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
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