The Bilate is a river of south-central

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 ...

. It rises on the southwestern slopes of Mount Gurage near , flowing south along the western side 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 ...

, to empty into

Lake Abaya Lake Abaya ( Amharic: አባያ ሐይቅ) is a lake in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. It is located in the Main Ethiopian Rift, east of the Guge Mountains. The town of Arba Minch lies on its southwestern ...

at . It is the longest river flowing into Lake Abaya and also the one with the highest discharge. The river is not navigable and it has no notable tributaries. Along the middle of its course the Bilate flows past the Bilate River volcanic field and its most territory covered by Halaba Zone. David Buxton recorded its importance as defining the boundary between the Sidamo district on the eastern side, and the Wolaita district on the western; he also describes finding a weekly market beside a ford named Dinto.Buxton, ''Travels in Ethiopia'', second edition (London: Benn, 1967), pp. 98f

References

Rivers of Ethiopia {{Ethiopia-river-stub

See also

References