![Sobat OSM](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Sobat_OSM.png)
The Baro River ( am, ባሮ ወንዝ) or Baro/Openo Wenz, known to the
Anuak as Openo River, is a river in southwestern
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
, which defines part of Ethiopian border with
South Sudan
South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...
. From its source in the
Ethiopian Highlands
The Ethiopian Highlands is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below , while the summits reach heights of up to . ...
it flows west for to join the
Pibor River
The Pibor River (also called the River Pibor) is a river in eastern South Sudan, which defines part of South Sudan's border with Ethiopia. From its source near Pibor Post it flows north for about , joining the Baro River to form the Sobat River, ...
. The Baro-Pibor confluence marks the beginning of the
Sobat River
The Sobat River is a river of the Greater Upper Nile region in northeastern South Sudan, Africa. It is the most southerly of the great eastern tributaries of the White Nile, before the confluence with the Blue Nile.
Geography
The Sobat River is ...
, a tributary of the
White Nile
The White Nile ( ar, النيل الأبيض ') is a river in Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the other being the Blue Nile. The name comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. ...
.
The Baro and its tributaries drain a
watershed in size. The river's mean annual
discharge at its mouth is 241 m³/s (8,510 ft³/s).
Course
The Baro/Openo river is created by the confluence of the
Birbir and
Gebba River
The Gebba (or Geba) is a river of southwestern Ethiopia. It is a tributary of the Baro River, which is created when the Gebba joins the Birbir at latitude and longitude . The river is the planned site for the twin Gebba Hydro electric power dams. ...
s, east of
Metu
Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a public technical university located in Ankara, Turkey. The university emphasizes research and education in engineering a ...
in the
Illubabor Zone
Illubabor ( om, Illuu Abbaa Booraa) is a zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Illubabora is named for the former province Illubabor. It is bordered on the south by the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region, on the southwest by the ...
of the
Oromia Region
Oromia (Amharic: ) ( om, Oromiyaa) is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa.
It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar Region and the Benish ...
. It then flows west through the
Gambela Region
The Gambela Region (also spelled Gambella; am, ጋምቤላ), officially the Gambela Peoples' Region, is a regional state in western Ethiopia, bordering South Sudan. Previously known as Region 12, its capital is Gambela. The Region is situated ...
to join with the Pibor River, both of them creating the Sobat. Other notable tributaries of the Baro/Openo include the
Alwero and
Jikawo River
Jikawo is a Districts of Ethiopia, woreda in Gambela Region, Ethiopia. Part of the Nuer Zone, Jikawo is bordered on the south by the Anuak Zone, on the west by the Alwero River which separates it from Wentawo, on the north by the Baro River which s ...
s. The Baro meets the Pibor river to the west of Jikawo. During the rainy season the river floods to form the huge inundated area to the east and south of Jikawo, previously penetrating as far as Abobo and Gog to the east and south-east.
Natural history
Of the Sobat River's tributaries, the Baro/Openo River is by far the largest, contributing 83% of the total water flowing into the Sobat. During the rainy season, between June and October, the Baro River alone contributes about 10% of the Nile's water at
Aswan
Aswan (, also ; ar, أسوان, ʾAswān ; cop, Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate.
Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. In contrast, these rivers have very low flow during the dry season.
History
The boundary between
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
and Ethiopia was defined for the region near the Baro/Openo River in 1899 by Major H.H. Austin and Major Charles W. Gwynn of the British
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
. They had no knowledge of the land, its inhabitants, or their languages, and were short on supplies. Rather than defining a line based on ethnic groups and traditional territories, essentially along the escarpment that separates the highlands and the plains, they simply proposed drawing the line down the middle of the
Akobo River
The Akobo River is a river on the border between South Sudan and Ethiopia. From its source in the Ethiopian Highlands near Mizan Teferi it flows west for to join the Pibor River. The Pibor flows into the Sobat River, which in turn empties into t ...
and parts of the Pibor and Baro rivers. This boundary was consummated in the Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1902, resulting in an area in Ethiopian Gambela Region called the
Baro/Openo Salient. This area is more closely connected to South Sudan than Ethiopia, both in terms of natural features and people. The Baro Salient was used as a sanctuary by Sudanese insurgents during the country's
long civil wars. It was difficult for Sudan to exert authority over a region that is part of Ethiopia, and Ethiopia was reluctant to police this remote region and become involved in the politics of Sudan's internal conflicts.
Vittorio Bottego
Vittorio Bottego (; Parma, 29 July 1860 – Dhaga Roba, 17 March 1897) was an Italian army officer and one of the first Western explorers of Jubaland in the Horn of Africa (now part of Gidami, West Wellega Ethiopia), where he led two expedition ...
, who explored the area in the later 1890s, proposed naming the river after Admiral
Simone Antonio Saint-Bon.
["Local History in Ethiopia"](_blank)
(pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute
Nordic Africa Institute ( sv, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet) serves as a research, documentation and information centre on modern Africa for the Nordic countries. The Institute also encourages research and studies on Africa. The institute was founded ...
website (accessed 21 December 2007)
The only navigable river in Ethiopia, the Baro's most important city is
Gambela, which served as a port from 1907 until the 1990s when civil war in Ethiopia and Sudan forced shipping on the river to be halted.
The Italian L. Usoni unsuccessfully prospected for
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
in the Baro river valley, and published his findings in 1952.
The second-longest bridge in Ethiopia crosses the Baro, connecting two parts of the Gambela Region. This bridge is 305 meters long.
" Longest bridge opens to traffic"
(WIC
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is an American federal assistance program of the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for healthcare and nutritio ...
)
See also
* List of rivers of Ethiopia
This is a list of streams and rivers in Ethiopia, arranged geographically by drainage basin. There is an alphabetic list at the end of this article.
Flowing into the Mediterranean
*''Nile (Egypt, Sudan)''
Atbarah River
*Mareb River (or G ...
* List of rivers of South Sudan
This is a list of streams and rivers in South Sudan, arranged geographically by drainage basin. There is an alphabetic list at the end of this article. The list may not be comprehensive.
The hydrology of the eastern part of South Sudan is comp ...
References
{{Rivers of South Sudan
Rivers of Ethiopia
Rivers of South Sudan
Sobat River
International rivers of Africa
Ethiopian Highlands
Ethiopia–South Sudan border
Geography of Oromia Region
Gambela Region
Greater Upper Nile
Upper Nile (state)
Border rivers
Important Bird Areas of Ethiopia