The Bilate is a river of south-central
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
. It rises on the southwestern slopes of
Mount Gurage near , flowing south along the western side of the
Great Rift Valley, to empty into
Lake Abaya at . It is the longest river flowing into Lake Abaya and also the one with the highest discharge. The 250 km long river is not navigable and 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 described finding a weekly market beside a ford named
Dimtu.
[Buxton, ''Travels in Ethiopia'', second edition (London: Benn, 1967), pp. 98f]
See also
*
List of rivers of Ethiopia
References
Rivers of Ethiopia
{{Ethiopia-river-stub