Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi lies in a long valley called the Great Rift Valley.

Its water is very deep and very clear.

Lake Malawi lies in the Great Rift Valley, which ESA describes as a geological fault system of East Africa and Southwest Asia. A string of lakes in and around the valley is known as the Great Lakes of Africa.

ESA calls Lake Malawi one of the world's few ancient lakes, with a long, uninterrupted history. It gives a depth of 750 meters. UNESCO notes the lake's remarkably clear water, set against the escarpment of the Rift Valley.

ESA's 2010 Envisat image caption places Lake Malawi in the Great Rift Valley, a geological fault system of Southwest Asia and East Africa, and calls it one of the world's few ancient lakes with a unique uninterrupted history; its deep (750 m), isolated waters shaped a unique diversity of fish.

UNESCO describes islands and clear waters set against the Great African Rift Valley escarpment, with granitic hills rising steeply from the lakeshore.

Small, brightly colored fish called mbuna live among the rocks.

Almost all of them live only in Lake Malawi.

UNESCO says Lake Malawi may hold up to about 1,000 kinds of fish, estimated as the most fish species of any lake in the world. Among them are the cichlids: of more than 350 kinds of mbuna, the small, brightly colored rock-shore cichlids, all but five live only in this lake.

Cut off from other waters, the fish evolved into many new species. UNESCO compares their value to science with the finches of the Galápagos Islands.

UNESCO estimates up to c. 1,000 fish species in Lake Malawi, about half in the national park: the largest number of fish species of any lake in the world. Of over 350 species of mbuna (small, brightly colored rocky-shore cichlids), all but five are endemic, and the lake holds 30% of all known cichlid species.

Isolation from other water bodies drove adaptive radiation and speciation; the cichlids are considered of equal value to science as Darwin's Galápagos finches or Hawaii's honeycreepers. The park is also rich in mammals, birds and reptiles.

The lake has sandy beaches, rocky shores and islands.

Hills rise steeply from the water.

Lake Malawi National Park lies at the southern end of the lake. UNESCO describes its shores as a mix of rocky shorelines and sandy beaches, wooded hillsides, swamps and lagoons, with granite hills rising steeply from the water and a number of sandy bays.

In July 2024 an astronaut on the International Space Station photographed Kasankha Bay, in the southern part of the lake, where sunlight made the water look like glass.

Lake Malawi National Park (World Heritage, 1984; 94.1 km², of which 7 km² is aquatic) lies at the southern end of the lake. Habitats range from rocky shorelines to sandy beaches and from wooded hillsides to swamps and lagoons; granitic hills rise steeply from the shore (UNESCO).

The park's water area protects all major underwater vegetation types and important cichlid breeding sites. On 21 July 2024 NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick photographed Kasankha Bay from the International Space Station.

Wear a life jacket in and around the lake.

Always swim with a buddy and a grown-up watching.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says children should wear life jackets for all activities in and around natural water such as lakes, and a grown-up should watch them closely the whole time.

Lakes can hide dangers such as currents, waves, rocks and water you cannot see through, so always swim with a buddy. Inside the national park, UNESCO notes, use of the park's resources is restricted to stop illegal harvesting.

The CDC advises life jackets for children in all activities in and around natural water, close and constant supervision by a designated adult, and the buddy system; lakes have hidden hazards such as currents, waves, rocks, vegetation and limited visibility.

UNESCO notes that use of park resources is restricted to curb illegal harvesting, and that many of the lake's fish lie outside the park, so the lake's long-term health depends on conservation of the whole lake.