The Great Rift Valley is the longest rift in the world.
It was formed when tectonic forces created giant cracks in the earth’s crust and began spreading apart.
It is 3,750 miles (6000 km) long and more than 50 miles (80 km) wide at some points.
The Great Rift Valley begins in Jordan, near Syria in southwestern Asia, and extends across Kenya, Tanzania, and Malawi to Mozambique in eastern Africa.
Many volcanic mountains surround the valley, including Africa’s tallest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro.
The Great Rift Valley is still pulling apart a few inches every hundred years, and some geologists predict that part of East Africa will one day split away from the rest of the continent.
The Great Rift Valley in eastern Africa was formed by the movement of two tectonic plates drifting away from each other.
As the plates continue to separate, some geologists predict the land on the eastern side of the rift will separate from the continent of Africa entirely.
Mount Kilimanjaro rises 19,340 feet (5,89.5 m) above sea level in Tanzania in eastern Africa, near the Equator.
Even in this tropical climate, the mountains here are so high that they are covered with snow most of the year.
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