Lake · Ethiopia
Lake Tana
Lake Tana is the largest lake in Ethiopia and lies high up in the mountains, at about 1 788 metres. Out of it flows the Blue Nile, a river that later helps to feed the Nile.
Picture credit: Radosław Botev (CC BY 3.0 pl) · RNLockwood (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Tilahungashaw (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Lake Tana?
Countries on its shores: Ethiopia.
Largest lake of: Ethiopia.
Middle of the lake: 12.00° N, 37.25° E
The story behind it
Lake Tana lies in the highlands of Ethiopia, and it is the largest lake in the whole country. Several rivers, such as the Gilgel Abay, flow into it, and the Blue Nile flows out of it. The lake is quite shallow, only about 15 metres at its deepest point. Its water level rises and falls by 2 to 2.5 metres every year, so the size of the lake and even the number of its islands change. About 30 islands dot the water, and on many of them stand old Christian monasteries, some founded in the 14th century. Monks keep treasures and the remains of old emperors there. Fishers still paddle tankwas, light boats made of papyrus reeds. The lake has 27 kinds of fish, and 20 of them live nowhere else on Earth. About 230 kinds of birds visit its shores.
Find it on the globe
Lake Tana 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.
Questions children ask
How big is Lake Tana?
Which river flows out of Lake Tana?
The Blue Nile flows out of the lake, so Lake Tana is one of the sources of the Nile. Rivers such as the Gilgel Abay, the Gumara and the Reb bring new water into the lake.
What is special about the islands in Lake Tana?
Many of the islands have old Christian monasteries, some of them founded in the 14th century. Monks look after old treasures and the remains of Ethiopian emperors there.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
Last checked: