Lake Chad

Lake Chad (English Lake Chad), the area of which in the abundant precipitation season is about 50 thousand square meters, and the depth reaches 11 meters, is located at the junction of African countries: Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and the Republic of Chad.

Lake Chad is the largest body of water in Central Africa and got the name among the locals of the "Saharan Sea", as to the north of the lake lie the arid expanses of the Sahara desert.

The first mention of Lake Chad belongs to the I – II centuries and is associated with the name of Ptolemy, and it was described and mapped in 1823 by the Scotsman Clapperton.

The fact that salts do not accumulate at the bottom of the lake indicates the presence of an underground duct, so it is impossible to call the lake drainless in the full sense of the word, but, nevertheless, it is the main source of fresh water extraction for residents of the countries on whose territory it is located.

On the shores of Lake Chad live lions, buffaloes, ostriches, in the lake itself live crocodiles and various species of fish. Vegetation is also diverse: algae, reeds, tall grasses of savannah, baobabs.

Over the past decades, the lake is rapidly drying up due to massive deforestation on the banks of the rivers that flow into it, and intensive irrigation (irrigation) of the surrounding lands.