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Lake Chad

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: General Geography

   Lake Chad
   Lake Chad - Map of Lake Chad and the surrounding region

                 Map of Lake Chad and the surrounding region

   Coordinates 13°0′N 14°0′E
   Lake type Desert Oasis
   Primary sources Chari River
   Primary outflows Soro & Bodele depressions
   Catchment area
   Basin countries Chad
   Cameroon
   Niger
   Nigeria
   Max-length
   Max-width
   Surface area 1,540 km²
   Average depth 4.11m
   Max-depth 10.5m
   Water volume 72 km³
   Shore length^1 650 km
   Surface elevation 280 m
   Islands
   Settlements
   ^1 Shore length is an imprecise measure which may not be standardized
   for this article.

   Lake Chad (in French: Lac Tchad) is a large, shallow lake in Africa. It
   is economically very important, providing water to more than 20 million
   people living in the four countries which surround it — Chad, Cameroon,
   Niger and Nigeria. It is located mainly in the far west of Chad,
   bordering on northeastern Nigeria. The Chari River is its largest
   source of water, providing over 90% of Lake Chad's water. The lake
   possesses many small islands and mudbanks, and its shorelines are
   largely comprised of marshes. Because it is very shallow — only 7
   metres at its deepest — its area is particularly sensitive to small
   changes in average depth, and it consequently also shows seasonal
   fluctuations in size. Lake Chad has no apparent outlet, but its waters
   percolate into the Soro and Bodele depressions.
   Lake Chad in a 2001 satellite image, with the actual lake in blue, and
   vegetation on top of the old lake bed in green. Above that, the changes
   from 1973 to 1997 are shown.
   Enlarge
   Lake Chad in a 2001 satellite image, with the actual lake in blue, and
   vegetation on top of the old lake bed in green. Above that, the changes
   from 1973 to 1997 are shown.

   Lake Chad is believed to be a remnant of a former inland sea which has
   grown and shrunk with changes in climate over the past 13,000 years. At
   its largest, around 4000 BC, this lake is estimated to have covered an
   area of 400,000 km². Lake sediments appear to indicate dry periods,
   when the lake nearly dried up, around 8500 BC, 5500 BC, 2000 BC, and
   100 BC. It was one of the largest lakes in the world when first
   surveyed by Europeans in 1823, but it has shrunk considerably since
   then. Climate change, due in part to global warming, and increased
   demands on the lake's water have accelerated its shrinkage over the
   past 40 years.

   In the 1960s it had an area of more than 26,000 km², making it the
   fourth largest lake in Africa. By 2000 its extent had fallen to less
   than 1,500 km². This is due to reduced rainfall combined with greatly
   increased amounts of irrigation water being drawn from the lake and the
   rivers which feed it, the largest being the Chari/ Logon system, which
   originates in the mountains of the Central African Republic. It seems
   likely that the lake will shrink further and perhaps even disappear
   altogether in the course of the 21st century.

   The lake nearly dried out in 1908 and again in 1984 and has an average
   depth of only 1.5 metres. As it retreats every summer, recessional
   agriculture is practised, while the Buduma people fish from canoes.
   There are many floating islands in the lake. It is home to a wide
   variety of wildlife, including fish, crocodiles, waterfowl and shore
   birds, which are important sources of food for the local human
   population.

   In the 1960s, a plan was proposed to divert the Ubangi river into Lake
   Chad. The copious amount of water from the Ubangi would revitalize that
   dying lake and provide livelihood in fishing and enhanced agriculture
   to tens of millions of starving central Africans and Sahelians. The
   cost and the technical hurdles should be very manageable, given what it
   can achieve in uplifting the lot of those poorest of the African poor.

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