belong to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous species of tropical fruiting Trees in the Flowering plant family Anacardiaceae

Lake Nyasa or Lake Malawi?

The name of the lake itself is also disputed. Malawi claims the lake is named 'Lake Malawi' while international maps and other countries (most notably Tanzania) claim the name of the lake to be 'Lake Nyasa'. The origins of the dispute in the name have their background in geopolitical disputes that began prior to Malawi's independence in 1964, when it was previously known as Nyasaland.

Further complications emerged for different political reasons in the 1960s, when the then President Banda (of Malawi) became the only African leader to establish diplomatic relations with white South Africa. Hastings Kamuzu Banda (1896? – 25 November 1997) was the leader of Malawi, from 1961 to 1994 This was fiercely repudiated by other African leaders, including the then President Nyerere (of Tanzania). The contrasting attitudes and policies gave further impetus to disputes between the two governments, on the name of the lake itself, and the boundary between the two countries.

At present, the dispute between the two governments is largely dormant. Intergovernmental relations between Malawi and Tanzania are largely cordial.

Tanzania-Malawi dispute

The partition of the lake area between Malawi and Tanzania is disputed. Tanzania claims international borders through the lake along the lines of the borders between the German and British territories before 1914; Malawi, meanwhile, claims the whole non-Mozambican lake, including the waters next to the Tanzanian shore. The foundations of the dispute were set when the British colonial government, which had recently captured Tanganyika from Germany, put the water under the jurisdiction of Nyasaland without a separate administration for the Tanganyika portion. The History of Malawi covers the area of present-day Malawi. The region was once part of the Maravi Empire. Tanganyika is the name of an East African territory lying between the largest of the African great lakes Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika The dispute has led to conflicts in the past, though for several years Malawi has declined to enforce its claims to the disputed portion.

Occasional flare-ups in the 1990s and in recent times have impacted fishing rights, particularly of Tanzanians who reside on the lake shore, who have occasionally been accused of fishing in Malawian waters.

Transport

A jetty juts into the water at Nkhata Bay

Large-scale transport between settlements along the shores of the lake and between the Malawi shore and Likoma and Chizumulu islands is provided by steamers. Nkhata Bay is the capital of the Nkhata Bay District in Malawi. A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving a Propeller The MV Ilala is the best known, although in recent years has often been out of service. The MV Ilala is a steamer plying the waters of Lake Malawi, making a weekly run from its home port of Monkey Bay in the South When running, it travels between Monkey Bay at the southern end of the lake to Karonga in the north, and occasionally to the Iringa Region of Tanzania. Monkey Bay is a town in the Mangochi District in the Southern Region of Malawi. Karonga is a township in the Northern Region of Malawi. Located on the western shore of Lake Nyasa it was established as a slave trading post in 1883 Iringa is one of Tanzania 's 26 administrative regions. The regional capital is Iringa. Tanzania ˌtænzəˈniːə officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya

Boats travel about twice a week from Nkhata Bay on the mainland to Likoma and Chizumulu islands, taking about five hours to cross the lake. Nkhata Bay is the capital of the Nkhata Bay District in Malawi. Neither island has a usable port, and boats moor offshore before transferring passengers and produce to the shore in small dinghies. ||-||-|-||-||-||-||-||-||-|} A port is a facility for receiving Ships and transferring cargo A dinghy is a type of small Boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel

Informal transport between the two islands and from Likoma Island to the Mozambique town of Cobue is provided by small dhows. Cobue is a small lake-side town in Niassa Province, in north-west Mozambique. A dhow ( Arabic, دهو) is a traditional Arab sailing vessel with one or more Lateen Sails They are primarily used along

Wildlife

An aquarium with fish species from Lake Malawi (Lincoln Zoo, Chicago)

Lake Malawi has traditionally provided a major food source to the residents of Malawi as it is rich in fish, the most famous of which are the chambo, consisting of any one of four species of the cichlid genus Nyasalapia, as well as the kampango, a large catfish (Bagrus meridionalis). The kampango or kampoyo, Bagrus meridionalis, is a large territorial and predatory Catfish endemic to Lake Malawi, occurring from the lower The fish are an important export for Malawi, but wild populations are increasingly threatened by overfishing and pollution. Other wildlife resident in the lake includes crocodiles, hippopotamuses, monkeys, and a large population of African Fish Eagles which feed off the fish population. A crocodile is any Species belonging to the family Crocodylidae (sometimes classified instead as the Subfamily Crocodylinae) The hippopotamus ( Hippopotamus amphibius) from the Greek ἱπποπόταμος ( hippopotamos, ιππος hippos meaning "horse" A monkey is any member of either the New World monkeys or Old World monkeys two of the three groupings of Simian Primates the third group being The African Fish Eagle ( Haliaeetus vocifer)or - to distinguish it from the Ichthyophaga true fish eagles African Sea Eagle - is a large species of

Cichlids

Main article: Cichlidae

Lake Malawi is home to numerous cichlid species including this Livingston's cichlidae (Nimbochromis livingstonii)

Lake Malawi is famous for its cichlids, popular in the aquarium trade. Cichlids (ˈsɪklɪd are Fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. Nimbochromis livingstonii, or Livingston's cichlid, is a Freshwater Mouthbrooding Cichlid fish of the Genus Cichlids (ˈsɪklɪd are Fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. An aquarium (plural aquariums or aquaria) is a Vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which Water -dwelling Plants Malawi cichlidaes are divided into two basic groups, loosely referred to as the haplochromines and the tilapiines. The haplochromine cichlids, Subfamily Haplochrominae are a grouping of genera including Haplochromis plus a number of closely related genera The Tilapiini is a tribe within the family Cichlidae commonly known as tilapiine cichlids. Within the first group (Haplochrominae) there are two subgroups. The first consists of the open water and sand dwelling species whose males sport bright colors while the females show a silvery coloration with sometimes irregular black bars or other markings. The second subgroup is known locally and popularly as mbuna, which means "rockdweller. Mbuna (pronounced um-boo-na is the Common name for a large group of African Cichlids from Lake Malawi. " Mbuna are smaller, and both sexes often showing bright coloration, though in many species the females may be brownish overall.

The second group, the tilapiines, consists of the only substrate-spawning species in the lake (Tilapia rendalli), as well as the 4 species of chambo (Nyasalapia). UserPolbot. -->The redbreast tilapia ( Tilapia rendalli) is a species of Fish in the Cichlidae Lake Malawi's cichlids from the Haplochromine group are popular in the international aquarium hobby.

Snails

The lake also supports populations of snails, some of which carry bilharzia. The word snail is a Common name that can be used for almost all members of the Molluscan class Gastropoda which have coiled shells in the Schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia, bilharziosis or snail fever) is a Parasitic disease caused by several species of fluke For many years this was strenuously denied by the government, which feared it would deter tourism in the area, but since the fall of Hastings Banda (dictator of Malawi from 1961 to 1994), the presence of bilharzia in the lake has been more widely acknowledged. Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel Hastings Kamuzu Banda (1896? – 25 November 1997) was the leader of Malawi, from 1961 to 1994 Due to the overfishing of snail-eating cichlids, what little bilharzia that existed increased to the point of being a hazard to bathers in the south east portion of the lake.

Water chemistry

Lake Malawi 1967

The water in lake Malawi is typically alkaline with a pH of 7. pH is the measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a Solution. 7 – 8. 6, a carbonate hardness of 107 – 142 mg L^-1 and a conductivity of 210 – 285 µS cm^-1. Carbonate hardness is the measure of Calcium and Magnesium and other hard ions associated with Carbonate (CO32- and Bicarbonate (HCO3- The siemens (symbol S is the SI derived unit of Electric conductance. The lake water is generally warm, having a surface temperature that ranges from 24 – 29 °C (75 – 84 °F) and a deep level temperature of 22 °C (71. The Celsius Temperature scale was previously known as the centigrade scale. Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736 a German Physicist who proposed it in 1724 6 °F).

See also

• Great Lakes
• Lake Malawi National Park
• Rift Valley lakes

References

Further reading

• Mayall, James (December 1973). "The Malawi-Tanzania Boundary Dispute". The Journal of Modern African Studies 11 (4): 611-628.  
• Recent study on Lake Malawi water levels reveals drought 100,000 years ago