The Gilo River is a river in 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 ...

of 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 ...

. It is also known by a variety of names: the Gimira of Dizu call it the "Mene", while the Gemira of Chako call it "Owis", and Amhara and Oromo settlers in the early 20th century knew it by a third name, "Bako". 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 . ...

near

Mizan Teferi Mizan Tefere (also called simply Mizan) is the largest town in South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region and one of four Capital cities of the region. Mizan is also the administrative centre, of the Bench Sheko Zone in the South West Ethiopia Peoples ...

it flows to the west, through

Lake Tata A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

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, ...

on Ethiopia's border with

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 ...

. The combined waters then join 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 ...

and 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 Gilo River flows mainly through the

Baro Salient Baro or Baró may refer to: Places ;Bangladesh * Baro Vatra, a village in Gopalganj District ;Guinea * Baro, Guinea ;Iran * Baro, Iran, a village in Zanjan Province ;Nigeria * Baro (Nigeria), a town in Niger state * Baro-Kano Railway Station ...

, a portion of Ethiopia that juts westward into Sudan. The river valley was subjected to a great deal of prospecting 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 ...

before World War II and in the 1950s, but not enough was found to make commercial extraction viable."Local History in Ethiopia"
The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 1 June 2008) Jessen, who was part of W.N. McMillan's expedition that travelled through this part of southwestern Ethiopia in 1904, estimated its length at 200 miles, and noted that at flood the width of the Gilo reaches 80 to 100 yards, with a depth of about 20 feet. Jessen further wrote that at the time of his visit.

References

Gambela Region Rivers of Ethiopia Sobat River {{Ethiopia-river-stub

See also

References