Table of Contents
What is the origin of Lake Tana?
The Lake has been formed by volcanic activity, blocking the course of inflowing rivers in the early Pleistocene times ca 5 million years ago. The lava also separated the Lake and its headwaters from the lower Blue Nile basin by 40 m high falls at Tissisat, 30 km downstream from the Blue Nile outflow.
What is unique about Lake Tana?
Lake Tana is the largest national freshwater body, accounting for 50% of the total inland waters of the country, and is the source of the Abbay of Blue Nile River. The Biosphere Reserve is an important fish resource and is home to up to 67 different species of fish of which 70% are endemic.
How many islands are found in Lake Tana?
Rivalling the attraction of the Blue Nile Falls are the Lake Tana thirty-seven islands scattered about on the 3,000-square-kilometer (1,860 square-mile) surface of Ethiopia’s largest body of water. Some twenty of these islands shelter churches and monasteries of significant historical and cultural interest.
Why is Lake Tana considered holy water?
Because it is shallow, the lake drains quietly northward. Unsurprisingly, as mother of the Nile, Lake Tana is also a holy place with numerous churches to visit on its islands and shoreline, as well as monasteries along the river that attract huge crowds on festival days.
What is the smallest lake in Ethiopia?
Lake Awassa
One of the best lakes to fish in Ethiopia, Lake Awassa is located 270 km to the south of Addis Ababa, and is the smallest of the Rift Valley Lakes.
What is the oldest freshwater lake in the world?
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest and deepest freshwater lake, curves for nearly 400 miles through south-eastern Siberia, north of the Mongolian border.
Why are there so many fish in Lake Tana?
Since there are no inflows that link the lake to other large waterways and the main outflow, the Blue Nile, is obstructed by the Blue Nile Falls, the lake supports a highly distinctive fish fauna, which generally is related to species from the Nile Basin. About 70% of the fish species in the lake are endemic.
How is the Blue Nile related to Lake Tana?
Since there are no inflows that link the lake to other large waterways and the main outflow, the Blue Nile, is obstructed by the Blue Nile Falls, the lake supports a highly distinctive aquatic fauna, which generally is related to species from the Nile Basin. The lake’s nutrient levels are low.
How did Lake Tana become a biosphere reserve?
In 2015, the Lake Tana region was nominated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve recognizing its national and international natural and cultural importance. Lake Tana was formed by volcanic activity, blocking the course of inflowing rivers in the early Pleistocene epoch, about 5 million years ago.
What are the names of the monasteries in Lake Tana?
The monasteries are believed to have been built over earlier religious sites. They include the fourteenth-century Debre Maryam, and the eighteenth-century Narga Selassie, Tana Qirqos (said to have housed the Ark of the Covenant before it was moved to Axum ), and Ura Kidane Mehret, known for its regalia.