Earth's Water Distribution

What is the main component of a drainage system?

What determines the general pattern of major river basins in Ethiopia?

What is the percentage of total area of the country drained by the Western Drainage Systems?

Which river basin flows southward, unlike other river basins in the Western Drainage Systems?

What is the final destination of the Abay, Tekeze, and Baro rivers?

What percentage of the earth's total surface is covered by water bodies?

What percentage of fresh water is deposited in glaciers?

Why is Ethiopia considered to have a larger volume of ground and surface water?

What is the estimated surface water potential of Ethiopia in billion cubic meters (BCM)?

What percentage of Ethiopia's total land mass is covered by water bodies?

Water Distribution on Earth

71% of the Earth's surface is covered by water bodies, mostly seas and oceans.
97.5% of the Earth's total water surface is alkaline, found in seas and oceans.
2.5% is freshwater, with 68.7% of it stored in glaciers, 30.1% in groundwater, 0.8% in permafrost, and 0.4% in surface waters.

Water in Ethiopia

0.7% of Ethiopia's total land mass is covered by water bodies.
The country's surface water potential is estimated to be 124.4 billion cubic meters (BCM).
Ethiopia is known as the "water tower of Eastern Africa" due to its diverse topographical setup and higher rainfall.

Drainage Systems

A drainage system consists of a principal river and its tributaries.
A river system begins at the source or headwater and ends at the mouth.
A drainage basin is a topographic region that collects both surface runoff and subsurface flow.

Major Drainage Systems of Ethiopia

Three major drainage systems in Ethiopia: Western, Southeastern, and Rift Valley Drainage Systems.
The Western Drainage Systems are the largest, covering 40% of the country and carrying 60% of the annual water flow.
The Western Drainage Systems comprise four major river basins: Tekeze, Abay, Baro-Akobo, and Ghibe (Omo).
The Abay river is the largest in the Western Drainage Systems, both in volumetric discharge and coverage.

Learn about the distribution of water on Earth's surface, including the percentage in oceans, glaciers, groundwater, permafrost, and surface waters like lakes and rivers.