Awash River

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Awash (sometimes spelled Hawash) is a major river of Ethiopia. Its headwaters is south of Mount Warqe, to the west of Addis Ababa, from whence the Awash flows to the south and around Addis Ababa in an easterly then northeasterly direction, joined on its left bank by its chief affluent, the Germama (or Kasam), and passing the Awash National Park before entering the Danakil depression, and eventually emptying in Lake Abbe (or Abhe Bad) on the border with Djibouti, some 100 kilometers (60 or 70 miles) from the head of the Gulf of Tadjoura.

According to the Statistical Abstract of Ethiopia for 1967/68, the Awash River is 1200 kilometers long. The author of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica article describes its middle portion as "a copious stream nearly 200 feet [60 meters] wide and 4 feet [1.2 meters] deep in the dry season, and during the floods rising 50 or 60 feet [15 to 20 meters] above low-water mark, thus inundating the plains for many miles along both its banks."

Other tributaries of the Awash include the Mille, Berkanna, Kabenna and Durkham Rivers.

[edit] History

Humans have lived in the valle of the Awash since the beginning of the species. The Middle Awash has been where numerous pre-human hominid remains have been found.

The Awash has been historically important, serving as a de facto border between the predominantly Christian peoples to the north, and the predominantly Muslim peoples to the south into the late 16th century.

In 1960, the Koka Dam was completed across the Awash River at a point about 75 kilometers from Addis Ababa, and with its opening became a major source of hydroelectric power in the area. The resulting freshwater lake, Lake Gelila, has an area of about 180 square kilometers. Both lake and dam are threatened by increasing sedimentation.

The Awash International Bank is named for the Awash River.