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Africa > Great Rift Valley

Great Rift Valley

The Great Rift Valley is mainly in Africa.

Great Rift Valley map

This is not one simple valley, but a group of related geological structures in East Africa with extensions that reach as far as Syria and Yemen. The Red Sea is geologically a continuation of this system.

Destinations

Mankind seems to have evolved largely in this valley; see paleontology and man's early migrations. Among the important sites are:

  • Danakil Depression in Ethiopia, with stone tools dating back three million years
  • Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, with fossils and tools over two million years old

There are many lakes along various branches of the valley. Among them:

Part of the valley is in Kenya and Wikivoyage has articles for the Kenyan regions Southern Rift Valley and Northern Rift Valley. Together they are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, "Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley".

This article is on an extra-hierarchical region, describing a region that does not fit into the hierarchy Wikivoyage uses to organise most articles. These "extraregion" articles usually provide only basic information and links to articles in the hierarchy. This article can be expanded if the information is specific to the page; otherwise new text should generally go in the appropriate region or city article.