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Lake Malawi

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: African Geography

   Lake Malawi
   Lake Malawi - Lake Malawi seen from the Space Shuttle showing Likoma
   and Chizumulu islands

    Lake Malawi seen from the Space Shuttle showing Likoma and Chizumulu
                                   islands

   Coordinates 10°00′S 34°00′E
   Lake type Rift Valley lakes
   Primary sources Ruhuhu
   Primary outflows Shire River
   Basin countries Mozambique
   Malawi
   Tanzania
   Max-length 560 km
   Max-width 75 km
   Surface area 29,600 km²
   Average depth 292m
   Max-depth 706m
   Water volume 8,400 km³
   Surface elevation 500 m
   Islands Likoma
   Chizumulu
   Settlements Niassa, Mozambique
   Ruvuma, Tanzania

   Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa, Lake Nyassa, or Lake Niassa
   after the Yao word for "lake" (officially called Niassa in Mozambique),
   is the most southerly lake in the Great African Rift Valley system.
   Famously visited by the Scottish explorer and missionary Dr. David
   Livingstone, Lake Malawi has sometimes been referred by
   English-speaking people as "Livingstone's Lake."

Geography

   The lake is about 560 km long and 75 km wide at its widest point, with
   a total area of approximately 29,600 km², and is bordered by
   Mozambique, Malawi, and Tanzania. Its outlet is the Shire River; its
   largest tributary is the Ruhuhu.

   The lake lies in the Great African Rift Valley, a large graben caused
   by crustal extension. It probably formed about 40,000 years ago.

Borders on the lake

   The larger part of the lake is in Malawi. The partition of the lake
   area between Malawi and Tanzania is disputed. Tanzania claims
   international borders through the lake like the colonial borders
   between the German and British teritories before 1914; Malawi claims
   the whole lake area including the waters next to the Tanzanian shore.
   This is based on the British administration after 1919 which put the
   whole lake under British Nyasaland for obvious practical reasons
   without a separate administration for the Tanganyika portion. The
   dispute has led to conflicts in the past. For the time being the
   conflict is dormant and Malawi has not been trying for years to enforce
   it claims to the Tanzanian part of the lake area. About a quarter of
   the lake area is in Mozambique, this includes the area surrounding the
   islands of Likoma and Chizumulu.

European discovery and colonization

   David Livingstone was the first European to discover the lake, in 1859.
   Much of the area surrounding the lake was subsequently claimed by the
   British Empire to form the colony of Nyasaland. Although Portugal
   colonised 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. Today they form lacustrine
   enclaves: Malawi territory surrounded by Mozambique waters.

   In 1914, the lake saw a brief naval engagement when a British ship, on
   hearing that World War I had begun, sank a German ship in Deutsch
   Ost-Afrika (see History of Tanzania) territorial waters.

Important islands

   A view of the lake from Likoma Island
   Enlarge
   A view of the lake from Likoma Island

   There are two inhabited islands in the lake, Likoma and Chizumulu.
   Although the islands belong to Malawi, they are completely surrounded
   by Mozambique territorial waters. 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.
   The islands support a population of several thousand people, who grow
   cassava, bananas and mangos, as well as fishing the waters of the lake.

Lake transport

   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. The MV Ilala is the best known, although in
   recent years has often been out of service. When running, it travels
   between Monkey Bay at the southern end of the lake to Karonga in the
   north, and occasionally to Iringa Region in Tanzania.

   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. Neither island has a usable port, and boats moor offshore before
   transferring passengers and produce to the shore in small dinghies.

   Informal transport between the two islands, and between Likoma Island
   and the Mozambique town of Cobue, is provided by small dhow-type boats.

Wildlife

   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 anyone of 4 species of the cichlid genus
   Nyasalapia, as well as the Kampango, a large catfish (Bagrus
   meridionalis). Lake Malawi is famous for its cichlids, popular in the
   aquarium trade. Malawi cichlids are divided into two basic groups.
   These are loosely referred to as the Haplochromines and the Tilapiines.
   Within this first group (Haplochromines) are two sub-groups. The first
   sub-group consist of the open water and sand dwelling species with
   males usually sporting bright colors while the females show a silvery
   coloration with irregular black bars or various other markings. The
   second sub-group is known locally and popularly as mbuna, which means
   rockdweller. Mbuna are smaller, generally vegetarian, and both sexes
   are often quite colorful, though many species are dimorphic. 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). The genera Maylandia and Labidochromis are popular
   cichlids in the international aquarium scene. Cichlids are an important
   export for Malawi, but wild populations are increasingly threatened by
   overfishing and localized pollution. Other wildlife resident in the
   lake includes crocodiles, and a large population of fish eagles which
   feed off the fish population.

   The lake also supports populations of snails some of which carry
   bilharzia. 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, the presence of bilharzia in the lake has
   been more widely acknowledged. (However, due to the overfishing of
   snail eating cichlids in the lake, this has caused what little
   bilharzia did exist to greatly increase to the point of being a hazard
   to bathers in the south east portion of the lake).

Water Chemistry

   The water in lake Malawi is typically alkaline with a pH of 7.7 - 8.6,
   a carbonate hardness of 107 - 142 mg L^-1 and a conductivity of 210-285
   µS cm^-1. 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 (71.6 °F)

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Malawi"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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