Albertine Rift

The Albertine Rift is the western branch of the East African Rift, running along the borders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania, marked by a chain of deep rift lakes including Lake Albert, Lake Edward, Lake Kivu and Lake Tanganyika. Its dramatic topography of volcanic mountains, including the Virunga range, and steep rift valley walls has produced some of the highest levels of vertebrate biodiversity and endemism in Africa, home to the mountain gorilla and numerous other rare species found nowhere else. The rift's volcanic activity remains ongoing, most visibly at Mount Nyiragongo, one of Africa's most active volcanoes.