Lake Zway

Lake Zway or Lake Ziway is one of the freshwater Rift Valley lakes of Ethiopia. It is located about 60 miles south of Addis Ababa, on the border between the regions (or kililoch) of Oromia and of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples. The town of Ziway lies on the lake's western shore.

According to the Statistical Abstract of Ethiopia for 1967/68, Lake Zway is 25 kilometers long and 20 wide, with a surface area of 434 square kilometers. It has a maximum depth of 4 meters and is at an elevation of 1846 meters. It is known for birds and hippopotamuses and has a fishing industry. It has five islands which include Debre Sina, Galila, Bird Island and, perhaps most notably, Tullu Gudo, home to a monastery said to have housed the Ark of the Covenant around the ninth century.

The shores and islands of Lake Zway are the home of the Gurage people. Tradition states that when the Muslim Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi conquered Ethiopia, the Christians of the area took refuge on its islands. They were later isolated from the rest of Ethiopia by the Oromo people, who settled around the lake. At the time Menelik II conquered the lands around the lake, the lake-dwellers were rediscovered and found to have preserved both their Christian faith and a number of ancient manuscripts.