Lake Chad

Lake Chad (Arabic: بحيرة تشاد, Kanuri: Sádǝ, French: Lac Tchad) is an endorheic freshwater lake located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon in western and central Africa respectively. It is also an important wetland ecosystem in West-Central Africa. The catchment area of Lake Chad is 1 million square kilometres (390,000 sq mi). In the 19th century, Lake Chad was substantially larger with an area of 28,000 square kilometres (11,000 sq mi). However, due to climate change and human water diversion, Lake Chad has been greatly reduced since the mid-1970s, and its area has fluctuated between 2,000 and 5,000 square kilometres (770 and 1,930 sq mi).

Lake Chad
LocationSahelian zone at the conjunction of Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger
Primary inflowsChari River, Yobe River, Ngadda River
Primary outflowsBahr el-Ghazal
Basin countriesChad, Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger
Surface area2,000 km2 (770 sq mi)
Max. depth2 m (6.6 ft)
IslandsBogomerom Archipelago
Settlements
Official nameLac Tchad
Designated17 June 2001
Reference no.1072
Official namePartie tchadienne du lac Tchad
Designated14 August 2001
Reference no.1134
Official nameLake Chad Wetlands in Nigeria
Designated30 April 2008
Reference no.1749
Official namePartie Camerounaise du Lac Tchad
Designated2 February 2010
Reference no.1903
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.