Great Rift Valley Map
The Great Rift Valley is a continuous geographic trench. This map shows its extent on shaded relief, with the surrounding relief, rivers, borders and cities.
How to read this map
It extends across Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The dashed outline marks the Great Rift Valley as mapped by Natural Earth. Towns and cities on the map include Khartoum, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Sanaa, Kampala, Mogadishu and Aden. Labeled countries: Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Yemen, Uganda and Eritrea.
Greens show lower elevations; tan and brown show higher land, with pale tones toward the highest terrain. Shadows emphasize the slopes, and vertical relief is exaggerated so landforms are easier to read. Dashed lines show country borders.
The relief uses Terrain Tiles (SRTM, GMTED2010 and ETOPO1 elevation data). Rivers, lakes, borders and the outline of the Great Rift Valley come from Natural Earth, and the figures on this page from Wikidata. Natural Earth draws features at a small scale, so the outline is a guide to where the Great Rift Valley is, not a surveyed boundary.
Blank physical map
The blank version keeps the mapped features and removes the place labels. Download it for a geography worksheet or practice identifying the features.
Great Rift Valley facts
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Length | 4,830 km (3,000 mi) |
| Countries | Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe |
Data sources and license
- Natural Earth (public-domain geography): Public domain.
- Terrain Tiles / Mapzen (SRTM, GMTED2010, ETOPO1): Open elevation data; source attribution retained.
- Wikidata (lengths, areas, countries and other facts): CC0 1.0.
Map design and rendered images: Atlas of Maps, CC BY 4.0. Source databases retain their own licenses; the map license does not replace them.
Maps of the countries: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique. Compare with the world mountain ranges map.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Great Rift Valley?
The Great Rift Valley is in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Can I download a blank map of the Great Rift Valley?
Yes. The blank version keeps the relief, rivers and borders and the highlighted landform but removes the place names. Both versions are free to download as PNG and as an A4 PDF.
Use this map
You can download, print and share this map for free, in class, in school projects, in presentations and on websites, as long as you credit the source: Great Rift Valley Map · Atlas of Maps (atlasofmaps.com), license CC BY 4.0.
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