AI overview
The Awash River is a major river in Ethiopia that flows through the country's landscape. It is important to the region as a source of water for communities and ecosystems along its course.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Native name
- Awaash ( Oromo ) ዐዋሽ ( Amharic ) Hawaash We'ayot ( Afar ) Webiga Dir ( Somali )
- Country
- Ethiopia
- Regions
- Afar , Oromia , Addis Ababa , Central Ethiopia
- Cities
- Addis Ababa , Metehara , Awash , Gewane , Asaita , Awash 7 Kilo, Ambo, Sebeta , Bishoftu , Gelan, Adama , Modjo
- Source
- Ethiopian Highlands
- Location
- Near the town of Ginchi , West Shewa , Oromia
- Elevation
- 2,929 m (9,610 ft)
- Mouth
- Lake Abbe
- Coordinates
- 11°08′53″N 41°41′08″E / 11.14806°N 41.68556°E / 11.14806; 41.68556
- Length
- 1,200 km (750 mi)
- Basin size
- 69,196 km (26,717 sq mi)
- Average
- 151.9 m /s (5,360 cu ft/s)
Article
The Awash River (sometimes spelled Awaash; Oromo: Awaash or Hawaas, Amharic: ዐዋሽ, Afar: Hawaash We'ayot, Somali: Webiga Dir, Italian: Auasc) is a major river of Ethiopia. Its course is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia and empties into a chain of interconnected lakes that begins with Lake Gargori and ends with Lake Abbe (or Abhe Bad) on the border with Djibouti, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) from the head of the Gulf of Tadjoura. The Awash River is the principal stream of an endorheic drainage basin covering parts of the Amhara, Oromia and Somali Regions, as well as the southern half of the Afar Region. The Awash River basin, spanning 23 administrative zones, covers 10% of Ethiopia's area.
The basin usually has two rainy seasons, a shorter one around March (Belg), and a longer one between June and September (Kiremt), which partly fall into one longer rainy season. Climate change is predicted to increase the water deficiency in all seasons and for parts of the basin, due to a projected increase in temperature and decrease in precipitation.