Lake Bosumtwi

Also known as Lake Bosumtwe, Lake Bosomtwe, Bosomtwe Lake

crater lake in Ghana

Key facts

Location: Ashanti
Type: Ancient lake , Impact crater lake, 1.07 million years old
Primary inflows: rainfall
Primary outflows: none
Catchment area: 400 km (150 sq mi)
Basin countries: Ghana
Max length: 8.6 km (5.3 mi)
Max width: 8.1 km (5.0 mi)
Surface area: 49 km (19 sq mi)
Average depth: 45 m (148 ft)
Max depth: 81 m (266 ft)
Surface elevation: 150 m (490 ft)

via Wikipedia infobox

Article

Lake Bosomtwe, also spelled Bosumtwi, is the only man made lake in Ghana. It is situated within an ancient impact crater that is about 10.5 kilometres (6.5 mi) in diameter. It is about 30 km (19 mi) south-east of Kumasi, the capital of Ashanti, and is a popular recreational area. There are about 30 villages near the crater lake of Lake Bosomtwe, with a combined population of about 70,000. The most popular amongst the villages where tourists usually settle is Abono.

The Ashanti consider Bosomtwe a sacred lake. According to traditional belief, the souls of the dead come here to bid farewell to the goddess Asase Ya. Because of this, it is considered permissible to fish in the lake only from wooden planks. Among the fish species in the lake is the endemic cichlid Hemichromis frempongi, and the near-endemic cichlids Tilapia busumana and T. discolor.