Lake Niassa

Livingstone first called the lake 'The Lake of Stars' but later renamed it 'The Lake of Storms'. The local Yao name is Nyasa which means broad waters. When Livingstone first asked his guides the name of the lake, they answered 'Nyasa' so the lake came to be named Lake Nyasa. The Mozambican name is Lago Niassa. Since Malawi's independence in 1964, the lake has been called Lake Malawi by most of the world and certainly by Malawians. As it is approximately 52 miles wide and 365 miles long from north to south it also became known as 'The Calendar Lake'.

The maximum depth is 706 metres, or over 200 metres below sea level. It has the richest variety of tropical fish of any freshwater lake in the world. The most conservative estimate for the number of named fish species is 500, a greater number of freshwater species than are found in Europe and North America combined. The vast majority of the fish belong to the cichlid group, one of the few types of fish that cares for its offspring. All but one of Nyasa's cichlids are mouth brooders, meaning that the eggs and fry are held in the mother's mouth until they are large enough to fend for themselves. Many of these cichlids are unique to these waters. The African catfish is also common in the lake but as they have lost their ability to cross the land in wet conditions they are endemic to the lake. In 1980 part of the southern end of this inland sea, which is Africa's third largest lake, was proclaimed a World Heritage Site.