Lake Abaya

Where is Lake Abaya?

Countries on its shores: Ethiopia.

Middle of the lake: 6.43° N, 37.88° E

The story behind it

Lake Abaya lies about 1 175 metres above sea level and is about 60 km long and 20 km wide. It is quite shallow: at its deepest point it goes down only about 13 metres. The Bilate River flows in from the north, and water leaves the lake towards its southern neighbour, Lake Chamo. A narrow strip of land called the “Bridge of God” separates the two lakes. Several islands rise from the water; the largest is called Aruro, and another one is Gidicho. On the northern shore there are hot springs. The town of Arba Minch lies near the south-western shore, and the southern shores belong to Nechisar National Park, where zebras, gazelles and hippos live. Local fishers land about 412 tonnes of fish from the lake every year. In 1896 an Italian expedition named it Lake Margherita after the queen of Italy, but today it is known as Lake Abaya.

Find it on the globe

Lake Abaya is there as a small blue dot with its name, right on the water. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.