Lake Chamo (
Amharic
Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
: ቻሞ ሐይቅ) is a
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
in the
of southern
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 ...
. Located in the
Main Ethiopian Rift
Main may refer to:
Geography
* Main River (disambiguation)
**Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany
* Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province
*"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries
...
, it is at an elevation of 1,110 meters. The Chamo lake is just to the south of
Lake Abaya
Lake Abaya ( Amharic: አባያ ሐይቅ) is a lake in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region
The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (often abbreviated as SNNPR; am, የደቡብ ብሔር ብሔረሰቦ ...
and the city of
Arba Minch, east of the
Guge Mountains, and west of the
Amaro Mountains The Amaro Mountains are a mountain range in south western Ethiopia. Extending 60 kilometers along a north–south axis east of Lake Chamo, these mountains are located in the Nechisar National Park, which lies in the Amaro special woreda. These elev ...
.
Overview
Lake Chamo northern end lies in the
Nechisar National Park
Nechisar National Park (or Nech Sar National Park) is a national park in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia. It is in the Great Rift Valley, within the southwestern Ethiopian Highlands.
Geography
The pa ...
. According to figures published by the
Central Statistical Agency
The Central Statistical Agency (CSA; Amharic: ማዕከላዊ ስታቲስቲክስ ኤጀንሲ) is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social grow ...
, it is 32 kilometers long and 13 wide, with a surface area of 317 square kilometers and a maximum depth of 14 meters with a catchment of about 18757 square kilometers in size. Other sources locate it on an elevation of 1,235 meters with a length of 26 km a widths of 22 km an area of 551 square kilometers a catchment of 2220 square kilometers and a maximum depth of 10 meters.
The lake is fringed with beds of ''
Typha'', as well as wetlands. It is fed by the
Kulfo River
The Kulfo River is a river in southern Ethiopia that rises in the western escarpment of the Main Ethiopian Rift in the Guge mountains.
It flows through Arba Minch and then through the Nechisar National Park on the isthmus between Lake Chamo and ...
and several small streams, as well as overflow from
Lake Abaya
Lake Abaya ( Amharic: አባያ ሐይቅ) is a lake in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region
The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (often abbreviated as SNNPR; am, የደቡብ ብሔር ብሔረሰቦ ...
brought to it by the Ualo River.
[Robert Mepham, R. H. Hughes, and J. S. Hughes]
''A directory of African wetlands''
(Cambridge: IUCN, UNEP and WCMC, 1992), p. 163 Oscar Neumann, exploring the area in 1901, found a dry channel connecting Lake Chamo to the
Sagan River, which led him to conclude the lake contributes to the Sagan in years of heavy rainfall.
[Oscar Neumann, "From the Somali Coast through Southern Ethiopian to the Sudan", ''Geographical Journal'', 20 (October 1902), pp. 373–398]
Wildlife include fish like the catfish ''
Bagrus docmak
''Bagrus'' is a genus of bagrid catfishes. These are relatively large catfish found in freshwater habitats in Africa, except for the virtually unknown ''B. tucumanus'' from South America, which likely is a synonym of '' Luciopimelodus pati''.
...
'' and
Nile perch, as well as
hippopotamus
The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two exta ...
and
Nile crocodile
The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the central, eastern, ...
s.
[
]
Gallery
File:Lake Chamo 03.jpg, On the lake
File:Crocodylus niloticus in Lake Chamo 01.jpg, Nile crocodile
The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the central, eastern, ...
File:Hippopotamus amphibius in Lake Chamo 05.jpg, Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two exta ...
File:LakeChamoPelicans.jpg, Pelicans
See also
*Rift Valley lakes
The Rift Valley lakes are a series of lakes in the East African Rift valley that runs through eastern Africa from Ethiopia in the north to Malawi in the south, and includes the African Great Lakes in the south. These include some of the world's ...
Notes
{{reflist
External links
ILEC Database entry for Lake Chamo
Chamo
Chamo
Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region