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37-536: Topographically speaking, Agaw Awi is relatively flat and fertile, whose elevations vary from 1,800 to 3,100 m above sea level, with an average altitude of about 2,300 m. The Zone is crossed by about nine permanent rivers which drain into the Abay (or Blue Nile ); other water features include two crater lakes, Zengena and Tirba , and Zimbiri marsh which is located 5  km south-west of Addis Kidam. Local forests include Dukma and Apini, which are located on either side of

74-400: A canyon about 400 km (250 mi) long, about 30 km (19 mi) from Lake Tana, which is a tremendous obstacle for travel and communication between north and south Ethiopia. The canyon was first referred to as the "Grand Canyon" in 1968 by a British team that accomplished the first descent of the river from Lake Tana to the end of the canyon; subsequent river rafting parties called it

111-413: A documentary about their journey afterwards. In 2000, American and National Geographic reader, Kenneth Frantz, saw a photo taken by Nevada Wier for National Geographic which would lead him to found the charity Bridges to Prosperity . This photo showed a bridge broken during World War II, with 10 men on either side of the broken span pulling each other across the dangerous gap by rope. This historic bridge

148-634: A household, and 209,555 housing units. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Agew Awi were the Awi (59.82%) a subgroup of the Agaw, and the Amhara (38.44%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.74% of the population. Amharic was spoken as a first language by 53.38%, and 45.04% spoke Awngi ; the remaining 1.58% spoke all other primary languages reported. 94.4% practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity , and 4.5% of

185-400: A new river, to be given its own name, perhaps one already known to the people who live upon its banks. Conversely, explorers approaching a new land from the sea encounter its rivers at their mouths, where they name them on their charts, then, following a river upstream, encounter each tributary as a forking of the stream to the right and to the left, which then appear on their charts as such; or

222-679: A non-local to explore this reach of the river was undertaken by the American W.W. Macmillan in 1902, assisted by the Norwegian explorer B.H. Jenssen; Jenssen proceeded upriver from Khartoum while Macmillan sailed downstream from Lake Tana. However, Jenssen's boats were blocked by the rapids at Famaka short of the Sudan-Ethiopia border, and Macmillan's boats were wrecked shortly after they had been launched. Macmillan encouraged Jenssen to try to sail upstream from Khartoum again in 1905, but he

259-489: A point near the Sudanese border led by explorer John Blashford-Snell . The team used specially-built Avon Inflatables and modified Royal Engineers assault boats to navigate the formidable rapids. Subsequent rafting expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s generally only covered parts of the river canyon. In 1999, writer Virginia Morell and photographer Nevada Wier made the journey by raft from Lake Tana to Sudan, publishing

296-400: A river or stream that branches off from and flows away from the main stream. Distributaries are most often found in river deltas . Right tributary , or right-bank tributary , and left tributary , or left-bank tributary , describe the orientation of the tributary relative to the flow of the main stem river. These terms are defined from the perspective of looking downstream, that is, facing

333-578: A road density of 39.6 km per 1000 square km (compared to the national average of 30 km ), the average rural household has 1.2 hectares of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 0.75 for the Amhara Region) and the equivalent of 0.5 heads of livestock. 13.6% of the population is in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and a Regional average of 21%. 72% of all eligible children are enrolled in primary school, and 16% in secondary schools. 54% of

370-449: Is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ( main stem or "parent" ), river, or a lake . A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean . Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they flow, drain the surrounding drainage basin of its surface water and groundwater , leading the water out into an ocean. The Irtysh is a chief tributary of the Ob river and

407-411: Is also the longest tributary river in the world with a length of 4,248 km (2,640 mi). The Madeira River is the largest tributary river by volume in the world with an average discharge of 31,200 m /s (1.1 million cu ft/s). A confluence , where two or more bodies of water meet, usually refers to the joining of tributaries. The opposite to a tributary is a distributary ,

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444-754: Is vital to the livelihood of Egypt: as the most significant tributary of the Nile, it contributes over 85% of the Nile's streamflow. Though shorter than the White Nile, 59% of the water that reaches Egypt originates from the Ethiopian highlands via the Blue Nile. The river is also an important resource for Sudan, where the Roseires Dam and Sennar Dam contribute to the 80% of the country's electricity generation from hydropower . These dams also help irrigate

481-488: The Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this Zone has a total population of 982,942, an increase of 37.07% over the 1994 census, of whom 491,865 are men and 491,077 women. With an area of 9,148.43 square km, Agew Awi has a population density of 107.44; 123,014 or 12.51% are urban inhabitants. A total of 215,564 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 4.56 persons to

518-714: The Dinder River on its right bank at Dinder . At Khartoum , the Blue Nile joins the White Nile and, as the Nile , flows through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea at Alexandria . The flow of the Blue Nile reaches maximum volume in the rainy season from June to September, when it supplies 80–86% of the water of the Nile proper. The river was a major source of the flooding of the Nile in Egypt that contributed to

555-630: The Ethiopian Highlands to a depth of some 1,500 metres (4,900 ft). According to materials published by the Central Statistical Agency , an Ethiopian government agency, the Blue Nile has a total length of 1,450 kilometres (900 mi), of which 800 kilometres (500 mi) are inside Ethiopia. The Blue Nile originates at Lake Tana in Ethiopia (where it is called the Abay River). The river flows generally south before entering

592-723: The Gezira Scheme , which is most famous for its high-quality cotton , as well as wheat and animal feed crop production in the area. In November 2012, Ethiopia began construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam , a 6000-megawatt hydroelectric dam on the river. The dam is expected to be a boost for the Ethiopian economy. Sudan and Egypt, however, voiced their concerns over a potential reduction in water available. Electricity generation began in February 2022. The first European known to have seen

629-1163: The Walaqa River , the Wanchet River , the Jamma River , the Muger River , the Guder River , the Agwel River, the Nedi River, the Didessa River and the Dabus River . Those on the right side, also in downstream order, include the Handassa, Tul, Abaya, Sade, Tammi, Cha, Shita, Suha, Muga , Gulla , Temcha , Bachat, Katlan, Jiba, Chamoga, Weter and the Beles . The Blue Nile then heads northwest into Sudan. It travels for approximately 650 km (400 mi), flowing past Er Roseires and receiving

666-424: The White Nile , it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water to the Nile during the rainy season . The distance of the river from its source to its confluence has been variously reported between 1,460 and 1,600 kilometres (910 and 990 mi). This uncertainty might result from the fact that the river flows through a series of virtually impenetrable gorges cut in

703-593: The "Grand Canyon of the Nile". The Blue Nile Falls ( Amharic : Tis Abay, literally "great smoke"), one of Ethiopia's biggest tourist attractions, is located at the start of the canyon. The river loops across northwest Ethiopia before being fed by numerous tributaries between Lake Tana and the Ethiopia–Sudan border . Those on its left bank, in downstream order, include the Wanqa River, the Bashilo River ,

740-577: The Blue Nile in Ethiopia and the river's source was Pedro Páez , a Spanish Jesuit who reached the river's source on 21 April 1618. However, the Portuguese João Bermudes, the self-described "Patriarch of Ethiopia," provided the first description of the Tis Abay River Falls in his memoirs published in 1565, and any number of Europeans who lived in Ethiopia in the late 15th century such as Pêro da Covilhã could have seen

777-421: The direction the water current of the main stem is going. In a navigational context, if one were floating on a raft or other vessel in the main stream, this would be the side the tributary enters from as one floats past; alternately, if one were floating down the tributary, the main stream meets it on the opposite bank of the tributary. This information may be used to avoid turbulent water by moving towards

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814-603: The fertility of the Nile Valley and the consequent rise of Ancient Egypt and Egyptian mythology . With the completion of the Aswan Dam in 1970, these floods stopped occurring in lower Egypt. During the summer monsoon season, the Blue Nile floods erode a vast amount of fertile soil from the Ethiopian Highlands and carry it downstream as silt , turning the water dark brown or almost black. The Blue Nile

851-568: The first fully human-powered transit of the entire Blue Nile and the Nile in the Sudan and Egypt. Their journey of over 5,000 km (3,100 mi) took five months and traveled through Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt. They recount that they paddled through civil war conflict zones, regions known for bandits, and encountered multiple hazards and rapids. 12°00′N 037°15′E  /  12.000°N 37.250°E  / 12.000; 37.250 Tributary A tributary , or an affluent ,

888-477: The first known people to navigate the Blue Nile in its entirety. Though their expedition included several others, Brown and Scaturro were the only ones to remain on the expedition for the entire journey. They chronicled their adventure with an IMAX camera and two handheld video cameras, sharing their story in the film Mystery of the Nile and in a book of the same title. On 29 January 2005, Canadian Les Jickling and his teammate New Zealander Mark Tanner completed

925-451: The handedness is from the point of view of an observer facing upstream. For instance, Steer Creek has a left tributary which is called Right Fork Steer Creek. These naming conventions are reflective of the circumstances of a particular river's identification and charting: people living along the banks of a river, with a name known to them, may then float down the river in exploration, and each tributary joining it as they pass by appears as

962-469: The opposite bank before approaching the confluence. An early tributary is a tributary that joins the main stem river closer to its source than its mouth, that is, before the river's midpoint ; a late tributary joins the main stem further downstream, closer to its mouth than to its source, that is, after the midpoint. In the United States, where tributaries sometimes have the same name as

999-493: The population said they were Muslim . The 1994 national census reported a total population for this Zone of 717,085 in 147,917 households, of whom 357,238 were men and 359,847 women; 62,232 or 8.68% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The three largest ethnic groups reported in Agew Awi were the Awi (49.97%) a subgroup of the Agaw, the Amhara (48.6%), and the Gumuz (0.98%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.45% of

1036-408: The population. Amharic was spoken as a first language by 53.75%, 44.93% Awngi , and 0.98% spoke Gumuz ; the remaining 0.34% spoke all other primary languages reported. 93.52% practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity , and 5.41% of the population said they were Muslim . According to a May 24, 2004 World Bank memorandum, 6% of the inhabitants of Agew Awi have access to electricity, this zone has

1073-422: The river along its banks and through its impassable canyon but by following it from the highlands above, travelling some 8,000 km (5,000 mi) by mule in the adjacent country. In the 1950s and 1960s, several kayakers paddled parts of the canyon. In 1968, at the request of Haile Selassie , a team of 60 British and Ethiopian servicemen and scientists made the first full descent of the river from Lake Tana to

1110-666: The river into which they feed, they are called forks . These are typically designated by compass direction. For example, the American River in California receives flow from its North, Middle, and South forks. The Chicago River 's North Branch has the East, West, and Middle Fork; the South Branch has its South Fork, and used to have a West Fork as well (now filled in). Forks are sometimes designated as right or left. Here,

1147-670: The river long before Páez, but not reached its source. The source of the Nile proper was also reached in 1629 by the Portuguese Jesuit missionary Jerónimo Lobo and in 1770 by the Scottish explorer James Bruce . Although European explorers contemplated tracing the course of the Nile from the Blue Nile's confluence with the White Nile to Lake Tana, the Blue Nile Canyon has discouraged all attempts since Frédéric Cailliaud 's attempt in 1821. The first serious attempt by

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1184-418: The smaller stream designated the little fork, the larger either retaining its name unmodified, or receives the designation big . Tributaries are sometimes listed starting with those nearest to the source of the river and ending with those nearest to the mouth of the river . The Strahler stream order examines the arrangement of tributaries in a hierarchy of first, second, third and higher orders, with

1221-432: The streams are seen to diverge by the cardinal direction (north, south, east, or west) in which they proceed upstream, sometimes a third stream entering between two others is designated the middle fork; or the streams are distinguished by the relative height of one to the other, as one stream descending over a cataract into another becomes the upper fork, and the one it descends into, the lower ; or by relative volume:

1258-488: The town of Kidamaja , Zengena forest around Lake Zengena and Goobil forest which is on a dome-shaped hill next to Kessa . The Agaw have traditionally practised a land-management system which is well adapted to the local ecology, which enables them to sustain the fertility of the soil and minimize erosion; this area is recognized as one of the most productive in the Amhara Region. Based on the 2007 Census conducted by

1295-467: The zone is exposed to malaria , and 76% to Tsetse fly . The memorandum gave this zone a drought risk rating of 420. 11°00′N 36°40′E  /  11.000°N 36.667°E  / 11.000; 36.667 Blue Nile The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia . It travels for approximately 1,450 km (900 mi) through Ethiopia and Sudan . Along with

1332-559: Was built by Emperor Fasilides in approximately 1660 with Roman bridge technology brought to Ethiopia by Portuguese soldiers during the battle with the Muslim invaders in 1507. In both 2001 and 2009, Bridges to Prosperity volunteers travelled from the United States to repair the broken bridge across the Blue Nile and later built a new suspension bridge not susceptible to flood. On 28 April 2004, geologist Pasquale Scaturro and his partner, kayaker and documentary filmmaker Gordon Brown, became

1369-430: Was forced to stop 500 km (300 mi) short of Lake Tana. Robert Cheesman , who records his surprise on arriving in Ethiopia at finding that the upper waters of "one of the most famous of the rivers of the world, and one whose name was well known to the ancients" was in his lifetime "marked on the map by dotted lines", managed to map the upper course of the Blue Nile between 1925 and 1933. He did this not by following

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