Lake Tana From space (April 1991). North is to the right. Location Ethiopia Coordinates 120N 3715E / 12N 37.25E / 12; 37.25Coordinates: 120N 3715E / 12N 37.25E / 12; 37.25 Primary inflows Lesser Abay Kilti River Magech River Reb River Gumara River Primary outflows Blue Nile Basin countries Ethiopia Max. length 84 km Max. width 66 km Surface area 2156 km Surface elevation 1788 m Islands the most important being Tana Qirqos Daga Island Dek Island and Mitraha Settlements Bahir Dar Gorgora

Lake Tana (also spelled T'ana Amharic: n Hy"Lake Tana" an older variant is Tsana Ge'ez n; sometimes called "Dembiya" after the region to the north of the lake) is the source of the Blue Nile and is the largest lake in Ethiopia. Located in Amhara Region in the north-western Ethiopian highlands according to the Statistical Abstract of Ethiopia for 1967/68 the lake is approximately 84 kilometers long and 66 kilometers wide with a maximum depth of 15 meters and an elevation of 1840 meters. Lake Tana is fed by the Lesser Abay Reb and Gumara Rivers and its surface area ranges from 3000 to 3500 km depending on season and rainfall. The lake level has been regulated since the construction of the control weir where the lake discharges into the Blue Nile which regulates the flow to the Tis Abbai falls and hydro-power station. Overview Lake Tana seen from SPOT satellite.

The lake has a number of islands whose numbers vary depending on the level of the lake; it has fallen about 6 feet (1.8 m) in the last 400 years. According to Manoel de Almeida (who was a Portuguese missionary in the early 17th century) there were 21 islands seven to eight of which had monasteries on them "formerly large but now much diminished." When James Bruce visited the area in the later 18th century he noted that the locals counted 45 inhabited islands but stated he believed that "the number may be about eleven." A more modern geographer named 37 islands of which he believed 19 have or had monasteries or churches on them.1 Orthodox Priest in a papyrus boat on his way to one of the monasteries.

Remains of ancient Ethiopian emperors and treasures of the Ethiopian Church are kept in the isolated island monasteries (including Kebran Gabriel Ura Kidane Mehret Narga Selassie Daga Estifanos Medhane Alem of Rema Kota Maryam and Mertola Maryam). On the island of Tana Qirqos is a rock shown to Paul B. Henze on which he was told the Virgin Mary had rested on her journey back from Egypt; he was also told that Frumentius who introduced Christianity to Ethiopia is "allegedly buried on Tana Cherqos."2 The body of Yekuno Amlak is interred in the monastery of St. Stephen on Daga Island; other Emperors whose tombs are on Daga include Dawit I Zara Yaqob Za Dengel and Fasilides. Other important islands in Lake Tana include Dek Mitraha Gelila Zakarias Halimun and Briguida. Beginning of the Blue Nile River by its outlet from Lake Tana (Amhara Region Ethiopia).

The monasteries are believed to rest on earlier religious sites and include the fourteenth century Debre Maryam the eighteenth century Narga Selassie Tana Qirqos (said to have housed the Ark of the Covenant before it was moved to Axum) and Ura Kidane Mehret known for its regalia. A ferry service links Bahir Dar with Gorgora via Dek Island and various lake shore villages.

Lake Tana supports a notable fishing industry; according to the Ethiopian Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture 1454 tonnes of fish are landed each year at Bahir Dar which the department estimates is 15% of its sustainable amount.3 References C.F. Beckham and G.W.B. Huntingford Some Records of Ethiopia 1593-1646 (series 2 no. 107; London: Hakluyt Society 1954) p. 35 and note. Paul B. Henze Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia (New York: Palgrave 2000) p.73. "Information on Fisheries Management in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia" (report dated January 2003) External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lake Tana The Tana Project Lake Tana Photographs of the lake Unesco plan for Lake T'ana LakeNet Profile Pictures from Lake Tana and the Monasteries