Lake Er Rahad

Where is Lake Er Rahad?

Countries on its shores: Sudan.

Largest lake of: Sudan.

Middle of the lake: 12.72° N, 30.61° E

The story behind it

The town of Er Rahad lies on the eastern shore of the lake. In fact, the lake had the name first: in the Arabic spoken in Sudan, «rahad» means a place where water rests, or a watering place. When the town grew up on its shore, it took the name, and today people call the lake «Tirda». Two dry riverbeds, called khors, bring water to the lake in the rainy season, one from the south and one from the north. That is why the lake grows and shrinks. It is about 14 to 17 kilometres long but only 1 to 2 kilometres wide, and up to 6 metres deep. Maps show about 20 km² of water, about as much as Lake Kundi at its fullest, so these two are Sudan's largest natural lakes. Sudan's reservoirs, such as the Merowe reservoir on the Nile with 476 km², are far bigger, but people made them with dams. In 2010, 33 000 young fish were put into the lake, among them Nile tilapia and catfish.

Find it on the globe

Lake Er Rahad is there as a small blue dot with its name, right on the water. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.