Lake Turkana

July 11, 2025

Recently, scientists have extracted 18-20 million-year-old enamel proteins from extinct mammal fossils from the Lake Turkana Basin.

About Lake Turkana:

  • Location: It is located in the remote northern region of Kenya.
  • It lies in the Eastern Rift Valley with its far northern end extending to Ethiopia.
  • Three rivers, including Omo, Turkwel, and Kerio flow into the lake, but only the Omo River is perennial, contributing 90 percent of the inflow of water each year.
  • It stands as Africa’s fourth-largest lake and the largest permanent desert lake in the world.
  • It is designated as the UNESCO World Heritage site and is renowned for its unique biodiversity and cultural significance.
  • It is lying in a hot, arid, and remote region, and provides resources for communities on the lakeshore and surrounding areas.
  • The estimated population of the Turkana region is approximately 1 million people, whose livelihoods are based on pastoralism, fishing, and, to a lesser extent, crop farming.
  • Issues: Its semi-saline waters, driven by high evaporation rates and fluctuating lake levels of up to 8 meters per decade, have historically hindered sustainable development initiatives.
  • Several past attempts to commercialize the fishery have largely failed, mainly due to a lack of understanding of the volatile conditions of this capricious lake.

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