World Heritage Identification Number: 1400
World Heritage since: 2012
Category: Natural Heritage
WHE Type: Natural Landscapes & Geographic Features
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇹🇩 Chad
Continent: Africa
UNESCO World Region: Africa
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The Enigmatic Oasis: The Lakes of Ounianga in the Heart of the Sahara
The Lakes of Ounianga, nestled within the heart of the Sahara Desert, present an extraordinary spectacle that defies the harsh and unforgiving nature often associated with this vast expanse of arid land. This unique ensemble of interconnected lakes, located in the hyper-arid Ennedi region of Chad, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
The site includes eighteen interconnected lakes in the hyper arid Ennedi region of the Sahara desert covering an area of 62,808 ha. It constitutes an exceptional natural landscape of great beauty with striking colours and shapes. The saline, hyper saline and freshwater lakes are supplied by groundwater and are found in two groups 40 km apart. Ounianga Kebir comprises four lakes, the largest of which, Yoan, covers an area of 358 ha and is 27 m deep. Its highly saline waters only sustain algae and some microorganisms. The second group, Ounianga Serir, comprises fourteen lakes separated by sand dunes. Floating reeds cover almost half the surface of these lakes reducing evaporation. At 436 ha, Lake Teli has the largest surface area but is less than 10 m deep. With their high quality freshwater, some of these lakes are home to aquatic fauna, particularly fish.
UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site
Criterion (vii): The property represents an exceptional example of permanent lakes in a desert setting, a remarkable natural phenomenon which results from an aquifer and associated complex hydrological system which is still to be fully understood. The aesthetic beauty of the site results from a landscape mosaic which includes the varied coloured lakes with their blue, green and /or reddish waters, in reflection of their chemical composition, surrounded by palms, dunes and spectacular sandstone landforms, all of it in the heart of a desert that stretches over thousands of kilometres. In addition, about one third of the surface of the Ounianga Serir Lakes is covered with floating reed carpets whose intense green colour contrasts with the blue open waters. Rock exposures which dominate the site offer a breathtaking view on all the lakes, of which the colours contrast with the brown sand dunes separated by bare rock structures. The shape and distribution of the lakes, combined with the effect of the wind moving the floating vegetation in the lakes, gives the impression of “waves of water flowing in the desert”.
Encyclopedia Record: Lakes of Ounianga
The Lakes of Ounianga is a series of lakes in the Sahara Desert, occupying a basin in the mountains of West Tibesti and Ennedi East in north-eastern Chad. It was added as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2012.Additional Site Details
Area: 62,808 hectares
Number of Components: 1
Coordinates: 19.055 , 20.5055555556
IUCN World Heritage Outlook
The 2025 Conservation Outlook on Lakes of Ounianga reports the following assessment:
Source: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) · View assessment
Image
© Jacques Taberlet, CC BY-SA 3.0 Resized from original. (This derivative is under the same CC BY-SA license.)
