The Horn of Africa

This Envisat image of the Horn of Africa shows parts of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and, to the northeast across the Red Sea, a portion of Yemen’s west coast. The lighter-coloured area to the east is known as the Afar Triangle and includes the Danakil Desert. Further west we can see the somewhat heart-shaped Lake Tana. With a surface area of over 2000 sq km, the average depth is only 14 m owing to high levels of sediment.
This image was acquired on 13 November 2011 by the MERIS instrument on ESA’s Envisat satellite.