Great Rift Valley

Great Rift Valley, depression, extending more than 4,830 km (more than 3,000 mi) from Syria in southwestern Asia to Mozambique in southeastern Africa. The valley is believed to have been formed by the sinking and tearing apart of the earth's crust along a 50-million-year-old zone of weakness (see Plate Tectonics).

Elevations of the Great Rift Valley vary from 408 m (1,340 ft) below sea level at the shore of the Dead Sea to about 1,829 m (about 6,000 ft) above sea level at cliffs in Kenya. The width of the valley ranges from a few miles to more than 160 km (more than 100 mi). In eastern Africa the valley separates into two branches: the Eastern Rift and the Western Rift. In the latter is Lake Tanganyika, one of the largest lakes of the continent. Other bodies of water within the Great Rift Valley include the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias), the Jordan River, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Aden.