Omo River

Omo River

river

Origin of the watercourse	Wabe River, Gibe River
Mouth of the watercourse	Lake Turkana
Lake for watercourse top	Lake Turkana
Country	Ethiopia
Edey de administrative territorial entity insyd	Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region
Coordinate location	8°15′23″N 37°29′24″E, 4°29′49″N 36°0′50″E
Heritage designation	World Heritage Site
World Heritage criteria	(iii), (iv)

De Omo River (Amharic: ኦሞ ወንዝ, romanized: Omo Wenz; dem sanso call Omo-Bottego) insyd southern Ethiopia be de largest Ethiopian river outsyd de Nile Basin. Ein course be entirely contained within de boundaries of Ethiopia, wey e dey empty into Lake Turkana on de border plus Kenya. De river be de principal stream of an endorheic drainage basin, de Turkana Basin.

De river basin be famous for ein large number of early hominid fossils den archeological findings such as early stone tools, wey dey lead to ein inclusion on de UNESCO World Heritage List insyd 1980.

Geography

De Omo River dey form wen de Gibe River wey be de biggest tributary join wit de Gojeb River, one large right-bank tributary. Secof de size, length den de way dem dey flow, some people dey see Omo den Gibe rivers as de same river buh plus different names. Dat be why sometimes dem dey call de whole basin de Omo-Gibe River Basin. Dis basin cover part of western Oromia Region den middle of de Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region.

De Omo River dey flow mostly go south. But e get one big bend wey turn am go west around 7° N 37° 30' E until about 36° E, before e san turn back south reach 5° 30' N. From der e make one big S-bend, then continue ein southern course until e reach Lake Turkana. According to Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency, de Omo-Bottego River length be about 760 kilometres (470 miles).

De Omo-Bottego River dey drop about 700 metres (2,300 ft) from wer Gibe den Wabe rivers join at 1,060 metres (3,480 ft) down to 360 metres (1,180 ft) wey be lake level. Secof dis fall, de river dey rush fast for de upper side, wit Kokobi den oda waterfalls break am. E fit carry boat only for small distance before e enter Lake Turkana, one of de Gregory Rift lakes. Spectrum Guide to Ethiopia talk say de river dey popular for white-water rafting around September den October, wen rain season still make de water high. De most important tributary be de Gibe River; smaller tributaries be Wabi, Denchya, Gojeb, Mui den Usno rivers.

De Omo-Bottego River form de eastern boundary for de old kingdoms of Janjero den Garo. De river sanso dey pass near Mago den Omo National Parks wey people hnow secof de plenty wildlife. Chaw animals dey live for de river side den insyd am, like hippopotamus, crocodile den puff adder snake.

Archaeological findings

De whole Omo River basin dey very important for geology den archaeology. Dem identify over 50,000 fossils from de lower valley, den insyd dem about 230 be hominid fossils wey date back to de Pliocene den Pleistocene times. Fossils from Australopithecus den Homo genera show for different archaeological sites, plus tools wey dem make from quartzite. De oldest of dis tools dey about 2.4 million years old. When dem first discover am, people think say e be part of one pre-Oldowan industry, wey dey even more primitive than wetin dem find for Olduvai Gorge. But later research show say de rough look of de tools be secof de raw materials no good, den de techniques plus de shapes fit make dem belong to de Oldowan industry.

De archaeological discoveries for de area happen for 1901 by one French expedition. Later between 1967 den 1975, one international archaeological team make de most important finds. Dem locate different items, wey dey include jawbone of one Australopithecus man wey dem estimate say e be about 2.5 million years old. Archeologists sanso find fossil fragments of Oldowan hominids from early Pleistocene era reach back to Pliocene era. Quartz tools dey together wit sam later Homo sapiens remains wey dem discover for de riverbanks. Since dat time, excavation dey continue by joint French den American team.

Apart from early hominid fossils, dem sanso find plenty mammal fossils den fish fossils insyd de Omo Valley.

Human impact

De lower valley of de Omo today dem believed by some people say e be crossroads for thousands of years, as different cultures den ethnic groups dey migrate around de region. Na why dem find plenty hominid fossils for der. Up till now, de people wey dey live for de Lower Valley of Omo like de Mursi, Suri, Nyangatom, Dizi den Me'en dem study secof dema diversity.

Italian explorer Vittorio Bottego first reach de Omo River on 29 June 1896 during ein second African expedition (1895–97), buh he die for dat same expedition on 17 March 1897. Insyd ein honour dem rename de river Omo-Bottego. Herbert Henry Austin den ein men later reach de Omo delta on 12 September 1898, wey dem discover say Ethiopian expedition wey Ras Wolda Giyorgis lead already plant Ethiopian flags for de northern shore of Lake Turkana on 7 April. Lieutenant Alexander Bulatovich lead anoda Ethiopian expedition wey reach de lake on 21 August 1899, wey e sanso cause destruction. Even plus all dis, de Frenchmen insyd de group manage map chaw of de Omo River delta bends for de first time. Dat version of de river map dem use til 1930s wen Italian colonial cartographers draw new den more correct map of de river den ein delta.

Hydroelectric power stations

For de Omo River basin, e get several power stations den dams wey dem name after de Gilgel Gibe River den Gibe River, wey be tributaries of de Omo River. Even though de names fi confuse person, all de stations den dams dey actually sit down for de Omo River einself.

2006 floods

For 2006, heavy rain fall cause de Omo River to flood ein lower course. De flood drown at least 456 people wey e lef more dan 20,000 people stranded for five days wey end on 16 August. Even though heavy rain dey normal for dat area, people blame overgrazing den deforestation for de tragedy. World Food Programme spokeswoman Paulette Jones talk say: “De rivers for Ethiopia no fit hold water like before, secof silt dey fill dem. So e no need heavy rain again before river overflow.” De seasonal flood of Omo River dey very important for de indigenous groups wey dey live along am. De flood dey bring fertile silt den water wey make river bank farming possible. De diverse peoples for de lower Omo like Turkana, Dassanach, Hamer, Nyangatom, Karo, Kwegu, Mursi, Bodi, den Me’en dey get plenty of dema food supply from flood retreat cultivation.

De big destructive flood of 2006 be de only one wey happen for de past fifty years. Buh de recent drop in Lake Turkana water level wey dey get about 90% of ein water from Omo River inflow already cause salinity level to rise.

External links

• Omo National Park
• The African Tribes of OMO
• Africa Resources Working Group Gibe III Dam Omo River
• Walking With The Mursi is an adventure/travel documentary spanning four continents as David Willing hikes 500km across Ethiopia's remote Omo Valley, home of the fascinating Mursi tribes.