Great Rift Valley

American  

noun

1. a series of rift valleys running from N to S, from the Jordan Valley in SW Asia to Mozambique in SE Africa.

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Great Rift Valley British  

noun

1. the most extensive rift in the earth's surface, extending from the Jordan valley in Syria to Mozambique; marked by a chain of steep-sided lakes, volcanoes, and escarpments

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Example Sentences

Fourteen schoolchildren were among the dozens of Kenyans killed when two mudslides struck the Great Rift Valley area, according to the country's education ministry.

From BBC • Nov. 3, 2025

Coffee plants have long been thought to have developed in Ethiopia, but varieties that the team collected around the Great Rift Valley, which stretches from Southeast Africa to Asia, displayed a clear geographic split.

From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2024

Some believed the trend was tied to the complex geology and groundwater hydrology of the Great Rift Valley, a series of faults and ridges stretching 7000 kilometers from Lebanon across eastern Africa to Mozambique.

From Science Magazine • Oct. 26, 2023

The vast freshwater lake buzzing with birds and aquatic life in the semi-arid volcanic region of Kenya’s Great Rift Valley had long been an oasis.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 8, 2022

My church is the Great Rift Valley that lies along the eastern boundary of Congo.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver