Bahir Dar is one of the leading tourist destinations in Ethiopia, with a variety of attractions in the nearby Lake Tana and Blue Nile river.

In the 19th century, Bahir Dar was visited by Belgian, French, British and Italian travelers, who described it alternatively as a village or a town.

[8][9][10] During the early 20th century, the British, desiring to construct a barrage at the outlet of Lake Tana, dispatched several study teams, such as those of Dupis (1902), Grabham and Black (1920–21) and Cheesman (1926–34).

In addition, three groups of tenant-craftsman communities, tanners, Muslims weavers and the Weyto stone-mill grinders, lived on balabbat lands.

Bahir Dar was connected by motor-boats with other Lake Tana ports and by motor roads with Gonder, Debre Marqos and Addis Ababa.

[16] The Italians gave Bahir Dar political importance making it the administrative center of the Lake Tana southern territories.

They also showed interest in the possibility of developing the Lake Tana and Blue Nile basic agriculturally and of exploiting their waters for hydroelectric power.

The central government developed it as a market and transportation center of the economic growth of Lake Tana and the Blue Nile basin.

Its implementation changed completely the physical appearance of Bahir Dar, which grew as a center of industrial and economic development.

It was provided with a water supply, hydroelectric power, improved lake-port facilities, the Abbay bridge, textile mills, a hospital, and institutions of higher education which now form Bahir Dar University.

On 3–4 March 1990, the TLA abandoned Bahir Dar in disarray, blowing up the nearby bridge with several hundred soldiers which stopped the TPLF/EPRDF forces from occupying the city.

However, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) claimed they had too few effectiveness in the area to capture the town at that time, and the Derg army reoccupied Bahir Dar a few days later.

Today Bahir Dar is not only a center of administration but also a nucleus of commerce, industry, transport, communication, health, education and tourism.

Mulat Gezahegn, head of the Trade, Industry and Investment Promotion Coordination Office, told journalists that more than 150 local and foreign companies participated.

[2] As Philip Briggs notes, Bahir Dar "is not only one of the largest towns in Ethiopia, but also one of the fastest growing – the western outskirts have visibly expanded since the first edition of this guide was published in 1994.

[28] The Wayto nowadays live in three distinct villages within Bahir Dar's city boundaries; the buildings are made of clay with thatched roofs and have a lifespan of about five years.

[30][31] The health of the Wayto community in Bahir Dar is affected because they continue drinking the lake water, which has become strongly polluted.

[31] The Wayto villages need regularly to change their place by order of the authorities for several reasons:[32][30][31] In 2007 census 89.72% of the population said they practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, 8.47% were Muslim, and 1.62% were Protestants.

[34] As part of political initiatives and development efforts in Africa, renewed interest in the higher education in Ethiopia has been the focus of partnerships between governmental and private funders.

[36] As part of the US AID objective IR 3.2: Improved workforce skills development, an identified strategy of enhancing "... university partnerships with U.S.

It will soon carry the main road to the northern outskirts and on to Gondar Association football is the most popular sport in Bahir Dar.