Lake Ahémé

Where is Lake Ahémé?

Countries on its shores: Benin.

Largest lake of: Benin.

Middle of the lake: 6.50° N, 1.98° E

The story behind it

Lake Ahémé is about 24 km long but only a few kilometres wide. At its swampy northern end the Couffo River flows in. At the southern end the 10 km long Aho Channel leads to the Grand-Popo Lagoon on the coast. In the rainy season the water in this channel flows south. In the dry season it turns around, and the southern part of the lake becomes saltier. Scientists have counted 71 kinds of fish in the lake. Fishing and farming are the most important work for the people around it, most of whom belong to the Pedah and Ayizo peoples. Some fishers build acadjas: they push cut branches into the muddy bottom, fish gather among them, and later the fishers surround the branches with nets. Lake Nokoué near the city of Cotonou is often counted as bigger, but it is largely a lagoon joined to the sea by a canal. So Lake Ahémé counts as Benin's largest natural lake.

Find it on the globe

Lake Ahémé 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.