Afar Triangle
![Location map of the Afar Triangle (the shaded area in the center of the map) and the East African Rift zones; red triangles show historically active volcanoes.](/Images/godic/202412/20/EAfrica2927.png")
![Topographic map showing the Afar Triangle, which correlates to the shaded area in the location map shown above](/Images/godic/202412/20/Topographic30deg_N0E302927.png")
![MODIS satellite image of the Afar Depression and surrounding regions of the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabia, and the Horn of Africa](/Images/godic/202412/20/AFAR-MODIS2928.jpg")
![Perspective view of the Afar Depression and environs, generated by draping a Landsat image over a Digital elevation model.](/Images/godic/202412/20/AfarDrape2928.jpg")
The Afar Triangle (also called the Afar Depression) is a geological depression caused by the Afar Triple Junction, which is part of the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. The region has disclosed fossil specimens of the very earliest hominins, that is, the earliest of the human clade; and it is thought by some paleontologists to be the cradle of the evolution of humans, see Middle Awash, Hadar. The Depression overlaps the borders of Eritrea, Djibouti and the entire Afar Region of Ethiopia; and it contains the lowest point in Africa, Lake Asal, Djibouti, at 155 m (or 509 ft) below sea level.