Lake Chew Bahir ( Amharic: ጨው ባሕር ''č̣ew bāhir'', "salty lake") or Lake Istifanos, also called Stefanie, Basso Naebor and Chuwaha, 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 lar ...

in 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 Er ...

, located on the southwestern end of the

Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (often abbreviated as SNNPR; am, የደቡብ ብሔር ብሔረሰቦችና ሕዝቦች ክልል, Yädäbub Bḥer Bḥeräsäbočna Hzboč Kllə) is a regional state in southwestern ...

, near the border with

Oromia Region Oromia (Amharic: ) ( om, Oromiyaa) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa. It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar ...

Geography

When the Lake Chew Bahir is filled, it stretches into northern

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. Lying at the center of the

Stephanie Wildlife Sanctuary Chelbi Wildlife Reserve or Stephanie Wildlife Reserve is a protected area in Ethiopia's Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region."Chelbi Wildlife Reserve". Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) Culture and Tourism ...

, the lake measures some by . This lake is the southernmost and lowest (1,880 ft, 573 m) of a series of

lakes 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 larger ...

which lie in the north-easterly continuation of the

Great Rift Valley The Great Rift Valley is a series of contiguous geographic trenches, approximately in total length, that runs from Lebanon in Asia to Mozambique in Southeast Africa. While the name continues in some usages, it is rarely used in geology as ...

; its

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

is separated from the watershed of

Lake Turkana Lake Turkana (), formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, in northern Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake ...

by the

Humu Range The VL Humu (Whirlwind) is a Finnish fighter aircraft, designed by Valtion lentokonetehdas in 1944, and based on the American Brewster F2A Buffalo. Design and development The Finnish Air Force had acquired 40+ surplus B-239 naval variants o ...

and the hills south of it. The

Kumbi Range Kumbi is a town and a Municipality in Bishnupur District in the Indian state of Manipur. The Kumbi Constituency of Manipur Legislative Assembly was named after the village. It is 55 km far away from Imphal Imphal ( Meitei pronuncia ...

rises on its eastern side. Chew Bahir is fed from the north by the

Weito River The Weito River (also known as the Weyt’o Wenz, Tullaya River) is a river in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. It rises in the Guge Mountains, flowing south into Lake Chew Bahir at latitude and longitude . ...

, and its tributary the Galana Sagan. The Galana Sagan receives the overflow of

Lake Chamo Lake Chamo ( Amharic: ቻሞ ሐይቅ) is a lake in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of southern Ethiopia. Located in the Main Ethiopian Rift, it is at an elevation of 1,110 meters. The Chamo lake is just to the south o ...

in some years, but no permanent connection exists.

History

Count Sámuel Teleki was the first European to visit the lake in 1888, and named it for

Princess Stéphanie of Belgium Princess Stéphanie Clotilde Louise Herminie Marie Charlotte of Belgium (21 May 1864 – 23 August 1945) was a Belgian royal family, Belgian princess who became Crown Princess of Austria through marriage to Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, Cro ...

, the wife of

Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria en, Rudolph Francis Charles Joseph , caption = Rudolf in 1887 , spouse = , issue = Elisabeth Marie, Princess Otto of Windisch-Graetz , house = Habsburg-Lorraine , father = Franz Joseph I of Austria , mother ...

. Following Teleki's visit, Lake Chew Bahir and the neighboring lakes were explored by

Arthur Donaldson Smith Arthur Donaldson Smith (1866–1939) was an American physician, hunter, and explorer of Africa. In the 1890s he made a geological expedition to Lake Rudolph (now Lake Turkana), passing through what was then Somaliland, southern Ethiopia and Keny ...

Vittorio Bottego Vittorio Bottego (; Parma, 29 July 1860 – Dhaga Roba, 17 March 1897) was an Italian army officer and one of the first Western explorers of Jubaland in the Horn of Africa (now part of Gidami, West Wellega Ethiopia), where he led two expedition ...

, M. S. Welby,

Oscar Neumann Oscar Rudolph Neumann (3 September 1867 in Berlin – 17 May 1946 in Chicago) was a German ornithologist and naturalist who explored and collected specimens in Africa. He fled via Cuba and settled in the United States to escape Nazi persecuti ...

and others. J. J. Harrison in 1899 found the lake quite dried up, and two years later

Count Wickenburg Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

found water only in the northern part. In 1960 the lake covered about 2,000 km², but shrank to a swamp over the rest of the 20th century.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chew Bahir Lakes of Ethiopia Lakes of Kenya Saline lakes of the Great Rift Valley Ethiopia–Kenya border International lakes of Africa

Chew Chewing or mastication is the process by which food is crushed and ground by teeth. It is the first step of digestion, and it increases the surface area of foods to allow a more efficient break down by enzymes. During the mastication process, th ...

Important Bird Areas of Ethiopia