Rivers in Ethiopia

Ethiopian Rivers

Complete Listing of Ethiopian Rivers

Ethiopia is blessed with a vast amount of water resources along with very high hydrological variability. Though little developed, Ethiopia's surface water is very impressive.

Ethiopia has 12 major river basins, which form 4 major drainage systems.

Nile Basin

The Nile basin, which includes, the Blue Nile, Baro-Akobo, Setit-Tekeze/Atbara, and Mereb covers a whopping 33% of Ethiopia and drains the central and northern parts westwards.

Shebeli-Juba Basin

The Shebeli-Juba basin, which includes Genale-Dawa and Wabi-Shebelle covers a massive 33% of Ethiopia and drains the southeastern mountains towards the Indian Ocean and Somalia.

Rift Valley

The Rift Valley, which includes, Awash, Central Lakes, Omo-Gibe, and Denakil covers 28% of Ethiopia and is made up of a group of individual interior basins extending from Djibouti in the north to Tanzania in the south, with half its total area being located in Ethiopia.

North-East Coast

The North-East Coast, which includes the Gulf of Aden basins and the Ogaden covers only 6% of Ethiopia.

Unfortunately, all river basins in Ethiopia except for the Nile basin face water shortages. Almost all the rivers in Ethiopia are seasonal and there are basically no perennial flows below 1,500 meters altitude.

Heavy rainfall often causes flooding, especially along the Awash River and in the lower Baro-Akobo and Wabe-Shebelle river basins.

Ethiopia is endowed with twelve massive wetland areas, eleven freshwater lakes, nine saline lakes, and four crater lakes.

The largest lakes in Ethiopia are mostly located in the Rift Valley, with Lake Tana and its Nile source being the exception.

Lakes Langano, Abbaya and Chamo are freshwater lakes and not endorheic but due to a decrease in outflow they are turning more and more saline.

The rivers of Ethiopia, both major and minor can be classified by the direction in which they flow; flowing into the Mediterranean, flowing into the Indian Ocean, or flowing into the Endorheic Basins.