Lake Turkana - Name

Name

The lake was named Lake Rudolf (in honor of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria) by Count Sámuel Teleki de Szék and his second-in-command Lieutenant Ludwig Ritter Von Höhnel, a Hungarian and an Austrian,on 6 March 1888. They were the first Europeans to have recorded visiting the lake after a long safari across East Africa. Natives who live around Lake Turkana include the Turkana, Rendille, Gabbra, Daasanach, Hamar Koke, Karo, Nyagatom, Mursi, Surma and Molo peoples. For the location of many of these peoples, refer to the dialect map in the article.

J. W. Gregory reported in The Geographical Journal of 1894 that it had been called "'Basso Narok' This means black lake in the samburu language and basso naibor for lake Stefanie meaning white lake in the Samburu language. The Samburu are among the dominant tribes in the lake Turkana region when the explorers came." What the native form of this phrase was, what it might mean and in what language is not clear. The lake kept its European name during the colonial period of British East Africa. After the independence of Kenya, the president, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, renamed it in 1975 after the Turkana, the predominant tribe there.

At some unknown time, the lake acquired an alternate name as the Jade Sea from its turquoise colour seen on approaching from a distance. The colour comes from algae that rise to the surface in calm weather. This is likely also a European name. The Turkana refer to the lake as Anam Ka'alakol, meaning the sea of many fish. It is from the name Ka'alakol that Kalokol, a town on the western shore of Lake Turkana, east of Lodwar, derives its name. The previous indigenous Turkana name for Lake Turkana was Anam a Cheper. The area still sees few visitors, being a two-day drive from Nairobi. The lake is also an imaginary boundary of the Rendille and Borana and Oromo to the Turkana land. The area is primarily clay-based and is more alkaline than seawater.