Lake Tana

Lake Tana, western Ethiopia, the largest in the country, covering about 2,156 sq km (1,219 sq mi). It is on the north central plateau of Amhara in the Ethiopian highlands, near Gonder. Lake Tana is 1,829 m (6,004 ft) above sea level. About 85 km (53 mi) long and 65 km (41 mi) wide, the lake reaches a depth of about 15 m (50 ft). About 50 streams, the largest of which is the Little Abbai, or Upper Nile, flow into the lake. The outlet of Lake Tana, at its south-eastern corner, forms a bay about 17 km (11 mi) long and 12 km (8 mi) wide. From this bay issues the Abbai, or Blue Nile. The lake contains a number of small islands. Fish are caught by inhabitants of the several towns that lie along its shore. Chief of these towns are Bahir Dar in the south and Gorgora in the north, once the capital of the 16th- and 17th-century Abyssinian kings.