The Bilate is a river of south-central
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. It rises on the southwestern slopes of
Mount Gurage Mount Gurage is a mountain located in central Ethiopia. It is the highest point in both the Gurage Zone and the entire Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region. The mountain has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 3719 meter ...
near , flowing south along the western side of the
Great Rift Valley
The Great Rift Valley is a series of contiguous geographic trenches, approximately in total length, that runs from Lebanon in Asia to Mozambique in Southeast Africa. While the name continues in some usages, it is rarely used in geology as it ...
, to empty into
Lake Abaya at . It is the longest river flowing into Lake Abaya and also the one with the highest discharge. The river is not navigable and it has no notable tributaries. Along the middle of its course the Bilate flows past the
Bilate River volcanic field and its most territory covered by Halaba Zone.
David Buxton recorded its importance as defining the boundary between the Sidamo district on the eastern side, and the Wolaita district on the western; he also describes finding a weekly market beside a ford named Dinto.
[Buxton, ''Travels in Ethiopia'', second edition (London: Benn, 1967), pp. 98f]
See also
*
List of rivers of Ethiopia
This is a list of streams and rivers in Ethiopia, arranged geographically by drainage basin. There is an alphabetic list at the end of this article.
Flowing into the Mediterranean
*''Nile (Egypt, Sudan)''
Atbarah River
*Mareb River (or ...
References
Rivers of Ethiopia
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