Lake Sawa

In Context 

• Iraq’s famous and prominent Lake Sawa has dried up for the first time in its centuries-long history and locals believe that it is due to mismanagement by local investors, government neglect and climate change.

About 

• The Sawa Lake, a biodiverse wetland situated near the city of Samawa, south of the capital Baghdad.
• The lake has been formed over limestone rock and studded with gypsum formations 
• It has no inlet or outlet and the source of its waters had mystified experts for centuries, fuelling fantastical folklore and religious tales that locals recite as historical fact.
• Historical Links: 
  • Lake Sawa appears in some old Islamic texts.
  •  It is said the lake miraculously formed on the day the Prophet Muhammad was born in 570 A.D. 
• Recognition: 
  • In 2014, Lake Sawa was named a Ramsar site, an international designation for important wetlands, gaining recognition as a rare area in need of protection. 

Source:TOI